Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony HDRXR520VE High Definition Handycam Camcorder With Built-In 240GB Hard Disc Drive (101hrs)

I upgraded from a Sony TG3 High Definition Digital Camcorder as I wanted something with a bit more flexibility and video quality. I'll be keeping the TG3 as a lightweight carry camera and using the Sony HDRXR520VE for serious shooting.

Compared to the TG3 the Sony HDRXR520VE's footage is definitely sharper and less noisy - especially in low light. before buying I was concerned the difference might be too small to notice but in fact it's very clearly better. The quality of photos is also much better - the TG3 produced photos of poorer quality than my mobile phone's digital camera! The Sony HDRXR520VE's photos are much more acceptable - not as good as a image only camera but good enough for holidays snaps.

One tip is to change the default image stabilising from active mode to standard. I was finding in stable situations ( i.e. if I was handholding whilst leaning on a wall ) the active mode actually introduced a slight judder itself!

Active mode stabilising should be used for when walking/running while filming or if in a car or on a boat. Otherwise the standard stabilising seems to work better unless you have particularly shaky hands.

Focusing tip. I've noticed in low light situations ( for example indoors under artificial lights ) the camcorder has some problems focusing especially when zoomed out to wide angle. It often keeps adjusting the focus. This is easily fixed - zoom in half way and let it focus - then press the manual focus wheel button ( at the front ) to fix the focus and then zoom out to wide angle.


Pros:

* Video quality is excellent

* Photo quality good

* Fairly easy to use once you work out the menu structures

* Optional underwater kit useful

* Allows filters - Sony polarising filter is useful

* Mic jack to allow external microphones

* Excellent image stabilising


Cons

* Bulkier than a little mini cam

*A few more buttons to save using menus would be nice

*Some switches recessed and could be easier to use - for example the light sensitivity switch

* Mic suffers from noise even on mildly windy days - though a lot of camcorders do. Either use an external mic ( such as the Sennheiser MKE 400 ) or buy a wind reduction cover such the Stick-On WindCutter ( available cheaply online from the states )

* Menus can take a bit of navigating sometimes. For example changing the level of image stabilising takes a few menu navigations.

Due to luggage restrictions on Ryanair I wanted to downsize from my old and bulky Cannon XM2 (non HD). For simple slow moving subjects the brilliant Sony picture quality improves somewhat on the old Cannon on my 46" tv and the stereo sound is as good. On the downside the Sony image stabilizer barely copes when the Sony 1.7 times telephoto lens is attached so unless the camera can be tripod mounted it is not much use for nature fans. Sadly there is no optical sound output so typical home cinema systems cannot benefit from the surround sound. Amazingly this applies to my 1 year old Bravia outfit which needs HDMI for the picture and optical digital for sound. For fast moving images, even the slowly swirling skirts of third age Canarian dancers, there are image problems. In the case of the dancers the mulicolored vertile stripes on their skirts turn brown (this could be a problem with the television rather than the camera.) Taking pictures from a train window gave the autofocus indigestion. The GPS is a waste of time. Neither Los Christianos nor Playa de Las Americas are on the maps. In Hungary railways are not shown. Overall the camera is brilliant at the simple things but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Dear Friends

Very good camcoder and brilliant still pictures as well. very light in weight and easy features to play around. I think I found best about the machineis the sysn software and how it gets transferred to the computer instantly with no hassles.

So good product over all. No draw back you have to be very still for clicking good still pictures

If you want a High Definition camcorder, with excellent features, tons of space, then this is it.

I looked at a lot of professional reviews on various sites, and each one comfortably gave this camera over 9/10 each time.

I have no complaints with regards to the picture or sound quality, it is simply superb.

It comes bundled with software that allows you to burn HD Discs or SD (standard def) versions of your HD video, and even that looks like its in High Def.

The zoom is extremely powerful, which picks up on amazing detail.

An excellent feature is the "Smile-Capture", which recognises smiling faces during filming then takes an automatic 12 Megapixel picture.

We used this at my 30th Birthday party last month and it truly did capture a lot of happy moments.

As usual the camera comes with a standard 1 year warranty with Sony.
But to be safe, I extended that to 5 years (unlimited claims), with Domestic & General.

The camera itself is very small, as Dr Brown said in Back to the Future, "Amazing, a portable television studio".

Read the professional reviews online, then make the right choice.

I bought this camcoder few days ago and i'm still fascinated about amazing picture quality on my samsung full HD tv and great 5.1 sound. Low condition shots are good, nightshots as well. Battery is just for 1h - 1,5h of working so you must buy more powerfull battery. It's an expensive camcoder and sony should put into a box mini hdmi cable and external charger but it's a still very good purchase.