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1. 

   Robert Kaneshi
   April 5th, 2010 - 03:37

   Update:
   
   i’m not so good at reviews, but i’ll try to mention the important things
   
   So i used my camera to record two events, both in club settings in pretty low light, and outdoors at night and i am happy with the results.

   I got a lot of shots outdoors under the street lights and the quality was so good. Indoors with regular lighting was also just as good. I filmed a DJ at the club and the only light was coming from his laptop and it was clear and nice. Strobe light didn’t give me great shots but that’s ok, if there’s some kind of external light that was compatible with this i’d get it. the hdr-cx150 doesn’t have a hot shoe or anything.

   Walking around and filming was smooth as long as you’re not bouncing up and down and swinging the camera everywhere. And it was small enough to put in my jacket pocket when i wasn’t using it.

   The sound recording was good too. Any filmed conversations were clear, and the loud music didn’t so bad either.

   The 60fps Smooth Slow Record, is really cool looking and good quality except if you’re in a low light light area it gets pretty dark and would need some lightening up in a video editor or something. i used iMovie ’09 and got decent results. Also, it’s only limited to 12 seconds, but that’s more than enough to get some cool shots.

   Photos are ok, but not great. i have a NikonD90, so i dont really care about the picture mode. It’s funny because i was trying to record films with my d90 and it sucked so bad because it was shaky and the sound recording was awful. The cx150 is a thousand times better for filming (obviously) and the nikon is a thousand times better for pictures (and a lot more expensive)

   The menu wasn’t too hard to figure out and you can customize what 6 menu selections you want to see in the quick mode for both recording and playback. i chose smooth slow mo for one of my choices.

   The built in 16 gigs of memory was enough for me to film all the important parts of my night with lots of space left over. Filming HDFX and 1080p (The highest quality) gives you about 90 something minutes. That didn’t seem like a lot of time at first, but after editing i only used about 4 minutes for every half an hour i filmed.

   This camera is awesome.
   
   You can check out the video i made of that night on youtube.
   
   it’s just a silly video but it has examples of what most people wonder about. (except day time filming haha)
   
   there are some bad quality moments, like when the only light i had was a strobe light. or when i was using the smooth slow record, but you can see that their are good parts too.
   
   i got to upload in 720p, it was my first video (for the most part) so i’m not sure how to get it to be 1080p, maybe that happens in the editing

   [..]

   ———
   
   I just bought this from amazon (at a good price) and so far so good. i haven’t really had a chance to make any good videos but from so far the quality seems good. good stabilization and low light. check youtube for sample videos, that’s what sold me on this camera.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. 

   Frank Skomial
   April 5th, 2010 - 06:26

   I am nicely surprised by the quality of video in less than perfect lighting condition.
   
   For comparison, I also use JVC Everio X that has 1/2.3″ size sensor, that is much larger surface than the 1/4″ size of CX150, and costs nearly twice.

   The noise in Sony is much better supressed, and the smaller sensor allows the 25X zoom.
   
   None of them is a “pro” camcorder, but the 1920 x 1080 quality is great for pocket size device.

   One problem is that the CX150 recognized inserted a 30 MB/s 16 GB SDHC Sandisk Extreeme card, and allowed formatting, but I do not see the menu to switch recording, like if the card was not inserted ???
   
   Possibly ??? it will use the card after the built-in memory is used up ? – just a guess. I will try original Sony card, next.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. 

   bob is everywhere
   April 5th, 2010 - 07:56

   I paid, after shipping, $489.99. For that price, this camera is worth it. It lacks certain features you would find on the more costly camcorders. There is no optical image stabilization, only steady-shot. No night shot, no external light, no remote… I can take about 2 hours of video on the highest setting. Battery life is about the same (2 hrs). The sound seems pretty decent, although, nothing to write home about. Video quality is average. Nothing amazing. Images arent quite as sharp as I’ve seen on higher-end Sony’s. I viewed files on my 46″ Sony LCD and the video quality wasn’t what I hoped for. It looks better on smaller screens. The videos were presented in 1080p only when played back through the camcorder. For just average consumers who are looking to play video that fills up their T.V. screens, and do it on a budget, this would probably be a suitable choice. If video quality is a major selling point for you, I don’t recommend camera. I guess what can you expect for $489.99?

   !!!!!UPDATE!!!!!! 03/31/2010

   After taking this camcorder outside on a beautiful spring day, I must say, in environments with good lighting (outside), the video quality appears to be a lot better. It definetly makes it worth the price. You WILL need a tripod or some form of mounting device to keep the image stable. This thing is lite, as I’ve stated previously. There is no weight to counter any jiddering or wobble your arm/hands makes when operating. I must say that I am overall pleased with this product. I still stand by everything I said before the update.
   Rating: 3 / 5
4. 

   Stephen T. Crye
   April 5th, 2010 - 09:20

   I bought this camera on Monday, had fun with it for two days, and then returned it. Although I can’t afford it, I then closed my eyes and ordered the HDR-CX550V. I basically went from the bottom of the Sony consumer class to the top in one fell swoop.

   Things I liked about the CX150:
   
   * FABULOUS quality in adequate light. The video in 24 Mbps mode is stunning. Search YouTube for examples. Every hair on my cat, dust particles in sunlight, it all shows up with beautiful resolution. It’s amazing. Almost Blu-Ray quality. You won’t find any consumer-class camcorder with better quality.
   
   * 25x zoom , when used with a tripod, lets you get really close
   
   * “macro” works without any special settings. Just put the lens an inch away and it will focus. Resolves fingerprints.
   
   * Amazingly tiny. With no hard drive or tape drive, the unit is frighteningly small. You can put it and all the cables + charger in a camera case designed for a DSLR + telephoto
   
   * PMB software works, has good basic editing. Used it to grab frames from movies – almost don’t need the “still” function if 1990×1080 res is good enough.
   
   * It will take a 32GB memory stick, even though the feature list says they only support 16.
   
   * The touch screen is responsive
   
   * “touch the object” spot focus, spot white balance is cool
   
   * Give it the NP-FV70 battery and it will record for hours and hours

   Things I either did not like or features missing (by “missing” I realize that you have to pay more). Don’t mistake the length of my ‘cons’ list as hating the little guy – it’s a good camera for what it is designed to be.
   
   * A bit pricey. I think it is worth about $450.00, not the $549.00 list
   
   * No wide-angle. I wish Sony had made the lens go from slightly wide-angle to about 15x, instead of from normal to 25x.
   
   * No external mic input
   
   * No hot shoe – not even the Sony proprietary one
   
   * Zoom motor noise is very audible in quiet settings – don’t expect to use this camera to record acoustic orchestral music in concert halls
   
   * The “smooth slow-mo 240 fps” is NOT HD 1080i60 quality. Might be OK at 720, but I found it disappointingly blurry. I’d love to see it have the same capability as the Casio EX-FX1 (not holding breath)
   
   * Not enough buttons – too much reliance on the touch screen. I prefer buttons to scrolling through menus. Sony could fix this by providing more than 6 “my menu” choices.
   
   * Auto focus works good most of the time, but when it gets confused it is horrible. Combine that with no quick focus wheel and it is a recipe for loosing shots
   
   * Picture mode is not available in 24 Mbps HD mode.
   
   * The electronic stabilization does not work. I’ve grown used to optical stabilization in my DSC-H50 and there is no going back.
   
   * Short of using something like the Black Rapid Straps Fasten-R2 screwed into the tripod shoe, there is no way to attach a neck strap. I almost dropped it several times.
   
   * The plastic housing is sensitive to noise – any little touch while recording will show up as sound in the video.
   
   * No windscreen for the mics. Combine that with no external mic capability and you won’t be able to hear anything in windy conditions.
   
   * No remote
   
   * No “night shot” infrared
   
   * Low light performance is what you would expect from a small lens size. All the electronics in the world can’t fully compensate for glass area.

   Summary: if you want a fairly cheap, tiny camera for shooting GREAT quality vids of vacations, the kids and the pets, this is an excellent choice. Want to do more, and you will need to pay more for a better unit. Just want to help other people avoid my experience of being a bit disappointed and having to trade up.
   Rating: 4 / 5
5. 

   JFLY
   April 5th, 2010 - 10:05

   The video quality is great! The touchscreen is very easy to use, the internal memory is great! This is a better buy than the HDR-CX110 which has no internal memory.
   
   The camera is very small which I love, it fits perfectly in my pocket. It turns on when you open the screen and it turns off when you close the screen, very convenient.
   
   The zoom works great and the steadyshot feature is very good and it really works.
   
   If you set the camera to manual focus you can touch the subject on the screen that you want the camera to focus on, very cool.
   
   Overall I love this camera because the video quality and of its size.
   Rating: 5 / 5

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