Sony HDR-XR520VE Handycam Review

May 30, 2009

Though a number of trendy and compact digital cameras are available in the market nowadays but the real joy of movie making comes with a handycam only. And for all those conventional movie makers who still like to roam about in birthday parties and Christmas gatherings with a camcorder in hand, Sony has made another techno-statement with its latest offering, Sony HDR-XR520VE Handy camcorder.

It’s smart and it’s incredible because you can record 101 hours of full HD 1920×1080 video recording in the high bit rate of AVCHD format so you can shoot more videos without deleting the previous ones. It gives a 240GB hard drive along with HYBRID recording on the optional and removable Memory Stick™. It offers new playback features with continuous shooting for 6 hours so that you don’t have to stop or miss any of those beautiful moments.

This wonder gadget is equipped with a highly sensitive Exmore R CMOS sensor which incorporates the image sensitivity by 2x approximately in comparison to the models usually seen in market which guarantees high quality imaging while keeping the noise within control even when the light is low. And this Handycam also consists of the G lens included in Sony handycam for the first time that complements the high resolution of the Exmore high sensor.

One problem that is encountered most frequently in movie making is the difficulty to keep the camera still while you walk around or run but this problem is taken care of very well as Sony HDR-XR50VE has a New Active Mode on the optical steady shot for top end ACVHD HDD models. That acts as “Anti-shake” and helps to make a stable film upto 10 times as compared to the old models available.

And then sometimes the light is too low or too bright, so this is handled well by the Auto Black Light Correction whereas Exposure and D-Range Optimizer settings make shooting of challenging scenes easy. The superb and extremely advanced technology offered by this device also enables you to edit the recorded movies without much hard work thanks to the “Dual Recording” stills and images with your best shots supported by the Highlight playback. Not only this, either you can use the pre-installed tunes or music of your own choice with pre-set scene transitions that enable you to create your own little melodramatic film!

The appliance is equipped with a handful of helping accessories presented in trendy and hip colours including outer cases so that your camera remains unscathed and spare batteries that heighten the filming time when you’re outdoors.

The Geotagging system via GPS, yet another fantastic feature, is added for the first time in any handy camera. Sony HDR-XR520VE includes a receptive GPS receiver that can track you no matter wherever you are on the face of the planet (provided there is satellite coverage) so you don’t get lost while filming wildlife in jungles. Videos and still images are routinely coordinated with location data as you travel along. The Map Index service indicates the location where the video clips were shot which appears as “Map Pins” on the LCD screen. You can also view the whole video by just touching the thumb-nail image corresponding to the clip shot at a particular location shown on the map. appearing on the screen Just touch an on-screen thumbnail image to select a clip from the map and enjoy a world of memories.

The new Sony HDR-XR520VE features Quick Start up and flipping open to LCD will shift you from the Stand by mode to the Ready-to-shoot mode in less than a second that is actually three times faster than the time taken by other previous models! The power utilization is also very low at the Stand-by mode very low power consumption during stand by mode. The Smile Shutter also makes its debut in this handy camcorder which along with Face Detention option makes it easier for the user to capture amazing moments with family and friends without having to fuss about the focus and proper stills.

The price range of this gem is between £ 999.85 – 1199.99 that is the only downside to this deal but when you are talking about quality movie making with improved functions providing you the ease and ultimate joy while you capture the beautiful moments of life, its simply worth it!