For my latest tech review, I take a look at Sony's latest HD digital video recorder, the HDR-PJ200.I. What's in the package?
Digital Recorder with built-in USB cable
Mini-HD Cable
Rechargeable Battery Adapter (Power Cord/AC Adapter)
USB-=>Video cables (AV Connecting Cable)
Yellow, Red, white component cables
USB Adapter (USC Connection Support CAble)
Rechargeable Battery Pack NP-FV30
NO SDCARD IS AVAILABLE. You will definitely want to purchase a Class 10 SDCard (4GB minimum but I recommend 32GB or 64GB).
II. FIRST IMPRESSIONS
APPEARANCE: After unpackaging, I was pretty impressed of how small this digital video camera is. The width is probably 3-inches wide, small enough to hold with one hand and is very light. The camera is plastic and you get a feeling that if you do drop this camera, it's done for.
BATTERY: Battery is not charged, so I had to charge the battery which took about two hours. The camera can be charged via it's built-in USB cable which will take about an hour and half. Like most digital cameras with a battery pack, it's best to take the battery pack out of the camera when not in use. For the MP-FV30, you get about 95 minutes of continuous recording time and 45 minutes of HD recording time, for standard shooting around 105 minutes. This battery goes about $15-$20 but I recommend going for a NP-FV50 for 180 minutes, NP-FV-70 (about 375 minutes) or a NP-FV100 battery which gives you about 745 minutes recording time.
SHOOTING TIME: I recommend using a 32GB or 64GB Class 10 card for longer shooting.
HIGHEST QUALITY (FX) gives you about 45 minutes recording time
HIGH QUALITY (FH) gives you 1 hour
STANDARD HQ (HQ) gives you about 1 hour and 50 minutes
Long Play (LP) gives you 3 hours and 15 minutes.
PROJECTOR: Projector and LCD screen can move 90-180 degrees. The LCD screen is touch screen (for zooming in and out, recording, playing video) and on top is a projector focus. On the LCD screen you can:
ZOOM (Wide/Telephoto)
Menu
Guide showing recording, Automatic Exposure, Automatic Focus, Tracking Focus, Zoom, Remaining Battery, Counter, Intelligent Auto., View images, etc.
NOTE: Because a touchscreen is used, I recommend purchasing a plastic screen protector. Anything that can protect the screen from damage or scratches.
INITIAL SETUP: Setting up the camera for region, date and time was very easy.
ON or OFF: There is no power button. If you open the LCD screen, the camera turns on. For the lens, there is a switch to open and close the lens cover.
BUTTONS: The buttons are user-friendly.
On top of the Camera:
MODE: Switch from video or to take pictures
Zoom Lens features a 30x Extended Zoom
Photo Button When selecting photo mode, on top is a photo button to take pictures.
On Back of Camera:
Start/Stop Video
On Side of Camera with LCD Open:
Projector To switch to projector mode on playback
Play button
Slots for mini-HDMI and the USB-Video cables
Built-in USB Cable
Right on the hand guard is a mini-USB cable (an inch long). For people needing more wire, an included USB adapter with 2 ft. cord is included.
RECORDING: You can selected highest quality (1920x1080/60i quality, AVCD HD 24M), high quality (1920x1080/60i quality, AVCD HD 17M), standard (1440x1080/60i quality, AVCD HD 9M )and long time (1440x1080/60i quality, AVCD HD 5M).
III. TESTING THE CAMERA:
During my tests of the HDR-PJ200, I realized that a lot of the functions are via touchscreen. So, with that being said, I would not let young children use the touch screen or mess with it as it is your primary way of using this camera.
A. LOW-LIGHT TEST: First test was indoor utilizing low-light. The camera detected low-light and tried to compensate but like most digital cameras around this price-range, low-light is not going to be that great. It will be grainy, but once the camera does pick up light, the video quality is great. Tested the camera in various indoor-light situations and low-light is OK, but it's outdoors during sunlight where this camera really shows off its awesome picture quality.
B. OUTDOOR TEST: In sunlight, this camera looks absolutely fantastic! Vibrant colors and I love the zoom for this camera. From far away, I was able to zoom 30X and get a good closeup of a section over 100 yards away. But the more farther you zoom, the more difficult it is to shoot without shakiness. The camera has camera-shake detection, but you would need to enable Intelligent Auto Function. So, for long distance shooting, I do recommend a tripod. Otherwise, I zoomed on a person in movement about 75 yards away and the camera picked up motion detection and was able to capture the person amazingly well without blur or problems.
The camera has Face Priority and Tracking Focus which helps the camera capture clear images. There is also a smile shutter included and that the camera easily detects.
Subject detection was easy to set. Face Detection allows for adjusting of focus, color and exposure and to select portrait or baby. Scene detection allows for backlight, landscape, night scene, spotlight, lowlight and macro.
C. PHOTO TEST:
Photos are easy to take with this camera. You can choose from the following image sizes L 16:9 (5.3MB), L 4:3 (4.0MB), S 16:9 (1.3MB), S 4:3 (VGA)
D. PROJECTOR TEST:
I felt the project worked very well around 3-4 ft. from a solid source. There is a projector focus on top the LCD screen and it works! The more outdoor shots you take, the better the projector quality is as opposed to shooting indoors with low-light.
E. PlayMemories Home (Lite Version): The camera comes with a built in PlayMemories Home (Lite Version) to transfer video to your computer. When plugging the device to your computer, you can install the software to Windows 7, XP computers. For Mac users, a storage drive will show on your computer. But if you have iPhoto or iMovie, you can easily access the files. But included in the storage drive is a MAC URL to access Sony Software.
But plugging the camera in to your computer, you are given two choices: USB Connect or Disc Burn
JUDGMENT CALL:
Sony's HDR-PJ200 is a solid performer with great picture quality when it comes to outdoor and areas with a lot of light. While low-light, it may be too grainy for some. But there are other cameras that perform better in low-light.
It's strength is in its 30x Extended Zoom and how it's able to capture motion detection very well. And of course, the biggest plus for this digital video camera recorder is its projector. The projector does work amazingly well if a solid object is 3-4 ft. away. I've tried it on a various of colored walls and objects and the projector does work. You just want to make sure that the video is outdoors for it to look bold and beautiful via projection. Otherwise with low-light indoor video, I was having to put the camera about a foot away from the wall for it to look right.
I like the fact that Sony included various cables with the product, also the automatic USB is nice to have as part of the camera.
But the big question people may ask is $379.00 a good price for the camera. You get an HD camera with a projector. Most video cameras don't offer that. But it all depends how important the projector is for you. It's great if you are on vacation and want to project your family trip on the back seat of a car so the kids can watch.
With that being said, this camera is tied into its touchscreen. Break the LCD screen, and the camera is done for. And because the camera is light, made of plastic, I don't want to think about what if you drop it. I've dropped camcorders before but they were bulky, I dropped FLIP cameras but they seemed durable. But the HDR-PJ200, I get a feeling if you drop it, it's done for. So, I highly recommend purchasing a bag for this camera and possibly adding a secondary wrist strap.
But overall, the camera does deliver when it comes to capturing HD video in well-lighted or outdoor environments. But how important is the project for you, that's probably going to be the biggest drive. While it works great from outdoor shots, if you are looking at it to capture your baby or child when asleep or in low-light, the camera may be too dark/grainy for your taste. But if you feel this is a camera to take with you for outdoor travel and need that projection for personal or business, it works remarkably well.
But there are other cameras that perform just as well without the projector and are much cheaper. So, if the projector is important, then the Sony HDR-PJ200 is for you!
Last month I also reviewed Sony HDRCX580V High Definition Handycam 20.4 MP Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom and 32 GB Embedded Memory (2012 Model) camcorder for Amazon which sells for more than double the price of this HDR-PJ200 and does not even have built-in projector. In my humble opinion the high end model does have better video capture quality & image quality especially when it comes to Still images. Remember! You always get what you pay for.
The optical image stabilization especially on zoomed images is better with the high end model. The HDR-PJ200 had some difficulty in maintaining stability especially when zoomed. You do need a very steady hand or tripod if you want extreme close-up. It still takes pretty good Hi-Def Video, but I find the low light performance is poor and there is some video noise here and there.
Surely this camcorder is not for serious video enthusiasts or could be because I got the high end model to play with recently and have proof videos for comparisons and now I can surely tell the difference. If you have the money you should surely opt for the high end model.
PROS:
[+] Super Compact Camcorder which is extremely lightweight & easy to carry
[+] Built-in Projector is fun to have! adds coolness to the product.
[+] Carl Zeiss lens & Good build quality as you would expect from SONY
[+] Decent HD quality Video capture under good light conditions for the price
[+] Uses Standard SDHC Memory cards for recording No more tapes! No moving parts!
[+] HDMI out & HDMI cables included for TV connectivity
CONS:
[-] Very poor Still image captures
[-] Washed out grainy video especially under low light
[-] Touch Screen LCD is shinny and hard to see in bright sunlight
It is hard to justify the need to purchase a camcorder these days as most of the Smart phones are capable of recording 1080p HD videos and takes excellent quality still images. Having said, if you are one of those people who likes to take lots of video and would like to have a dedicated device just for that then purchasing a camcorder is justifiable.
Please remember that you do need to add 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card to the price of the camcorder but it still comes under $400 dollars in total. For the money I think it is an average value camcorder in all respects and the built-in projector makes this camcorder somewhat more desirable than others thereby achieving a 4 star rating.
The camcorder build quality is very good as you would expect from Sony but you will have to remember these products are mass produced in china now-a-days and has become more or less use and throw commodity.
Hope my review is useful to you, if you have any questions please feel free to comment and I will try to answer them to best of my knowledge.
Happy shopping here on Amazon!Ok so my wife picked this up for me today at BestBuy for about four and a half Benjamin's, actually 10 under that. Anyhow. First the PROS. It does great in indoor light during the evening. It even has a low light setting for VERY low light. The projector is very cool, however for me I don't know how often I would actually use it in a practical situation. It's rather small, which is good, makes for easy carrying. Takes standard SD memory cards. Records audio in stereo, picks up the sound well, has some focus following feature where you can long press on a subject in the viewfinder and it will keep the subject in focus so long as it can see them, while they move around the scene. The zoom is great, very clear and VERY STABLE, great job on the image stabilization!!!! Also the MACRO is GREAT!!!!!! Seems like you can practically put something all the way up to the lens and it will focus on it.
CONS: The still image quality is GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!! My EVO 3D does FAR OUTSTANDING SUPERIOR photos compared to this camera. This camera claims it can do 5.3 megapixels, my EVO 3D does 5.0 megapixels. There is no excuse for the horrible lack of quality for the stills in this camcorder. Maybe many or most people won't use that feature, but you pay for it, it should be more than a novelty. Also most people probably won't mind but there is no input option for different microphones, nor are there inputs for headphones. Also: It is *NOT* truly FULL HD!!! It does NOT do 1080P, only 1080i. There IS a difference!!!!
Personally I feel this camcorder is overpriced. We are probably returning it tomorrow. If it was about a hundred bucks less, I'd probably keep it. The projector feature seems weird as I just don't know how practical it is. And the projected image is only at 640 x 360, that's not even VGA resolution. Seems just like a gimmick to sell the camera. If it was a higher res ok.. but still not sure where the niche is for it. Some people will LOVE this camcorder. And to be honest, if it did FULL 1080P, I would probably keep it. But as it is.. it's getting returned tomorrow.
It's really amazing how much technology is getting crammed into these little cameras. What was small two years ago is now big by comparison. This lightweight camera packs a lot of punch for its small size and offers decent performance especially when outdoors.
This little camcorder from Sony is a decent entry level HD camcorder but I've found you might want to opt for a slightly more advanced camera in their lineup. That's not to say this camera isn't worth considering but it is worth thinking about whether spending a little bit more for better quality video and an external mic input justify spending a little bit more.
Sony includes an HDMI cable with the camera so that it can be connected to an HD television. This sounds trivial but so many manufacturers don't include the cable and require an additional purchase in order to hook it up to a modern television. Sony also gains some kudos for using standard SDHC cards and no longer requiring their proprietary memory stick format.
The 25X optical zoom is great to have in a product this size. But I recommend having the camera on a tripod or resting on a stationary surface in order to use it. Even with the stability controls it doesn't take much to get a shaky shot at full zoom.
The camera includes an onboard projector that is unique in the product space but not all that useful in the long run. The color and picture quality on the projector are remarkable in a dark room but the camera does not allow you to play anything other than what the camera recorded. So it's not possible to load back in edited footage from your computer.
Video quality is good in outdoor light, so-so in dark environments. I found the next step up in the Sony product line has better video quality.
The camera does not include an external microphone jack. This is unfortunate as good video often requires good audio. Although the camera does do a decent job of isolating speakers, it really can't do much in a noisy environment that would benefit from an external microphone.
Overall I'd say this is an improvement over less expensive "flip-cam" style camcorders. The zoom alone is a differentiator but if you're going to opt for a camcorder you might want to consider a mid-level version from Sony or Canon that offers better quality video and the microphone port. This Sony has the most features of any High End video camera on the market right now. It does not have the huge sensor to capture the holy grail of video reproduction like the fifeteen hundred to three thousand dollar cameras, but it does deliver on image quality. Will be heads and shoulders above the quality of our phones and flip corders and the lower end hadi cams.
This Sony camera does deliver when it comes to capturing HD video in well-lighted or outdoor environments. But how important is the project for you, that's probably going to be the biggest drive. While it works great from outdoor shots, if you are looking at it to capture your baby or child when asleep or in low-light, the camera may be a tad too dark/grainy for your taste.
But if you feel this is a camera to take with you for outdoor travel and need that projection for personal or business, it works remarkably well for this. I have a high end canon as well and the outdoor shots are comparable. Inside not so much. Got some grain and missed detail. Or you can turn on some frickin lights and save some cash.
But there are other cameras that perform just as well without the projector, but this feature is pretty cool as you dont have to wait to share your videos with everyone, just dim the lights and find a wall. So, if the projector is important, then the Sony HDR-PJ200 is the coolest in town.
As always if you have any questions ask.
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