Sony HDR-CX500V Reviews – Excellent video quality

It is been six months since we have had a camcorder from Sony and now they give us HDR-CX500V, HDR-XR520V and HDR-XR500V which come with enhancement over its predecessors. The control layout and interface haven’t been improved much but you probably won’t care much about it because of the high quality video and stellar performance that it offers in a compact design. The two units have different memory sizes but apart from that, they are the same. CX520V has 64GB and CX500V has 32GB of memory. Capablities of these models are the same as their hard disk based counterparts but Sony gives you EVF along with headphone and microphone jacks.

Design:

Sony HDR-CX500V comes with a large lens which is both necessary and excellent. The big lens doesn’t disturb the geometry of the device, it is still compact and will easily fit in to your jacket pocket. The camcorder is well constructed and solidly built. Shooting is comfortable but there were some frustrating operational quirks.

Keys:

In the nook of the LCD, there are disc burn, Night Shot, playback and power buttons and also a GPS switch. Memory Stick Duo slots, USB connectors and mini-HDMI are located under a cover. The layout is traditional but often ended up hitting the buttons while picking up the camcorder. The photo and zoom buttons are located on the camcorder’s top right under you forefinger. The control for zoom is well balanced, it is neither too tight or too loose because of which it is easy to maintain a steady, slow rate. The accessory shoe is hidden under a door which slides. There are no record and zoom buttons on the bezel display, they are inducted in the touch screen instead.

GPS:

Sony camcorders which support GPS have a V against their model number. The GPS in this device hasn’t changed from earlier models. There is in camera geotagging and in built antenna for photos and videos. NAVTEQ’s Class 4 map data is licensed by Sony for maps and link to the GPS satellites. Maps aren’t available for all the locations so check the device before buying it.

Features:

There are lots of features here which are borrowed from previous Sony HDR-CX500V camcorders. Smooth Slow Record gives you slow motion, brief captures which is fun to use. Our only gripe with the SSR is that it needs fast frame rate which in low light is unusable. This model also has Night Shot mode which the manufacturer now puts only in high end camcorder. Finally it also comes with GPS. Looking at all this, we will conclude that the Sony HDR-CX500V isn’t that feature rich at this given price. There are some borrowed ideas from the hard disk versions too, this camcorder has Face Touch for face detection and it also can upconvert to 60p playback when you connect it to a TV through HDMI port. Apart from that, the camcorder does in camcorder down converting to MPEG-2 for direct to DVD transfers.

The G-series 12x zoom lens and Exmor-R back illuminated sensor are the same that we found in XR versions which in turn give the same performance and video quality. They come with Active SteadyShot image stabilization which give you improved stability while you walk. It worked well in our tests. Exposure and focus were responsive. Automatic exposures were darker than we expected, particularly in situations of backlight. This continued even with correction of auto backlight switched on or while using spot exposure. Focusing wasn’t fast in low light but in bright conditions, it went fine. Focus of the lens too was close. Autoexposure and AF systems operate quickly but just like most AF systems, it got confused between the background and foreground objects and this is where the touch screen spot meter and spot focus come in to play. The LCD is only a bit smaller than XR screens but the resolution is very much low and we were frustrated for touch and manual focus.

Video quality:

Video quality of the Sony HDR-CX500V is very good, it is fairly sharp in bright light and there is no substantial aberration or fringing. You will be pleased with the quality even in dim light conditions. Color rendering and automatic white balance is good. Dynamic range in living room light is impressive and there isn’t too much desaturation of color.

Audio quality:

Audio quality of the Sony HDR-CX500V sounds decent too, the mic is sensitive enough but a wind filter here would have been better. Photos are OK, Sony says this camcorder has 12 MP resolution but it is the interpolated one, native resolution is 6 megapixels. Photos look mushy and overprocessed but prints should be decent up to 8×10.

Pros:

Compact design, good performance and quality, geotags for videos

Cons:

No support for SD cards, control layout is awkward, lacks wind filter, no manual shutter speed, audio controls or iris, expensive

Outcome:

Get this camcorder for its excellent video quality and performance.

Specifications

• Sony HDR-CX500V 1080i camcorder
• Digital zoom 150x, Optical zoom – 12x
• Effective sensor resolution 12
• Optical sensor size 1/2.88”
• Minimum illumination 3 lux
• Digital video format MPEG-2 and AVCHD
• Minimum shutter speed – 1/8 second, maximum shutter speed 1/725 second
• Shooting programs – Twilight portrait, Twilight mode, Portrait mode, Spotlight, Landscape, Fireworks, Sunrise, Sunset, Beach and Snow.
• Camcorder Sensor Resolution – 6.631 megapixels
• Camcorder Effective Video Resolution – 4.15 megapixels
• Camcorder Effective Still Resolution – 6 megapixels
• Camcorder Interpolated Still Resolution – 12
• Still Image Format – JPEG
• Memory – 32 GB Flash (Integrated)
• Recording Speed – SP, LP, HQ, FH
• Lens – Zoom lens – 5.5 mm – 66 mm – F/1.8-3.4
• Focal length – 5.5 mm – 66 mm
• Lens aperture – F/1.8-3.4
• Additional features – Dolby Digital 5.1 channel recording, Smile Detection Auto Shutter, Dynamic Range Optimizer, USB 2.0 compatibility, Touch-screen control, Accessories hot shoe,
• Face detection, Built-in GPS.
• Bundled accessories – USB cable, A/V Cable, Component AV cable, Remote Commander, Rechargable battery, AC adaptor.
• Display – 3 inches TFT LCD
• Connectors – Remote control, S-Video output, HDMI output, Component video output, USB, Composite video/audio output.
• Bundled cables – USB, A/V cable.
• Sony NP-FH60 Li-ion rechargeable battery