Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only)

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

We decided to purchase this to supplement our 5D work at weddings and to replace an aging XHA1. The touch screen is both great and difficult. Great because for Focus and Exposure it is incredibly easy to set manual focus in no time flat. With items in the menu it is difficult to locate quickly.

Love the sensor and depth of field and control over focus and minimal noise even dark situations. Dynamic range and really great for this price range of camera.

The lens and choice of lens for the E-mount is a drawback. with max aperture of 3.5 and in full zoom at 6.3 it challenges the camera in dimly lit reception halls.

The A-Mount adaptor is nice but it eliminates the availability of Sony's image stabilization or Steady Shot.

Even if the len's Aperature is 3.5 or larger such as a 1.8 the camera defaults to 3.5. I have heard it is due to focus but even in manual we have not been able to get it to recognize.
Final note

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

I use this camera for commercials

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

I use it for commercials & music videos, it has professional features at a great price

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

I use this camera for professional work on a TV show here in Puerto Rico and this is a dream to work with compared to my DSLR's. I cant believe more people have not talked about this camera on the internet. If you are thinking of getting a DSLR because of shallow depth of field and low light performance this camera does that and so much more then a DSLR.

So much to talk about but just some points.

What this has over DSLR:

view finder
zebra
focus peaking
6 hours battery life with extended battery
continuous recording up to 16 hours
easy to hold like (its a real camcorder)
Great audio
headphone monitoring...and more

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

At this price range and for what it built to be it is a great little camera. We are using it as a a camera B for our Sony FS100. It matches up well and with the NEX to FD lens adapter we have some great pieces of glass on this little camera.

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

I was only working with dslr, making wedding clips, but brides and customers started asking for fullwedding footage, my dslr can not shoot more than 10 minutes, vg20 and the solution was still to use all my set of lenses.

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

Hint to any vg20 owners, if you hold the manual button it brings up a menu to customize the button without touching the screen.

Have been pretty impressed using the photodiox? nikon adapter and 70-300mm & 10-24mm lenses. Adapter is kind of sloppy though and does have some play, picture quality is good just worried about wear.

Looks ridiculous with 300mm extended!

Currently tested importing 1080p @ 24fps full frame hd with iMovie on 13" mac pro. Surprisingly good performance doing basic editing.

Import using cheap transcend cards was little over 2x realtime (1 min video, 20-30 sec).

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

Wow! This little camera delivers some awesome features at a low price. True - it's not a professional camera like the FS100 or F35. It's lightweight, not super sturdy, and lacks professional jack packs. But the still and video performance from the Exmor CMOS is excellent. Low light performance is unbelievable. Noise is noticeable at high gain, but like the other cameras in higher price brackets, it looks nice! I'm still wondering why more low budget film and video pros aren't flocking to this camera and the SLT series HDSLRs - they consistently deliver excellent video and stills, in my opinion beating out Canon and Nikon for features (especially audio quality, moire, and cooling/overheat performance). Auto focus and exposure work consistently and well. Unlike the many many DSLRs I have shot with, this thing accepts AC power and does not overheat. I shot an hour long concert with no problems! LCD monitor and eyepiece are solid - much better than strapping on all of that aftermarket junk.
Did I mention that the HDMI signal is clean and apparently pre-compression? ;)
I'm also using A-mount (with the LA-EA2), EF mount, MD mount for excellent results. See my review of the LA-EA2 for details though.

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

This is my first tape-less and HD camera. The biggest surprise for me was lack of a rocker button for zooming and the limited zoom of the 18-55 mm lens I bought to go with it. I was spoiled by one-lens-does-all camcorders. However, the pluses to interchangeable lenses are many and I look forward to getting money for more.

Like any camera, it takes time to get used to the navigation. I'm starting to like the controls for aperture, shutter speed, and gain.

Adding an xlr adapter to the bottom of the camera made it fit my hand better and gives the package a more impressive look (it's quite small).

I like it, and think it capable of producing fine work. I don't like the way it creates a new file every time you hit the pause button. I found it easy to wind up with 35 files after a roving interview session, then I have to rename each file on the computer to keep them straight.

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

What a long hard road and expansive it has been being a photography and video professional. The Sony NEX-VG20 is one of the ultimate cutting edge tools for the videographer. I have only had this camera a short time and have not really been able to give it a true litmus test yet. Not too long ago I purchased a NEX-VG10 and the features that camera was missing are in the NEX-VG20. It would have been great if there was an upgrade for the NEX-VG10 but with the release of the NEX-VG20 that doesn't look like that is going to happen.

The camera takes outstanding photographs and great video. The quality of the "E" mount lenses is outstanding. The quality of construction is on a professional level for this size of video camera.

There are two things they could have done to make this camera even a better product. The first one would to have given it XLR audio inputs and the second would have been power zoom.

The next comment I would like to make is about B&H Photo. Every time I have called with a technical inquiry about a piece of photographic equipment there is always someone with the knowledge and expertise to address my question. Furthermore it has always amazed me how well that there next day shipping works. It actually costs less to have a product shipped across the United states than to drive some 80 miles to the local camera store.

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

I own the NEX-VG10 also and like many others was disappointed with the lack of features. There are quite a few online forums where others have voiced their complaints and Sony listened! With the NEX-VG20 Sony addressed almost every single complaint and made a truly awesome video camera! The picture quality is amazing and rivals that of Canon DSLRs. The e-mount lenses are exceptional. The real difference between this camera and a pro version is the lack of XLR inputs, programable buttons (only has one and is limited in function) and size/shape/weight. It has almost all the features of the NEX-FS100 but you have to access these features through tough-screen navigation rather than dedicated buttons....shouldn't be an issue for most people.

Comments about Sony NEX-VG20 Interchangeable Lens HD Handycam Camcorder (Body Only):

I found this camera to have nice improvements over its predecessor (especially when using manual lenses). I love the depth of field that you get here (note that you might need to add an ND filter to your lens - it requires physical ND filters). I already liked Sony VG-10, this camera is even better.