Let me start off by saying this review is 100% my personal opinion and not fact. I am not a videographer or anything of the like, just an average consumer, looking for a nice video camera.Look & Feel
The first thing that struck me about the camera is the weight (or lack of it). The camera is very light almost to the point of feeling kinda plasticky (like a TV remote.) I suppose it could be a good thing for some but I prefer my electronics to have a bit of weight to them. I like the look of the camera it is very sleek and clean. The chrome accents really pop and look great.
Video Editing & Conversion
The video editing is very easy and if you opt to store your data on an SD card it is a very quick process. The default folder structure is very easy to navigate to find the files and transfer them to your computer. The camera also has an attached USB cord in the handle so you don't need and additional cords to retrieve your videos/pictures.
Battery Life & Other Features
Battery life is OK not great, not bad just OK. On the highest video quality setting you will get about 120 minutes of filming which seems about right.
My biggest gripe about this camera is there is no power button. The camera automatically turns on and off when you open or close the screen. It is nice because you probably won't need the camera on with the screen closed but I would prefer a power button anyways. There is a switch to open/close the lens cover though which is good thing. The camera also has several different video settings sports, indoor, ect. The camera does a pretty good job of automatically switching between them (if you have that feature on) and generally looks good in them.
Video Quality & Lens
The auto stabilization feature does its job well and it makes the video look significantly smoother. Shooting varies depending on light conditions. Daylight and outdoor look great, very crisp but it's indoors that's my problem. Filming indoor with decent light is extremely grainy. There is a lot of noise in the video; this isn't a complete surprise but a bit disappointing considering the specs given and the alleged low light features.
Using the low light setting just makes things grainy almost to the point of being unwatchable.
As I have used the camera more I will update my review, also if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I will answer as best I can.
Even though I am a bit disappointed in the indoor shooting quality I do like quite a bit about the camera. It is still pretty nice in the sub $400.00 range.
There are four video quality settings. I first recorded a short video in the standard mode which is the third best mode, then plugged the camera directly into my 50" HD plasma TV for playback via the included HDMI cable. The video resolution was very, very grainy/pixely. I was expecting at least DVD quality video (not Blu-ray) or something close to it, but it was not even close. I then tried the same test in the second best quality mode and the video was hardly any better. I then tried in the best video quality mode and there was a slight improvement, but still noticeable grainy and still not close to DVD quality.
I am returning this camcorder to try Sony's next model up, the HDR-CX260V for $115 more. Looking at the specs on Sony's website, the effective picture resolution of the Sony HDR-CX210 is 1310K pixels and the HDR-CX260V is 2230K. I'm hoping the extra $115 will get me to the video quality I'm expecting from an HD camcorder.The Sony HDR-CX210 is Sony's lowest high definition model. It is also the lowest model with a touch screen. You turn on the camera by opening the video screen. There is no on/off button. It focuses very well even in low light. I have found that it will take about 90 minutes of HD video in the HQ mode which is not the highest resoloution. Which is good since the battery that comes with it is only good for 90 minutes and they recommend that doing any playback be done with the power cord attached. In the High definition HQ setting, it uses about 9Mb per second of video. It transfers the videos to your computer quite fast, and will even burn it to DVD with the software you download. But you cannot use these DVD's in a DVD player unless you first convert it to the .mpg format with some other software first. I guess that and the batteries capacity are my only gripes. On the positive side, I really like the size & weight of the camcorder. Its quick startup time and the sharp focusing of this model.It's got a good sensor, Exmor R but that's about it. Compared to previous model HDR-CX110 this camera has many things that are actually much worse and a big downgrade. For once they have the same Exmor R sensor so low light is great. This one however has a terrible screen and the angle views are really bad. HDR-CX110 had an excellent screen that showed the picture you were recording like in real life. I guess Sony tried to cut costs and put a terrible screen on it. Another bad thing is Zoom noise. It wasn't an issue on 110 but here it is actually pretty loud and you will hear it when you're zooming. I'm returning this camera and would suggest to anyone if you can find HDR-CX110 online to buy that one instead because it's much better than this.I recently purchased Sony camcorder model no.HDR-CX210 from Amazon.Have always been in awe of Sony products because of their quality and reputation.I only gave this camcorder four stars instead of five because of the screen.In bright sunlight it is near impossible to see.Picture quality is very sharp as is the color. I feel Sony could and should do better. Lloyd Barnett.
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