Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

The video is stunning. Its light weight, has good battery life, super quick start up,exceptional image stabilization and totally raises the bar on low light shooting. My only complaint is the menu is not very intuitive, for which I deducted one star. But all the auto features do a great job of getting you up and running in less than 60 seconds. I'll figure the menus out later. I also uploaded some video to You Tube and it is some of the best quality I have seen anywhere on the site. No complicated conversions just upload the file in its native format.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

The camera was used to capture in HD very memorable and special events.
Performance was above and beyond what was expected. Easy to operate.
No real cons with this camera

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

The camera would be fine except there is no viewfinder and therefore will be returned. For the casual user the viewfinder wouldn't be missed but in order to video at night or at a public venue and having to rely on the LCD only is not the way to go.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

I love the small size, the ease of use and the picture quality. Its a great camera.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

I bought my second Sony camcorder after 8 yrs!! First one (Mini DV) is working fine but picture on my LCD TV was grainy so upgraded to HD camcorder with flash memory. Was on fence for last about 8 months and considered/researched all kind of available HD cameras. Looked at Canon, Panasonic and Hitachi but finally settled on this one when the price was right! Looked at prosumer cameras but found them to be big, bulky and heavy - so can't hand over to wife or teenager!
This is a very handy camera which is light, small and performs very well. Has a good shake control when recording while walking. I tried it at my recent Universal studio vacation and daytime and bright colored movies are very nice and clear. Evening and night time - dark and grainy. Also, no back light and no eye piece. LCD performed fair in bright light - so be careful in bright daylight. To see the full potential you must record at full HD capacity (which reduces recording time to about 7+ hrs) AND connect via HDMI cable or else you may not appreciate true potential. Menues are not easy to navigate but you can setup frequently used buttons in to main menu. Did not use manual controls so can't speak for that.
Still camera is OK if you don't want to lug around an extra camera but picture quality is fair. For a serious photographer, this is not a good option. Flash is very poor as there is NO setting for Red-eye reduction, so all the pictures with flash have redeyes and if you are close enough, pictures are washed/extra bright - means more work on photoshop later!!
Overall good camcorder for the intended use as a family camcorder. May look in to Sony's DVD recorder where you can copy to DVD's without carrying your laptop.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

I am just starting to learn how to use the camera so I haven't used all of its features yet. I use the camcorder primarily to record dance classes. Things I like are -easy and quick 'ON' feature, -zoom is fantastic, -good quality videos in modest light settings, -ability to walk around the room while videoing and recording stable videos, -ability to record to either memory card or built-in flash memory, -long battery life, and -compact size. The menu seems to have too many choices, but it may be because I am still learning how to navigate around it.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

When paired with HD quality cable and TV, the picture of the video is super sharp. The still picture, however, is not as good. I would not use this in place of my camera.

Although the camcorder itself is a great product, the software that came with the camcorder is very limited in regards to the editing capability. You can cut but you can't paste. I'm yet to learn to use a separately purchased software to edit my videos into a home movie. It also takes forever to burn a DVD using the software. I bought a DVDirect instead.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

I consider myself an advanced point-and-shoot video enthusiast. I always shoot hand-held, and don't like to make a bunch of adjustments as I shoot. My previous camcorder was a Panasonic GS250, which took great video (not HD, of course) and very good stills, and never required manual adjustments for good performance.

I was able to directly compare the Sony 520 (which I bought) with a Pansonic TM300 (which I returned). The Canon's video is superior to both, but its poor stabilization was a deal-breaker for me. Overall, an informal test panel of friends deemed the Sony picture much smoother and more pleasing overall than the TM300 when viewed on our 46" Sony XBR4 screen. Keep in mind that I'm hoping for good video in the default or auto settings. I may be shorting the Pana, but I didn't have the patience to find settings that worked better than the Sony.

I had hoped that the Sony would have good color and light balance in its defaut settings. That's what they're known for. But in my opinion, that's not the case with this Sony. To get maximum performance, I've found the need to adjust the white balance and/or exposure for different shooting conditions. I consider this a big minus. Sonys in the past have been famous for good totally-automatic shooting. Not this one. In the defaut settings, detail is lost in shadow areas, and colors are too dark. To get detail in shadows, you'll need to push the exposure a notch. The Sony's default picture settings are hot. Hotter than a 3CCD Pansonic. And Pana pictures often take a rap for being too hot.

I had also hoped for somewhat sharper video. On the plus side, I find the video of motion scenes to be much smoother than the Panasonic TM 300. Perhaps Sony's smoothness processing and stabilization reduces a bit of sharpness?

The Sony LCD is nice and large, but washes out in bright light, even with the color adjustments run up high. Indoors, it's a pleasure to use. The Panasonic's, though smaller, works better outside.

The low light performance of the Sony is just amazing. I get great video in normal room light, with excellent color balance and little noise. The low lux setting will give nice, fairly low noise color at night if just a modest amount of light is present.

I've found battery life to be excellent, though the amount I've had to turn up the LCD display does shorten the life of a charge.

The menu system is baffling, illogical and downright annoying. A month into ownership, I've had a hard time figuring out how to set up the "My Menu" system. And you WILL want to set it up, because simple functions like turning the flash off are buried in a interminable single menu that includes all functions. Logic would seem to suggest that functions be arranged under "movie," "stills" and "playback" sections. Not here. Plus, you have to go through "My menu" to get to the desired function, and I often end up inadvertently adding a function to "My menu" when I only intended to make a one-time change.

The thumb wheel control for several oft-used functions is a nice idea, but hard to use while shooting. And the wheel is too skinny to thumb. And there's no mention in the instructions that holding the button down a few seconds will bring up a munu of options.

Stills on the 520 are a major disappointment. I had thought camcorder stills had advanced to an acceptable point, but turns out I was spoiled by the high quality of the stills on my old GS-250. Stills on the 520 aren't even as good as stills on the old GS-250. Color balance and shadows are never quite right, and sharpness is a big disappointment. The TM300 takes excellent stills. It's a shame the TM300 video wasn't as smooth as the Sony. If it had been, it would have been a no-brainer to get another Pana, just to get the superior stills.

I have yet to find a "close up" function that can be used in conjunction with the zoom.

This is my first venture into the 16:9 format, so I don't know if it's common for camcorders to lop off the top and bottom of pictures, but it's annoying. So I bought the high quality Sony wide-angle lens adaptor. It works quite well, though it weighs almost as much as the camcorder.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I have very mixed feelings about the 520. Many people will be happy with the video right out of the box. Others, like me, will buy the Sony hoping for balanced default settings, and find the need for a number of manual tweaks. On the other hand, there are neat, unexpected touches. For example, connected with HTML, my Sony XBR LCD TV comes on, set to the right input. The TV remote controls the camcorder if you like.

Thus far, the 520 is a sort of up and down experience. Poor stabilization makes any HD picture look amateurish, so I can't run with Canon. The Panasonic had great stills and fairly good stabilization, but the video didn't look as smooth on our TV.

Would I urge someone to buy the Sony? That would depend on one's priorities.

My "Yes, I would recommend this" rating is with some reservation, as noted above.

Comments about Sony HDR-CX520V 64GB High Definition Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder:

I used this product and very pleased with it. It exceeded my expectations! Quality is more than great for video and audio too. The only thing is not so great is zoom, because it is only 12x times, but any way I will recommend this camcorder to anybody.