Movies play on other media players but on Windows Media Player there is no sound. I called Sony and they said that it was "Microsoft's problem", but I disagree, it is their CUSTOMER'S PROBLEM and they refused to help. Stay clear of this quirky pos.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Prior to ordering my camcorder I read all the negative reviews. While I appreciate that they warned me about the poor image quality under low light conditions, I was a little surprised that the camera even recorded under low lighting at all. Mind you, I am upgrading from a behemoth of Sony VHS camcorder that I bought in 1998, which just flat out wouldn't record in a dimly lit room without the lamp on (which also discharged the battery at 3x the speed of normal use), so my expectations are ,,, to say the least,,, much lower than most on low light recordings.
As soon as I got the camera I started testing the lighting requirements for recording. I started out in regular HD on an overcast day indoors and found that in a 20x14 foot room with 3 60 watt bulbs and all but one of the blinds closed on 3 windows I could record with moderate graininess but with surprising quality compared to my ancient camcorder under the same conditions.
I moved into my garage which had a small north facing window for a 20x20 garage and one 60 watt bulb. The graininess increased but surprisingly, I could even see the objects in the dark portions of the garage that were otherwise covered in shadow.
I moved outside on an over cast day and the quality was unbelievable.
When night fell, I recorded my wife in our 14x14 foot kitchen lit by 2 75 watt bulbs and one 60 watt bulb and the quality was again very impressive. I'm talking see the weave of the fabric on her shirt from 11 feet away with a little zoom quality.
Note that all lighting was florescent light, which in my experience tends to wash out color and the wattage I indicated for each shot is the equivalence to incandescent lights, not the actual wattage on the bulbs which are significantly less.
Using the camera for me was very easy. It felt intuitive to me, the buttons to record and zoom were fairly similar to my ancient cam. What I really liked was the size and weight of it. Man try carrying my other Sony cam around on your shoulder for an hour! This one fits in the palm of your hand and the lens cover is built in. Thats a good thing cause I lost my other cams lens cover a month after I bought it and had to buy another and lost that too.
The software is a snap to install and use.
I'm not into plugging in mics and lamps into the cam. I did that a couple of times with the ancient camcorder I have and learned they were just a big pain in the posterior so that doesn't bother me at all either. I do wish the user guides were written a little better though but besides that I'm stoked!
I didn't like dealing with Ace Digital Photo though. I paid for 1 day expedite and they sent it 3 day select. It barely got here before I went out of town and they never contacted me about reimbursing my money for the a shipping option I never got.
Oh yeah, and it should have come with the HDMIC cable instead of the component.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
This camera is lightweight and user-friendly. The only problem is that the picture quality is BAD in low light/indoors. The picture quality is extremely grainy for highest quality HD recording. For the outdoors it is great.
The other trouble with it is that you MUST use the provided software in order to create a movie, view, etc and the program isn't necessarily user-friendly.
Question for those of you who bought this camera, what blank HD DVD disc did you buy? I want to make sure I buy one that will work well. Please let me know.
Thanks!Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Love the camera with the exception of 2 things.
Lower lighting creates a very poor resolutions - looks grainy.
Outdoor lighting gets the full HD effect and looks GREAT!
Suggest using artificial lighting for indoor shots.
No External Microphone input. I use a wireless microphone for interviews and web videos. This camera does not support it but i plan to install a input jack to the current mic connection (Voids warranty and do not recommend)
Battery life is great, Bought a 32GB memory card and has been able to hold everything I am shooting to date! Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
After much researching the "right" camcorder, I definitely picked the one for me. I wanted a camcorder to record my brand new baby girl's life growing up especially to send to her grandparents who live out of state. I've always been more of a still photography enthusiast and didn't know much about video. In researching, my main criteria was image quality, low-light quality, memory storage, and portability for a good price. The Sony HDR-CX100 encompasses all of those criteria for me. This camcorder only has 8GB of internal memory, but the ability to add a Memory Stick for added storage. I wish it had more internal memory, but it's amazing how much video you can store even at mid-range HD quality (3 HD quality settings, 1 SD setting).
The low-light quality is truly amazing. In low lighting that definitely sucks for still photography, the HDR-CX100 somehow absorbs all surrounding lighting to lighten up the image. This is ideal when I want to record my daughter sleeping which would be low light. And, this is also good in auditoriums where it is dark but the stage is lit up.
If you're looking for a first time camcorder that is very easy to use, HD quality, and extremely portable, this is for you.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I don't have a lot to add over what has already been said by other reviews, except to confirm that the picture quality degrades rapidly with decreasing light levels. In good light, the picture is jaw-dropping excellent (played back on a 50" Sony HDTV), but in dim interior lighting, it can be just about as shockingly awful. My best advice is to turn on every light in the room and surrounding rooms. If that doesn't do it for you, upgrade the wattage of the bulbs. My reference point for low light performance is a Sony mini-dv cam form 2002, which was pretty good in low light - better than the CX100, actually.
Battery life with supplied battery is pretty poor. I got the bigger capacity Lenmar from Amazon and it works great. Grab yourself a 16G MS Pro Duo while you're at it.
I dinged the usability by a star, because even after 4 months of a lot of use, I find the menus on this cam to be awful. I have only had Sony cams, so it's not like I'm a newbie. I'm sure I'll eventually be used to it, but still...
One great thing if you have a PS3 - just burn a data DVD with the .MTS video files from the camcorder and stuff it in the PS3 to play it back. The quality is simply amazing.
Overall, this is a great camcorder, and the low light performance is the only issue which occasionally makes me wonder if I should have spent the extra money for the CX500. Now that the price on the CX500 has dropped significantly below msrp, I probably would have gone ahead and spent the money to upgrade. Having to buy a 16G MS puts the price much closer to the CX500, since it has 32GB built in, and it has the EXMOR-R backlit sensor which improves the low light performance significantly.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
It is easy to use - open the screen and start shooting and get clear video footage. It is a basic HD Camcorder with not many advance features. The smile capture photo technology during video capturing is a very nice to have, but the photo it captured is only in 2 mp. At night, the indoor captured video quality is bad and you should expect it before making purchase. The DVD archive process is simple, easy to use, but takes long time to burn a DVD so be warned (2 1/2 hour to burn either an HDAVD or regular DVD). The HDAVD disc played on PS3 but not on regular DVD player. Overall, I like this camcorder. It fits my budget for now, and this Sony camcorder is small enough to carry it around. Last comment, if you are used to the feature of automatic lens cover, you might not like this camcorder. I have an older cannon camcorder with a manual lens cover, and I still wish this Sony camcorder comes with automatic lens cover. Price paid: around $340 (i think).
Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I purchased this camera on Amazon for $325 on sale. I was impressed with it's small size and it's great quality in good lighting.
I ended up sending the camcorder back for a full refund because:
1. TERRIBLE in low light - and I mean terrible. It would not even register the signal where my old Digital 8 Sony camera would show a picture
2. There is no setting to improve the low light. No nightshot setting at all. You will NOT be able to film around a campfire with any decent result or fireworks, etc
3. The so called 2.3 Megapixel stills while shooting video are useless. The smile shutter got some GREAT shots but the quality is so low that you can not use them.
4. There is no ability to add ANY accessories. That means no light, no mic, no headphone, nothing. Take what you get with this camera and that is it.
5. The HD Compression on this camera can not be edited by your regular editing software. I use Premiere Pro (high end software) and even it will not accept the HD signal for editing. So you need to convert down to MPEG which means you are not getting final HD quality anyways. This is a problem with many current HD Camcorders so I can't say this is just unique to this camera. However, you will need to spend additional $$ to get software if you want to edit.
To sum up I will agree that for around $350 you get a decent camcorder here. However if you, like me, would like to keep your camcorder for many years to capture many memories in many different situations, look somewhere else. While this camcorder offers some good features and great quality under perfect lighting conditions (outdoors), it fails to be a great camera "all around".
I have no low price camcorder to recommend as I have decided to save up and budget more for my purchase. You get what you pay for I guess...
Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black)
For the price, this is a remarkable camcorder. The HD (1080i) quality is acceptable when played back on "standard" size screens. However, there is some pixalation when played on my Samsung 61" DLP TV.
The major drawback is the lack of a light. As such, it is difficult to get good quality in poor light conditions. Also, there is sometimes a focusing problem which seems to require a "rebooting" (closing and reopening the viewfinder)in order to correct. This is quite annoying and inconvenient at times.
However, the sound quality is quite good on this machine.
When taking still shots, one must remember to hold the viewfinder in order to stablize the camera.
Finally, the software that comes with the camcorder is quite interesting. Although I have not used all of the options, I did notice that Sony presumes to know what I would like to do, before letting me decide to "creep before I walk." Some of the default features might become annoying.
I have had this camcorder for less than a month, but I am considering returning it in order to upgrade to one that has a night light. I find this to be a major short-coming, as indoor footage, shot under normal room lighting at night, is simply unacceptibly poor. I wish Sony had made a night shot light, even if it had to be bought as an accessary.
I also bought the carry case for this product, but I found the case to be far too cumbersome. I like the portability of the camera by itself, as it fits neatly into my pants pocket.
Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I ordered this as my wife and I sat in our delivery room waiting to deliver our baby. It came a couple days later, and it's been great. Very easy to start using, which was very important to me - I've never owned or used a camcorder. Here's what I've found after 3 months of usage:
Pros
- Easy to use
- Intuitive set up for those who use computers and digital cameras already
- The screen is big and moveable, so it's easy to film
- Great for use with a baby because it turns on quickly. We've captured many milestones this way, as well as quirky behavior as our baby has gone through different stages
- Picture quality is good for me - I'm not filming a commercial movie. Just footage for family to see as our baby gets older
Cons
- The battery has shown that it weakens. On the second charge, there was slightly less charge in it.
- Need to use specific Sony products, such as memory sticks. This can be more expensive
- Pictures captured using the camera function are not as good as with a camera. They tend to be grainy
- Not good in the dark. The less light you have, the more grainy the picture appears
Additional thoughts:
- If portability is important, buy one with a moderate amount of internal hard drive space, such as this one and download the files to your laptop/external hard drive/writeable DVDs. Use external memory chips for when you are on a trip. We find that this is more than enough space for taping footage of our baby - I think I've used about an hour of footage and not had to use the memory chip yet.
- Battery power seems to be the bottleneck, so consider buying a second battery for trips
- Buy a bag for it, because you will need to store different cords. I have a habit of losing them, so I need somethign other than the box to keep them handy.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
We gave my grandson the Sony CX 100 for Christmas. In a very short time he was not only making great movies in a room with minimum light but making recordings with a Apple laptop that some folks listed as doubtful. He made a great cd movie of out new great grandson with coies for all. I was surprised a the battery life being so long. I could not have been more pleased. Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Pros-
Cool Features like Night Shot and many others
Great size easy to hold in your hand
Amazing Video quality
Great Look To It
Great Price
Cons-
Battery life, but people exaggerate on how bad it is. Really its not that bad just make sure you charge it before using it.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I purchased this camera because of the price, but this camcorder has a "good" with a "bad".
The good:
- Out doors with plenty of light the camera gives fantastic HD video! Even inside IF (and I mean a big if) you have much much light (like outdoors at daytime) the camera will give you a great picture.
-Very small camcorder is great to grab and go. I liked the smallness of it.
-Very easy to use. Just flip open and push record.
-I like the ease of snapping a picture during video taking or still shots.
-Charge held very good, although I did not record a full sporting event or anything like that. Simple family stuff.
The bad:
-Camcorder takes extremely grainy video if inside and not enough light. I was very disappointed in the poor quality. From decent lighting to hardly no lighting, the video was very grainy.
-Wish it had a larger memory (8 gb).
Overall, good camera, but with the poor photo quality indoors I did not want to keep considering the many events that I wanted to record indoors. I sent it back to Amazon for full refund which they refunded the full amount with shipping! A pleasure to do business with Amazon, which is why I have purchased the Sony Handycam HDR-CX500V 32 GB Flash High-Definition Camcorder from them. I am currently using it now and the low light videos are much much better. Obviously, this camera has many bells and whistle with a higher price tag, but was willing to pay the extra to record life moments in all situations with a very good picture. So far this camcorder is outstanding...Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Produces decent video quality. Not great in low-light but definitely acceptable. BETTER THAN Canon HF200 in low light. May be my HF200 was defective but i returned it and got CX100 and i'm glad i did. Extremely user friendly.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
The camcorder is small and can fit the pocket when not in use. But the vedio quality at the low light is torrible. The outside is ok. So you have a bunch of scaniro to shot indoor or low light, it is not for you. Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Loved the camera. Small enough to fit my pocket during a trip to Disney.
Image is great during daylight. I didn't find it to be as bad as another reviewer said during low light situations.
Real full 1080p !
Great Colors.
Buy!Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I ordered this as a gift last Christmas. Amazon online order website said it will be delivered before New Year. It was delivered the next day just in time before Christmas! Looking at the face of the recipient, I could tell Amazon delivered more than a gift, it delivered happiness to the recipient.
The video camera is more than I hoped for. It is easy to use, has excellent clarity and small enough to carry in a pocket. The battery life is pretty decent, more than enough for regular daily use. This video camera is simple to operate although loaded with features to create videos for website posting.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
It's an excellent little camera for the price. The image quality is pretty good.
It's very easy to use. However, this user-friendlyness is achieved by not offering the user some of the features that you would find in a bigger, more expensive camera (like the iris' aperture, so you can control depth of field).
Battery life might be a problem, though; I suggest you to buy an extra battery, maybe one with a longer life.
In summa, you get what you're paying for. It's a small camera that shoots full HD with a pretty decent image quality, with a handy 10x optical zoom, with a good performance in low light conditions, and this is probably what you need to shoot your kid's birthday. But don't expect to find the features that you'd find in a $800 camera.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Very good camera.
Small and simple to use.
High quality image.
Exactly what I was looking for.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I love this Sony video camera! I received it as a Christmas present (thank you Amazon wish list for making it easy for my husband to get "just what I wanted"). It's incredibly compact, easy to use, simple to hook up the HDMI and watch on an HDTV, upload to a computer (much faster than the mini-DV I had before) and to create an AVCHD to play on a blue-ray or Playstation 3 game system. The picture quality is amazing for general outdoor use. Some indoor use is a bit grainier, however it's still better than I expected from other reviews I've read. The frame-by-frame quality is impressive too. I've recorded my horses in action and can see all the nuances of their movement. Same goes for my boys at swim meets. Being able to zoom into their expression after a race from clear across the pool is priceless. I could go on and on even though I still haven't used all the features yet. I love new technology!!! I paid less for this video camera than I did for each of my last four video and digital still cameras. I certainly would recommend this to anyone looking for a great video camera at an affordable price.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I was looking for an easy-to-use camera to record family events, and had my eye on a standard definition Canon when I saw this camcorder. I was a little skeptical of an HD camcorder at this ridiculously low price, but after reading many postive reviews here and elsewhere I decided to give this one a try. So glad I did, especially at the price here on Amazon ... it's not that much more than many non-HD camcorders and the pictue quality I record with this little thing is fantastic. As someone else mentioned, you do need to pan slowly to avoid pixelization, and more light results in a better image, but these things are true of all high definition recorders that don't cost a small fortune. Software installed easily on my Vista operating system. Compare to other HD cameras with similar features and then return to this one and click purchase!
Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I love this cam. It has a good picture quality for home video, although the picture is a little bit fuzzy when recording indoor, unfortunately it doesn't have a night time recording feature. Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
This camera is perfect for what it is - compact, portable, and entry level HD. I have filmed over 10 hours of HD so far (indoors and out) and it has handled everything pretty well. I have not tried sports events yet, but I am guessing that it will handle that as well. I am a Mac man and connecting and dumping the video to my Mac was easy. Be aware that raw HD is huge so be sure you have ample hard drive space for your growing video collection. Zooms well, and very easy to use albeit's a little small in my big hands - wife can use it fine. The only downside I have seen so far is that with it being so small it can be difficult to maintain a steady hand when you are zooming in on objects that are far away. Otherwise a very nice camera.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
Very easy to use and a great picture. I would recommend this camera to a family with children.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I love CX-100 HD camcorder, the only HD camcorder available at 300-350 price tag. Its wounderful and very compact. Easy to use and easy to carry.
The only negative thing I can think of is, Its picture button, its not convenenet to use this button- we need to use both hands for clicking the pictures!!. Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I did a great deal of research before buying this camcorder. I was trying to decide between the SD and HD camcorder. I decided to purchase an HD camcorder because I have HD televisions, and picture quality. I read many reviews and found that Canon had the best customer reviews, but it was the most expensive. Lumix seemed to have decent reviews, but there were consistent issues with picture quality. This camcorder had some negative reviews as well, however, I did not find any of the reviews to be true. This camcorder takes great high definition video in different lighting conditions. The video is steady, and the sound quality is excellent. I will admit the deciding factor to purchase this camcorder was price. I am happy I bought it. This is very user friendly and it comes with all the software needed to burn DVD's and convert HD to SD for PC file transfer. This camera is small, convenient, easy to use, and a great value for HD quality video. Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I loved this cam... It is very easy to use and the video quality is wonderful...
I just recommend to buy it with a 16gb memory stick... I bought with a 8gb and sometimes I fell that I need more storage...
Wonderful product! ;)Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
I bought this as a gift as a first time camcorder buy. I'll tell you, I am not disappointed. This is easy to use and the picture quality is better than I anticipated. Well worth the money.Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
For the money it was well worth it. Does a nice job in low light. Small and compact. Get more detail about Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder with Smile Shutter & 10x Optical Zoom (Black).
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