| Brand: | Sony | ||
| Average Rating |
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The SonyHDR-CX100 is a high definition Memory Stick Duo media Handycamcamcorder that offers 1920×1080 Full HD video recording and 4.0 megapixel still image capture in an ultra-compact, affordable package. While the HDR-CX100 packs a healthy feature set, including a 1/5 Exmor CMOS sensor, BIONZ image processor, Face Detection and Smile Shutter technology, and 8GB of embedded flash memory, its most differentiating characteristic is its ultra-compact design. The small size and light weight of the HDR-CX100 allow for easy portability, and the choice of silver, black, and red color variations give consumers the opportunity to pick the color that best suits their tastes. The HDR-CX100 appeals to consumers who are interested in HD quality video and who desire a compact, portable design. more info
Popularity: 1% [?]
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Mac users should look for another camera
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I was very excited when I bought this camera but just figured out that it is not going to work with mac. Sony does not provide the software and the format produced by the video is not supported by apple. Their are workarounds to get it to work but that involves lot of steps.
Made In China! Too Many Issues.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is one of the first Sony camcorders I have owned (I’ve had many) that is MADE IN CHINA. In comparrison, Canon’s F20 and F200 are Made In Japan quality.
I agree this is an excellent camcorder in so many ways. Read those other reviews posted here which are so helpful and since they have already been well written, my review is simply basic concerns and observations.
I was very discontent when it arrived and I found it was Made In China. I was also not pleased to see the small FONT type on the ultra small LCD screen nearly impossible to see even with glasses. Impossible outdoors in sunlight. It really is VERY SMALL. Sub-par menu.
A few more basic switches and controls would have been nice. Controlling everything from that very basic LCD menu is frustrating. Especially in sunlight.
Yes, this is a bargain HD camcorder and yes it does fit in the pocket but it is a bottom of the line HD camcorder and priced where it should be priced. I found a [...] or Amazon had it for the same $[...] as of Aug 2009.
[...] has also reduced the price by $[...] as of Aug 2009 so I’d suspect it will soon be a discontined model soon.
Definitely recommend!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Really small, extremely light-weight and SUPER HD video quality… as long as you have good lighting.
Best for outside during the day or a well lit inside setting. Serious restrictions on what one can do with the HD format video. Apparently, some technology cannot yet properly handle the high quality of the video, and of course, Sony would prefer to have tight control over there product line. Requires special software (provided with camcorder) to edit, back-up or even play the videos on your computer/ laptop. The recommended way to play the video is via an HD TV, that way no special software is required and one can just plug and play. If recording SD format video, than no such restrictions exist. But why record in SD format, that defeats the whole purpose of having the HD camcorder. Overall, a great value!
Great Camcorder
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It’s almost too small to hold without getting a finger over the lens. It easy / simple to operate although we have not investigated all the features.
Best Value for a HD Mini Handycam!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Wow…it’s a SONY mini Handycam in High Definition!
-I also got this Handycam to replace my old Sony Mini DV. It’s very light & feel great in my hand.
-No more tape compartment, no more whole range of digital effect (sepia, B&W, pastel, Mosaic, etc) that can be created in camera & applied to your recordings right there as you’re shooting. They’re fun & some people love them but I’m not a big fan of such special effect (these can be done easily in dedicated video editing software).
-No viewfinder, no accessory shoe or “hot shoes” so you can’t insert accessories such as a light or microphone.
-Shooting/recording in low light scenes including indoor light will indeed result in poor images i.e. grainy image. But if you use the custom scene selection, it can improve the recording quality a bit.
-The more light you can give the camcorder’s lens, the better the resulting image.
-It’s hard to increase the level of natural light by using artificial means without harming the resulting picture quality.
-Try some creative ways while shooting i.e. to override the autofocus & autoexposure to achieve different effect e.g. to focus sharp on the subject (portrait) but blur out the background (bokeh).
-To have a great while balance, you can use the customization menu & with the help of CBL or Prolite Full Color/White Balance Lens System with 110mm Disc, will give you nice color balance.
The major advantage & plus point: for those who own HDTVs (plasma or LCD) & compatible AVCHD Blu-ray players, capturing all images & important events in FULL HD & later burn them into regular blank DVDs (no expensive Blu-ray disc!) for storage purpose & can be viewed in all its FULL HD glory is an immense experience!
Bundled Software (PMB):
-Simple (bare-bones) & easy to use. It comes with an e-guide. It offers basic manipulation/transferring/rendering i.e. burn to regular blank DVD in either DVD or AVCHD format. It can also convert to MPEG-2 & WMV.
-Limited video editing capability. Those who wish to edit their video at a higher level (or better look) will have to get dedicated video editing software. I’m using SONY Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 (a great companion to CX-100) which offer plenty nice & cool features similar to a professional video. However, some users find it a bit intimidating & the interface isn’t so intuitive at first. Though I had used other video software before, I still find this a bit confusing initially, but after going thru some of the built-in tutorials & a few days practicing, I was able to proceed with my video editing with improved work flow. You could try other software as well e.g. Pinnacle 12, AVS Video Editor, etc.
Last Words:
-Get a couple of DVD-RW or DVD+RW so that you can practice/experimenting your movie editing/burning without worrying about the regular blank DVD discs cost & wastage. This is also a good way to try out & see the video quality difference in various formats & to verify which format that can playback in your Blu-ray & DVD player, PC or laptop.
-Since I’m only own a 720p HDTV, thus my handycam HD quality setting is HDSP which is more than sufficient & able to record much longer HD footage.
-Also, do share your favourite captured videos & memorable events by uploading to the popular Youtube HD so that your friends & relatives around the globe can witness them all….Have fun!
Good Cam
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Simply wonderful cam
I did not find week point in it except there is no infra-red for night mode, battery life is almost 2 hours
otherwise I do not have any comment.
Sony HDR-CX100 on vacation.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camcorder to take on my vacation. It takes great videos. The small size made it easy to carry around. You can see videos created with the Sony HDR-CX100 at the following link.
[...]youtube mirkop62
Videos were edited with Final Cut Express 4 on a 17″ MacBook Pro.
HiDef in a pocket-sized camcorder
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera as an upgrade to my Sony TRV-22 mini-DVC SD camcoder. It’s only day two but here are my first impressions:
- my first usage of the camera was at night in my living room. There’s LOTS of noise under low light conditions. I’m comparing this to the TRV-22 which performs excellently under the same conditions. That’s my only negative comment.
- It is truely amazing that you can get HiDef recording out of a device small enough to fit in your (baggy) jeans pocket. And it is extremely lightweight. I’ll be carrying the camcorder around with me much more than I’ve done with my past camcorders.
- The built-in lens cap seems trivial but is great since you never have to worry about losing it.
- The smooth slow motion capture is a lot of fun. My kids loved acting silly for 3 seconds and then watching their antics played back in slow motion. I could see this being a great tool for capturing stunts or sports activities (with a little luck on the timing).
- Under outdoor lighting conditions and HiDef recording, the picture played back on my SD TV is the sharpest camcorder image I’ve ever captured. I don’t have an HD TV yet so I can’t comment on how it looks there. But I’m very impressed with the video quality for my needs.
- I’m not a fan of loading new software on my PC everytime I buy a new gadget. So I was extremely happy that I could just plug in the camera to my USB port, and then copy the .mts files over in Windows, and then edit those files using Pinnacle Studio 11. Without reading the manual I had my first HiDef video file edited and created in a matter of minutes. Thanks for keeping it simple, Sony.
- I then installed the PMB software and played with that, but I’ll probably uninstall it. It seems like it has some nice bells and whistles, but the analyze operation took longer than the file copy operation. And I have my own software for authoring and burning DVDs, so I don’t see the value added.
So in conclusion this camcorder is easy to use, extremely compact, and interfaces nicely with my PC. The only downside is the low-light performance, but I’m willing to overlook that based on the camcorder’s other strengths.
IT IS MAC COMPATIBLE
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
So far, so good. Very small, light weight. Is a bit dark, but in good light works great. Pictures don’t seem to be 4mb. Appear grainy on computer screen.
It DOES automatically upload on my mac with imovie 9 and iphoto 9.
Good price for good camera.
Biggest drawback – the lens cover does not close automatically.
Don’t buy it until Amazon finalize its price
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this camcoder on late of July 2009. The price was $445.
Less than one week later, the price drop it $431.
Who know the price is going to drop again in the following week or not.
bad camera cx100
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
i purchased two of the cx100 cameras new thru amazon one seems to work just fine and the other came straight out of the box with a code flashing when you turned it on saying send back to mfg for repair. i think i should have received a new camera. now i have payed for a defective piece of equipment. not sure what amazons policys are but i will be looking into it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QWEZLG/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title
It’s just OK guys!!!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I thought this would be a big winner to replace my old Panasonic DV camcorder.
However, I guess this is what you get for ~$450.
Pros:
- Excellent picture quality in daylight
- Pretty cool smile/face detection and tracking
- Super light and small
- Quick to start
Cons:
- Questionable quality indoors, can get very grainy
- Highest HD quality (FH) is limited to ~60min of recording on built-in memory/8G Stick
- Charging is a pain!!! since it has to be done through the camera. better independent charger is extra
- Software to watch/export movies is painful
Easy to use, good quality, but wish it better lens/zoom capabilities
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I really like this camcorder because the image quality is great and it’s sooooo easy to use. I love that the flip-out viewing screen is a touch screen and allows you to access the menus, etc.
What is disappointing is that you can’t be closer than 6-7 feet away from your main subject or the focus is bad and/or you can’t fit the whole person/object in the screen. This makes it difficult to get a good video if you’re indoors in a small or medium sized room. Of course, Sony offers lens adapters and wide angle lenses (i.e.Sony VCL-DH0774 74mm 0.75x Wide Conversion lens for Sony DSC-H7/H9 Digital Still Cameras) for this camcorder that you can buy at an extra cost ($100-$200). I think they purposely designed the “standard” lens this way so you’d shell out the money to buy the extra equipment. I wish they’d just put a better standard lens on this thing.
Excellent Camcorder for the price Sony HDR-CX100
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Sony HDR-CX100 is an excellent camcorder for the price. The video quality is outstanding. This camcorder is very easy to use. I would highly recommend this camcorder. The price that I paid on Amazon was less expensive, than anywhere else that I could find. It was easy to order, and I received the camcorder sooner than I expected. Thanks for the great service Amazon. I enjoyed shopping with you.
Great for outdoors, not so good otherwise
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Recently bought this camera with same results as review by E. Sharon. Great for outdoors in good light, otherwise it is so grainy you might as well not bother with HD. Even with 100 W light bulb in a 10 x 10 room, picture was so grainy I thought the product was defective. I brought the camera back to the store, and one of the salespeople said that that was pretty much going to be the picture quality with such a small sensor size. I then returned the camera for a CX 12, which was head and shoulders above the quality of this camera, which it should be given the higher price point and larger sensor. Overall, it’s a great camera outdoor use, however I would not recommend it for indoor use. If you need a camera that works indoors and in lowlight, go with the CX 12. Hope this is helpful.