Sony HDR-CX500V – Great Memory, Great Price
Thumbs Up:
The Sony HDR-CX500V, delivers superb performance and video quality, has a compact design and even though it’s limited, the GeoTagging video surely is fun.
Thumbs Down:
The Sony HDR-CX500V, doesn’t have card support, has a gauche control layout, doesn’t have a wind filter and it also doesn’t have iris, audio or manual shutter speed controls. On top of that the camcorder is relatively expensive.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Manufacturer: Sony
Part Number: HDR-CX500V
Price: $747.00 – $1,099.99
Product Type: Camcorder – 1080i
Weight: 13 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 2.4 x 5.2 x 2.6 inches
Optical Sensor Type: Exmor R CMOS
Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Vista
Shooting Modes: Digital photo mode
Exposure Modes: Program and Automatic
Peripheral Devices: USB port and CD-ROM drive
Software: Sony Picture Motion Browse and Drivers & Utilities
Cables Included: A/V cable & USB cable
Connector Type: Composite audio/video output, Component video output, USB, S-Video output, HDMI output and Remote control
Additional Features: Face detection, Built-in GPS, Touch-screen control, Accessories hot shoe, Dynamic Range Optimizer, USB 2.0 compatibility, Dolby Digital 5.1 channel recording and Smile Detection Auto Shutter
Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Sunrise, Sunset, Landscape, Fireworks, Portrait mode, Spotlight, Twilight portrait and Twilight mode
Focus: Automatic & Manual
Search Modes: Index search, Face index search and Map index search
Included Accessories: Rechargeable battery, AC adaptor, Component AV cable, Remote Commander, USB cable and A/V Cable
Software: Sony Picture Motion Browser and Drivers & Utilities
Supported Battery: Sony NP-FH60
Battery Type: Sony NP-FH60 Li-ion rechargeable
Razzle Dazzle:
The Sony HDR-CX500V and CX520V enter the market six months after their hard drive based siblings. But the good news this time is that these two models come with the much needed interface enhancements. The Sony HDR-CX500V might not be as compact as many of the other flash-based camcorders available in market, courtesy the outstanding and unavoidably large lens of CX500V/CX520V. But still they are comparatively small, light and can easily slip into a huge jackets pocket or into a handbag. On a whole the build of the camcorder is pretty decent and it feels easy to shoot with it, but still there are few operational quirks that could have been eliminated.
Inside Dope:
The Sony HDR-CX500V is one of the two siblings of the hard drive based Sony HDR-XR500V and Sony HDR-XR520V, but has entered the market six months after its flawed sibling entered the market. But the good thing this time is that the HDR-CX500V has got the much needed interface enhancement from its siblings. But thing here is that it still is not as compact as some of the other camcorders we’ve seen in the market, and on the other hand we don’t think that a slight change in the layout and the improved interface is worth a tradeoff. But some users might go for the trade-off to save themselves from the operational annoyances, while the others will stay out and go for the same high-class performance and video in a bit more compact camcorders.
The Sony HDR-CX500V also comes with its sibling CX520V, and the two camcorders only differ in terms of their memory, while the HDR-CX500V has 32GB of inbuilt memory, the HDR-CX520V has 64GB. Most of the capabilities of these two models are being retained from their hard-drive variants, but yet has some changes. The first one that we found was the elimination of EVF, microphone and headphone jacks. This makes the Panasonic HDC-TM700 as the only camcorder in the price range of $1,000, with an EVF.
Some other control layout changes that we found in the camcorder include the moving of manual dial from the fascia of the camcorder to the rear end of the camera, but still can be operated with your left hand. Holding down the button brings the menu for manual choices including Exposure, Focus, WB shift and AE shift. But both the feel and the location of the dial lets it to be rotated in small increments, the dial actually is tensed and doesn’t feel awfully responsive. To make it even worse, the location of the dial is in such a way that the LCD gets blocked while you’re operating the camera.
Positioned at the corner of the LCD there are the playback, power, disc burn and Night Shot buttons in addition to the switch given for GPS. Positioned under a cover is the USB and Mini-HDMI connectors plus the Memory Stick Duo slot. The photo and zoom buttons of the camera falls under your forefinger on top of the camcorder. Though the layout is rather traditional, but still we kept hitting the buttons while picking the device.
The performance of the camcorder surely can’t be said perfect, but yes it surely was pretty close to perfect and the video looked pretty decent. Especially the videos shot in bright light appeared sharp and accurate. The mic of the camcorder is sensitive and even the audio looked decent on the camera. Even the Still photos taken fro the camcorder appeared OK. So on a whole the camcorder performed well, if not best.
Nitty Gritty:
The Sony HDR-CX500V is a worth considering options for all those who wants top-quality video quality, also you will get the GeoTagging capability as a novelty from its earlier versions. One another reason we found to buy this camcorder was its memory and the price at which it’s available.
