« Back to product pricing

You are viewing User reviews for...

Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Avg User Rating
10 User Reviews

Price Range
$ (0 sellers)

Compare Prices

Specs | Add Your Review

• Reviewed by: syusufali

  Updated: 03-31-06

  Overall Rating: 4 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:10 Days

  Strengths: Focus Ring and Zoom Ring, several buttons for on the fly adjustments and High Definition!

  Weaknesses: Zoom is a littly shaky and LCD screen could be bigger

  Overall Evaluation: This is a great camcorder packed with awesome features.The quality is breathtaking when played on HDTV. I upgraded from a TRV-950 and I loved that camera as well. Going from my TRV-950 to the FX1 was like switching from dialup to broadband, once you try it, you'll never go back.

• Reviewed by: Remithoren

  Updated: 01-25-06

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:3 Months

  Strengths: Viewfinder and Eyepiece available at the same timeGreat images if not underexposed. See Sony site for other differences. I felt additional money was worth the upgrade

  Weaknesses: Have to take protection filters off when using WA LensNeeds some kind of shoulder pod design to handhold for long periods.

  Overall Evaluation: I am a professional cinematographer who bought this camera to shoot a personal documentary. It is light, easy to understand and has the potential to shoot beautiful images.The camera needs to be experimented with (while hooked up to a professional monitor) to see the differences between modes.

• Reviewed by: sredford

  Updated: 01-19-06

  Overall Rating: 4 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:3 Months

  Strengths: High Definition, Focus Ring, Zoom Ring, Iris Knob, Lens, Lens Hood, Many buttons for on the fly adjustments

  Weaknesses: Lack of Smooth Zoom when using Zoom Rocker, Lack of Ability to set crawling zoom speed, Lack of XLR audio, SwivelScreen LCD display is too small, Expanded Video feature does not work while recording

  Overall Evaluation: Overall, this is a very impressive camcorder. It has a great balanced feel in the hand, and is much lighter than it looks. The High Definition Video is astoundingly clear and for the price, this camera does an excellent job. The Zoom Ring and the Focus Ring have a very solid feel and they help a great deal for quality shooting. The Zoom Rocker also works nicely and is capable of a crawling zoom that lasts for just under 2 minutes, but you have to practice precise holding of the Zoom Rocker to achieve this. Sony should have allowed the user to control the max zoom speed to allow this to be done easily. The Handle Zoom Rocker (there are 2 zoom rockers) does allow you to slow down the zoom speed in the menu, but it still zooms rather quickly at the slowest speed setting. The other frustrating thing with the Zoom Rocker is the somewhat abrupt stop it makes when finished zooming - it is absurd that a camera of this expense lacks the 'smooth zoom' feature of the more expensive Z1U. It is also absurd that it does not have built-in XLR jacks at this price. My only other complaint relates to focusing the camera. The 3.5in SwivelScreen LCD display is actually too small to really determine if you are in focus. Sony has a neat Expanded Focus button that shows you only one quarter of the display which really helps for determining if you are in focus, but you can not use it while recording, so it is a great feature that is pretty much useless unless you are in standby mode. Despite these drawbacks, this is a great camcorder.

• Reviewed by: plutodarks

  Updated: 01-05-06

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: dude, this is great, the pictuer is **** clear, and try the HDR mode, it's aweseom. I think this is the best HD camcorder on the market right now.

  Weaknesses: Battery, you need to get a extra battery, get the highest one that's 970, with that you can shoot all day you want.

  Overall Evaluation: the only thing that's unfortunate is that when you shoot in the HDR mode you have to use this camera to import to your computer. I am hoping sony can get a external exporter for this camera. Regardless, if you are looking for a HDR camcorder or just a great quality camcorder this is the ONE.

• Reviewed by: whtwxm12

  Updated: 01-03-06

  Overall Rating: 3 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:5 Days

  Strengths: useful for our people

  Weaknesses: too large, not flexible

  Overall Evaluation: I think it's also a good photo tool, and it is also give me some good experience on our trip. But the price of it is too high for me.(update version1)

• Reviewed by: gowgirl

  Updated: 12-11-05

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: 3CCDIncomparable resolutionBuilt in lens coverSimple to operateLightweightHandle makes it easy to take low angle shots16x9 filming

  Weaknesses: Price of accessoriesManual is rather simplisticNo NightShot capabilityLimited zoom capability compared to CanonNot true 24pNo MiniDV cassette, software or firewire included

  Overall Evaluation: Overall, a solid camera that is great for transferring to digital medium. As most reviews will indicate, this is not a 24p camera unlike the Panasonic DVX 100a, and hence, it will not replicate the quality of actual film. Ultimate output remains outstanding, although before deciding on which camcorder to purchase (usually compared to the Canon GL, Canon XL2, Panasonic DVX-100a/100b), look at the accessories that you will require. Sound options are limited for those who require an XLR jack. If your end product will be displayed on a television or HD monitor, this is great. If you are seeking to transfer to 16mm, this may not be the ideal option. HD is still very new technology at this point.

• Reviewed by: waltjh_1069807539

  Updated: 10-21-05

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:3 Weeks

  Strengths: Extremely professonal camera; video could not be any better

  Weaknesses: weight; if using for a long time can get heavy. Utilize a tripod

  Overall Evaluation: This digital video camcorder was recommended by a college professor. The camcorder does everything you would expect a professional camera to do. There is nothing to dislike about the camcorder. Sound and picture quality is outstanding. It is actually quite easy to use.

• Reviewed by: Kavehjoon

  Updated: 09-01-05

  Overall Rating: 4 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Superb picture quality. beautiful images on the 16X9 LCD screen. Good performance in low light conditions. Great cinematic look.

  Weaknesses: lack of audio control for external microphone.

  Overall Evaluation: It was difficult to adapt to the HDV system once we shot our first project. we had to figure out how to images into FCP and see the footage while digitizing the footage. WE love the footage quality and we cannot go back to regular DV now. the menues get a little practice to get used to and learn. I wish the lenz could go wider.

• Reviewed by: exitalivescenes

  Updated: 03-31-05

  Overall Rating: 5 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:2 Months

  Strengths: its astonishing respond to light in min. illumination situation gives a real richy cinematic look speciallty through the gamma control besides its built in Real time HD codec engine for HDV-DV switch

  Weaknesses: leak of a phantom powered XLR mic inputs though i believe capturing the audio through the camera is not professional,i use a MOTU Traveller in captiring audio track on an 8 channel phantom powered trk

  Overall Evaluation: The Sony's HDR fx1 HDV comes mounted with a Carl Zeiss lens with a comparably long focal length 4.5-54 mm that gives an outstanding film look image and offers a manually controlled zoom levels which cconsequently gives helps in building a rich chot movments moreover i believe its iris dial up control builds an outstanding film look ..Besides its HDV format is meant to be a revoution in the high defination video recording with an intrlaced 1080i or 720 progressive scanning ...frankly i was comparing the Sony's FX1 with the Panasonics ag DVX100a and i found the sony's outstanding 35mm film look very encouraging to sacrify the 24p buzz which can be compensated through any non linear editing software ..eventually i use an Apple Final cut pro HD 4.5 for the 24p conforming and i was never caught from professionals by shooting on a miniDV camcorder , am always asked how did i support a 35mm panavision camera ;))!

• Reviewed by: nealritz

  Updated: 01-05-05

  Overall Rating: 4 Star Review

  Duration of ownership:1 Weeks

  Strengths: Great looking. Superb picture recorded and on the LCD screen.Easy to operate once you read the manual a few times.

  Weaknesses: No volume control for external mike.

  Overall Evaluation: My HDV-EX1 is all that I expected. I knew before purchasing that it did not have any XLR mike inputs, but went ahead anyway. Great looking pictures. Easy to operate although the many menus and customizing features take some understanding. It is geared, as one might expect, to HD video recording and playback. If you are not into that..and cannot afford an HDTV set up yet maybe its sort of wasted. Its what the future will be however. Great lens and NO digital zoom, thank you!

« Back to product pricing for...

$ (0 sellers) | Avg User Rating | Specs