The Sony Handycam HDR-CX110’s lens focuses comparatively fast and it’s a compact camcorder.

Thumbs Down:

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX110 delivers hardly OK video quality and its lens flare problem is worse-than-expected even in bright sunlight.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Manufacturer: Sony

Part Number: HDR-CX110

Price: $439.95 – $499.99

Product Type: Camcorder – 1080i

Weight: 7.4 oz

Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 2 x 4.5 x 2.2 inches

Optical Sensor Type: Exmor R CMOS

Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP3

Shooting Modes: Digital photo mode

White balance: Presets, Custom and Automatic

Exposure Modes: Program and Automatic

Peripheral Devices: CD-ROM drive and USB port

Software: Sony Picture Motion Browser and Drivers & Utilities,

Cables Included: USB cable, A/V cable, Component audio/ video cable

Connector Type: Composite audio/video output, Component video output, USB, S-Video output, HDMI output and Remote control

Additional Features: Built-in speaker ,   Face detection ,   USB 2.0 compatibility ,   Touch-screen control ,   Dynamic Range Optimizer ,   Digital noise reduction ,   Smile Detection technology ,  Intelligent Scene Selector ,  Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording    and Takes photos while movie recording

Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Sunset, Candle, Fireworks, Sunrise, Spotlight, Landscape, Twilight mode and Portrait mode

Focus: Manual & Automatic

Search Modes: Index search and Face index search

Included Accessories: Rechargeable battery pack, AC adaptor, A/V connecting cable, Component A/V cable, USB cable and Lithium battery

Supported Battery: Sony NP-FV50

Battery Type: Sony NP-FV50 Li-ion rechargeable

Razzle Dazzle:

The Sony HDR-CX110 is a follow up to the Sony Handycam HDR-CX100, and belongs to the budget priced HD triumvirate of Sony. The other cameras in the same triumvirate are the CX150 and XR150. In terms of design all the three camcorders are pretty much the same, and comfortably get into any jacket’s pocket.

The CX110 comes in three color choices of black, red and blue, and even though the camera has an odd upward projection on the right hand side of the camera, but it will work as an extra gripping option for the people with bigger hands and is useful especially as the overall body of the camcorder is rather slippery. Like most of the other ultracompact models, the CX110 also is optimized for shooting underneath the eye level. So in terms of design the CX110 is pretty much the same what we have seen in CX150 and XR150.

Inside Dope:

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX110 is a follow-up to the CX100 (as we mentioned above) and just as the CX100, the CX110 also is decently sized and can easily fit into big jacket’s pockets and bags. The HDR-CX110 belongs to the reasonably priced HD camcorder category from Sony. The HDR-CX110 is comparatively bigger than the mini-camcorders we’ve seen in the market, both in terms of price and in terms of price as well as size. But at the same time the Sony HDR-CX110 comes with plenty of features that we found were missing from mini-camcorders, and some really important features that we found were the capability to capture 3 megapixel stills and the 25x zoom lens.

In terms of design the HDR-CX110 is more attractive then the XR150 and CX150. Although its slippery exterior might concern some buyers, the sufficiently sized body of the camera gives ample grip and makes it easy for the camera holders to hold on. The screen here according to us is the same, which was used in CX100, although is comparatively smaller. But still viewing straight under the sunlight is still a problem here, especially with all the fingerprints that the touch screen accrues.

The buttons set here is typical digital camera and you have: buttons for direct DVD burn (through the CD burning software when you connect it to a PC), Power, iAuto and playback, all positioned on the body inside the LCD. In spite of using physical buttons for controlling zoom and record, the HDR-CX110 uses touchscreen for the same. Although, we don’t have any problems in using that for record, as it is a touch-and-release operation, but using the same for zooming, which requires you to hold it down, can be a tricky asking.

The mini-HDMI connector and USB are positioned under a door on the exterior of the camera; these ports are used for charging and proprietary AV jack. The switch for in-built lens cover is located on the right side of the lens. The Memory/SD Stick Duo slot is positioned straight next to the tripod mount, so if you are using tripod, things can get annoying for you.

The performance of HDR-CX110 can be disappointing for many of the buyers. Although, you will be able to get satisfactory performance in upper most modes of the printer, but nonce you turn off those modes, you will be shocked. The same is the case with the video quality, which is decent in good lightening conditions, but worsens significantly in the dim lightening conditions. So, considering the price of HDR-CX110 it’s better to keep our expectations realistic.

Nitty Gritty:

The Sony HDR-CX110 is a small sized and lucratively priced camcorder, which promises too much, but hardly reaches close to any promise made.

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX150 is a compact camcorder with relatively fast focusing capability.

Thumbs Down:

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX150’s video quality is just OK and the lens flare problem is way worse than expected, especially in bright sunlight.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Manufacturer: Sony

Part Number: HDR-CX150

Price: $499.95 – $549.99

Product Type: Camcorder – 1080i

Weight: 7.4 oz

Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 2 x 4.5 x 2.2 inches

Optical Sensor Type: Exmor R CMOS

Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows XP SP3 and Microsoft Windows Vista

Shooting Modes: Digital photo mode

White balance: Automatic, Presets and Custom

White Balance Presets: Outdoor and Indoor

Exposure Modes: Automatic and Program

Peripheral Devices: USB port and CD-ROM drive

Software: Sony Picture Motion Browser and Drivers & Utilities

Cables Included: USB cable, A/V cable and Component video cable

Connector Type: Composite audio/video output, Component video output, USB, S-Video output, HDMI output and Remote control

Additional Features: USB 2.0 compatibility ,   Face detection ,   Scene Detection Technology ,  Dynamic Range Optimizer ,   Takes photos while movie recording ,   Smile Detection technology and Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording

Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Sunset, Candle, Fireworks, Sunrise, Spotlight, Landscape, Twilight mode and Portrait mode

Focus: Manual, Automatic

Search Modes: Face index search and Index search

Supported Battery: Sony NP-FV50

Battery Type: Sony NP-FV50 Li-ion rechargeable

Razzle Dazzle:

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX150 fits easily in a jacket pocket or in a pants pocket, like the CX100 and CX110. But there are quite a number of features that are missing from this costly and bigger than mini-camcorder, and the one that we missed here was the 25x zoom lens and camcorders ability to capture 3 megapixel stills. Though, in terms of build and design the HDR-CX150 and HDR-CX110 are way more attractive than the XR150, which had a strange upward projection placed in its right side. But this strange projection also becomes an advantage for XR150, as it provides extra grip on the camera which clearly is missing from its rather smaller siblings. Like most of the other ultracompact camcorders that we’ve seen, the HDR-CX150 also is optimized for shooting under the eye level.

Inside Dope:

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX150, HDR-CX110 and XR150 they all belongs to Sony’s budget-priced HD triumvirate. All the aforementioned camcorder models differs by their storage media and color, the HDR-CX110 doesn’t have any en suite memory, while the HDR-CX150 comes with an integrated 16GB memory and the XR150 comes with a humongous 120GB hard disk. Apart from this the HDR-CX150 and the other models mentioned above belongs to the first generation of Sony’s camcorder to support approximately all SD cards. While the HDR-CX150 comes in red and black, the only color choice for XR150 is black and the same for CX110 is blue choice.

The screen in Sony Handycam HDR-CX150 is almost the same that we saw CX100, and as a matter of fact we think it’s the same from that camera, but it works well here considering the size of the camera. But using it under direct sunlight is a real tricky job. The button set used here is pretty common with buttons including direct DVD burn through software when it is connected to a PC, Power, iAuto and playback buttons. In spite of giving physical buttons for virtual zoom and record buttons, the HDR-CX150 has virtual record and zoom buttons on the touch screen. Though, the virtual record button is not a problem here, but we don’t like using touch screen for zoom. The camera also has the traditional touch-screen minutiae, like the spot focus and spot metering.

Situated under a door are the mini-HDMI and USB connectors; the proprietary AV jack and charging connector, on the body of the camcorder. A lens for in-built lens cover is given on the right side of the camera lens. Positioned next to the tripod mount of The SD/Memory Stick Duo slot sits in a door right next to the tripod mount is HDR-CX150, so if you are about to do plenty of tripod shooting it can be a problem for you and for that you can go for the hard-disk-based XR150.

The performance delivered by Sony Handycam HDR-CX150 is the biggest disappointment we had with this system. Though, the performance is satisfactory in the uppermost quality, the 24 megabit-per-second mode, but once to turn off this mode you will find yourself wondering why I have paid HD prices to get the performance just a tad better than the standard-definition quality. The video shot from the camcorder, regardless of the output device is a bit soft and has plethora of artifacts. The video quality worsens in dim video light, and hence its better you expect nothing exceptional from the camcorder considering the price of the camcorder.

Nitty Gritty:

The Sony Handycam HDR-CX150’s catchy price and appealing design might fetch your attention, but this fundamental camcorder barely delivers on the HD quality promise.

The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 has a small size, easy operation, extended 120 GB storage device and 60x zoom lens.

Thumbs Down:

The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 doesn’t have mic or headphone jacks, has only electronic image stabilization, apparent fringing on objects and most importantly the camcorder offers noisy and soft video.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Manufacturer: Sony

Price range: $365.00 – $399.99

Part Number: DCR-SR88

Dimensions (H x W x D): 2.6 x 4.2 x 2.2 inches

Weight: 9.9 oz

Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP3

Media Type: Hard disk drive and Flash card

Resolution: 720 x 480 megapixels

Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Sunset, Candle, Fireworks, Sunrise, Portrait mode, Landscape, Twilight portrait and Twilight mode

Image Stabilizer: Electronic (Steady Shot)

Digital Video Format: MPEG-2

Exposure Modes: Program and Automatic

White Balance Presets: Outdoor and Indoor

White Balance Presets: Indoor and Outdoor

Digital Video Format: MPEG-2

Still Image Format: JPEG

Supported Flash Memory: SD Memory Card

Features: Built-in lens shield, Touch-screen control,   PictBridge support,   Backlight compensation,   USB 2.0 compatibility and Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording

Software: Sony Picture Motion Browser and Drivers & Utilities

Cables Included: USB cable and A/V cable

Power Device: External Power adapter

Supported Battery: Sony NP-FV30

Razzle Dazzle:

The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 is available in silver version only. The overall built of DCR-SR88 is pretty small and catchy, but despite its small size the camcorder has sufficient physical design and has been designed just as a camcorder should be. The primary attraction for DCR-SR88 includes its small size, Megazoom lens and hefty storage space and that entire in well under the price tag of $400.

Inside Dope:

The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 is the standard definition entry level camcorder by Sony. The DCR-SR88 flaunts a small size, but despite its small size the camcorder offers plenty of useful features such as large storage capacity and huge Megazoom lens. But the most important thing that we liked here is that despite so many features the camera is reasonably pried well under $400.

The operation of the camera is again pretty simple and despite the immeasurable menu systems in the camera, the operation is simple even for the first time users (mentioned that you are familiar with the operation of digital cameras). We won’t say that the DCR-SR88 delivers awful performance, but at the same time we can’t say that the performance here is exceptional. So to make things simpler lets put it in this way, the DCR-SR88 offers video quality just as you would get from any of the camcorder, and in a general the performance is good but if you watch it on HDTV it would be a bit disappointing.

But if you are ready to do a bit if compromising with the quality then the camcorder is just awesome, because firstly it comes at a reasonable price and on top of it the camera has a decent feature set as well. The controls for the camcorder are neatly laid. Located right above the battery cabin is the button which will let you switch in between the video and photo modes. Positioned underneath the back cover and battery is the memory card slot which supports both Memory Stick Pro Duo and SDHC/SD cards.

Located at the front portion of the camera and under the lens is the proprietary AV output slot covered under a door; although the camcorder comes with a composite cable, but still you can get an S-Video cable. A slider positioned at the right side of the camera, although it’s fine in general, but if you are operating it while your hand is still in the strap it can be tricky

The performance offered by Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 is pretty decent, especially if you consider the low status of the camcorder. The battery life of DCR-SR88 is of 100 minutes for constant shoot, and to make the operation fast for the camcorder there is an instant on-option. If you want to get the best battery performance then make sure that you don’t turn the camera on and off pretty frequently. The video shot from DCR-SR88 is a bit soft in general and the best video quality we got during our testing was in the Tele Macro mode. So in general there is no severe problem with the performance of DCR-SR88, but still the performance will not please the quality freaks. But if you are ready to sacrifice a little bit of quality to get decent feature set, extra space and all that in reasonable price then this is just the perfect camera.

Nitty Gritty:

The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 comes with plethora of storage space, Megazoom lens and all that in a reasonable price. But if you are a quality freak then you definitely should spend a little extra on getting a HD model, but if you are not then go for it.

Thumbs Up:

Great video quality, decent manual controls, still photos too look good,

Thumbs Down:

Lacks wind filter, no viewfinder, tiny LCD.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Sony Handycam HDR-CX12 is a 1080i camcorder, with 150x digital zoom, has 5.6 megapixels, optical sensor size is 1/3”, videos are stored in MPEG-2, AVCHD format, special effects Monotone, Pastel, Sepia, minimum shutter speed is 1/30 second, maximum shutter speed 1/250 seconds, shooting programs include Sports lesson, Portrait mode, Spotlight, Landscape, Fireworks, Sunrise, Sunset, Candle, Beach. Camcorder sensor resolution is 5.66 mega pixels, camcorder effective video resolution is 3.81 mega pixels, camcorder effective still resolution is 5.08 mega pixels, camcorder interpolated still resolution is 10.2 mega pixels. Images are stored in JPEG format.

There is no internal memory but Sony gives a 4 GB Flash – Memory Stick PRO Duo card. The camcorder has Zoom lens – 5.9 mm – 58.8 mm – F/1.8-3.1, Focal length is 5.9 mm – 58.8 mm, lens aperture is F/1.8-3.1, has 12x optical zoom, minimal focal length is 5.9 mm, maximum focal length is 58.8 mm, filter size is 37mm, macro focus range is 47 cm. Additional features include Dolby Digital 5.1 channel recording, Takes photos while movie recording, Progressive Shutter System, Dynamic Range Optimizer, Backlight compensation, Smile detection technology, USB 2.0 compatiblity, Touch-screen control, Accessories hot-shoe, PictBridge support, Face detection. Connectors include 1 x Headphones, 1 x S-Video output, 1 x HDMI output, 1 x Component video output, 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output.

Supported Operating Systems are MS Windows 2000 Professional, MS Windows XP Professional, MS Windows XP Home Edition, MS Windows Vista. Included cables are USB cable, 1 x A/V cable, 1 x Component video cable. The device is powered by Sony NP-FH60 1000 mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery.

Razzle Dazzle:

Design of the HDR-CX12 is quite similar to Canon’s HF10/HF11/HF100 models, it looks slimmer, rounder and more elegant. There is a gentle upward curve which lets you use the photo button, zoom switch and power/mode switch comfortably as compared to other flash based camcorders.

Inside Dope:

Performance wise, this camcorder is similar to its hard disk based HDR-SR11 sibling. It gives excellent HD video quality and has the same midlevel set of features. The body of is compact because there is no hard disk inside. Presence of the flash based drive makes the body smaller and although it is easier to carry, the small size also means a relatively smaller LCD. We aren’t fond of such small touch screen because the buttons are too tiny and hence give the fingers a hard time. The bezel has same controls of calling up the menu systems, recording and zooming. Beneath the screen, there play, infodisplay, Easy (full auto) and backlight compensation button. There is also a NightShot switch for toggling through Sony’s infrared mode. The media slot is covered by a small door on the bottom. On the top of the device, there is a 5 channel microphone and Active Interface Shoe along with a sliding cover.

The component output proprietary connector and a mini-HDMI connector are located underneath the plastic door. The camcorder doesn’t come with an HDMI cable but there is a component cable bundled. There is a Quick On which, as the name suggests, boots up the device pretty quickly. With a partially filled 4 gig card, our booting time was cut down from 5 seconds to 2 seconds. Battery is a bit large for such a camcorder fortunately it doesn’t protrude out too much from the body. There is no room for mic input or headphone jacks, eye-level viewfinder, or video light. There is no USB connector either; you have to use the bundled Handycam Station for transferring the videos.

The 12x zoom lens is protected by an electronic cover and there is photo flash right next to it. CAM CTL dial is located below which lets you activate shutter speed, white balance shift, exposure compensation and manual focus but you can only program the button for one of these features at a time. For assigning, you will have to hold the button down for a bit and then choose from the menu which pops-up. If you don’t like fiddling too much with the settings, there is auto feature which includes D-Range Optimizer and face detection along with smile shutter. The latter can be used only in stills. There are also a couple of scene modes to choose from.

There is no internal memory, but we are not complaining about this. Sony gives you a 4 GB card along with the camcorder. At the highest quality of 16Mbps 1,920×1,080/60i AVCHD format it can store 25 minutes of video. The device can also shoot at lower HD quality of 1440×1080/60i and there are 3 standard definition options as well.

We didn’t have any issues with the performance of the CX12, in low light it struggled a bit to focus but that is not uncommon in camcorders. In bright light, the autofocus was accurate and quick. Operating zoom was easy too. SteadyShot optical stabilizer does good job in minimizing the jitter all the way to the zoom range end. Sony gives a rated battery life of 3 hours and it takes 2.5 hours to charge it. There are higher capacity batteries available.

Just like the SR11, it has the same five-MP ClearVid Exmor CMOS sensor along with f1.8-3.1 40-480mm-equivalent lens which gives sharp videos, less clipping in highlights and excellent exposures as compared to most camcorders. The white balance is solid and colors look accurate. In low light, the videos showed a bit of noise but the shots are still usable and there is not much loss of detail. Photos too look good. Audio recording is good as long as there is no wind.

Nitty Gritty:

Sony Handycam HDR-CX12 has to be one of the best camcorder we’ve ever had in our test centers. It has excellent video and photo quality which makes it a very good buy.

Thumbs Up:

Fast in starting up, comfortable to hold.

Thumbs Down:

Video quality is not that good, touch screen is cramped due to its small size.

Inside the Trunk:

USB cable, Component video cable, A/V cable

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

HDR-XR100is a camcorder which is capable of 1080i video capture, 120x digital zoom, videos are stored in AVCHD, MPEG-2 format. Images are stored in JPEG format. Minimum shutter speed is ½ second and maximum shutter speed is 1/1000 second.

Shooting programs include twilight mode, portrait mode, spotlight, landscape, fireworks, sunrise, sunset, candle, beach, snow.

Camcorder sensor resolution is 2.36 megapixels, effective resolution is 1.49 megapixels, effective still resolution is 1.99 megapixels, interpolated still resolution is 4 megapixels. The device has 80 GB built in hard disk. The lens is Zoom lens – 3.2 mm – 32 mm – F/1.8-2.2, focal length is 3.2 mm – 32 mm, lens aperture is F/1.8-2.2, has 10x optical zoom, lens manufacturer is Carl Zeiss, maximum focal length is 32 mm,

Additional features include Dolby digital 5.1 channel recording, takes photos while movie recording, Dynamic range optimizer,  USB 2.0 compatibility, smile detection technology, touch screen control, face detection.

The camcorder has 2.7 inch TFT LCD touch screen display. Connectors include USB, HDMI output, component video output, S-video output and composite video/audio output. There is an expansion slot for Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.

The camcorder is powered by Sony NP-FH60 Li-ion rechargeable battery. The device is 2.7 inches wide, 5.1 inches depth, 2.7 inches height and weighs about 11.6 oz.

Razzle Dazzle:

HDR-XR100 is far from pretty; it has a boring looking exterior with black and silver plastic. The camcorder is hard drive bases which makes it a bit heavy. The hard disk protrudes out of body of the device and due to this the device better to handle while shooting but still a flash drive would have been better. To sum it up, the HDR-XR100 has simple design that other camcorders have been known to have; nothing out of the box has been done to make it look sexy.

Inside Dope:

This camcorder from Sony is hard disk based; it is an 80 GB model. The presence of hard disk makes the device heavy but the protrusion makes it easy to handle. We thought that Sony has got this device a bit over priced, there are other camcorders offering the same set of features and for a smaller price. The device has a touch screen interface; the screen is a bit small and if you have thick fingers, be wary of mishits because the buttons are tiny.

The camcorder doesn’t have headphone or microphone jacks, accessory shoe, video light or flash. What you do get on the HDR-XR100 is USB connectors, proprietary AV and mini-HDMI. There is a lens cover which protects the lens of the device. There is a 5.1 channel microphone which we thought was more of a gimmick than a necessity and it could have been sacrificed to bring the price down. Behind the hard drive is the photo button and zoom switch. The latter is a difficult to control because it is a bit wobbly. Apart from these there are two buttons behind the device, the record button which is quite comfortable to use due to the placement and the camcorder/camera toggle which is a flat and hard to touch.

There are a few buttons near the LCD display and play option buttons, one-touch DVD burning, Easy operation and the power key. There is also a slot to put Memory Stick Duo Pro card. You will be using the touch screen LCD for most of the controls. The LCD is a bit small, now we know mostly all camcorders have screens of such size but they are not touch screen devices. Most of the controls are placed on the touch screen and it is a bit difficult to use owing to the small screen and hence small icons. The touch screen isn’t responsive and certainly not good when it comes to navigation. Fortunately the screen performs well in bright sunlight. Most LCDs are overwhelmed when they are held in direct sunlight and the content cannot be seen clearly in them.

We were frustrated to find old school menu system used in the camcorders. You cannot remember where the controls are in the sub menus and you will be often wasting time hunting them in the screen. There are three modes for capturing, video, photo and Smooth Slow Record (for example to record swings in golf). There is also a physical button on the device for this.

There are features like selecting standard definition or high definition, SteadyShot stabilization, output settings (for HDMI or TV type), face detection. There are more settings in the options menu like manual focus and exposure, spot meter and focus, scene modes, recording quality for bit rate and white balance.

The camcorder is capable of recording full HD videos of 1920X1080/60i resolution. At the highest quality which is 16 Mbps, seven minutes of shooting takes up a gigabyte of space. The other option is 9 Mbps which takes up a gigabyte of space in 15 minute of shooting. Video quality is not good when you watch it on a large TV and the video quality worsens in low light conditions.

We weren’t happy with the lamentable auto focus system, as it struggles while detecting background subjects. The LCD isn’t very good either, even though it performs well in bright sunlight. And finally the battery life of the camcorder is too small, about a less than an hour.

Nitty Gritty:

We won’t recommend the Sony Handycam HDR-XR100 owing to its high price and the bad quality videos. Performance wise, the HDR-XR100 is pretty bad and we must say we have seen better camcorders at a lesser price.

Thumbs Up:

Simple to use, light weight, 60x zoom lens.

Thumbs Down:

No HD recording or other advanced features.

Inside the Trunk:

Included cables – USB cable and A/V cable

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

DCR-SX41 has a digital zoom 2000 x, optical sensor size is1/8″, videos are stored in MPEG-2 format, minimum shutter speed is ¼ second and maximum shutter speed is 1/4000 second. Shooting programs include snow, candle, sunrise, landscape, sports mode, twilight mode, beach, sunset, fireworks, spotlight, portrait mode. The camcorder has 2.7 inch TFT LCD display.

Images are stored in JPEG format. The camcorder comes with 8 GB built in memory. The lens is Zoom lens – 1.8 mm – 108 mm – F/1.8-6.0, with focal length of 1.8 mm – 108 mm, it has 60x optical zoom, minimum focal length is 1.8 mm, maximum focal length is 108 mm and the lens is manufactured by Carl Zeiss.

Additional features include face detection, USB 2.0 capability, touch screen control and Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording. The connector ports include Composite video/audio output, S-Video output and USB. There is an expansion slot for Memory Stick PRO Duo.

The camcorder has 2.7 inch TFT LCD display. The device is powered by Sony NP-FH30 li-ion rechargeable battery.

Razzle Dazzle:

There are three color options of red, silver and blue for the DCR-SX41. We got the silver model in our test centers and the shiny exteriors make the device look cute. It doesn’t have too many advanced features to intimidate you. The hand strap of the camcorder is a bit low but still comfortable to use.

Inside Dope:

DCR-SX41 is a camcorder from Sony which has 60x megazoom lens, 8 GB of internal memory and there is also an expansion slot to put more memory. This device is made for people who don’t need too many features or are confused with such convoluted options. What you get in the end is a simple to use camcorder without any advanced features and mediocre performance. The inferior quality will show when you view the videos on a big HDTV.

The battery peeps out from the back of the camcorder and below there is power input and the card slot for putting Memory Stick Pro Duo cards. Apart from this, there are five buttons for turning the display information on and off, a key for directly recording on to the DVD, Backlight option, easy button that relieves you all the advanced features and gives you a simple ‘point and shoot’ interface. Rest all of the controls have to be used through the touch screen interface. The touch screen is responsive and fast but you might get confused with those new home and menu buttons. The menu is for shooting options based on the context and for everything else there is home button. You might get confused with the sub menus too and probably you will have a tough time remembering where the functions are located. However there is the reference manual to the rescue, it has a tree diagram of all these sub-menus.

Sony’s Picture Motion Browser software that is bundled along with the device cannot be used with Mac. Fortunately, Sony gives you an application called MPEG Streamclip for Mac for converting the videos.

The camcorder doesn’t have a lot of advanced options but it is extremely simple to use. We tested the camcorder with settings of focus, scene selection, white balance set to auto and it performed quite well. There are also a couple of options for scene and white balance. We were disappointed to find that you cannot control the recording or zoom from the touch screen of the camcorder.

The camcorder is quite fast when it comes to starting up, you just have to open the LCD and the device will power itself on. The autofocus is good but it will struggle in low light conditions and will keeping hunting to focus.

The camcorder has battery life of about 100 minutes but the battery will drain quicker if you are using the device to view clips that you have shot. Using the touch screen and the zoom functions also eats in to the battery juice. Sony told us that there are extended batteries available for the device, which give up to 13 hours of recording.

Video quality was mediocre but we aren’t complaining much since this is an entry level device. Video clips will have noise unless you shorten it to YouTube like dimensions. Low light conditions further worsened the quality of videos. The camcorder also takes photographs but the quality is bad and we think even a camera phone will do better than this.

Nitty Gritty:

DCR-SX41 is for you if you don’t care too much about quality and want a budget friendly camcorder. It is quite easy to carry around due to its compact size, the camcorder will easily fit in your coat pocket. But there are other devices which give better features for a same price and there is no HD quality recording.