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769 Review
30 Karma

Review on πŸ“Έ Sony HDR-CX210 High Definition Handycam 5.3 MP Camcorder - Black (Discontinued) - 25x Optical Zoom by Shaun Bushey

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Decent camera for the price

Let me start by saying that this review is 100% my personal opinion and not fact. I'm not a videographer or anything, just a general consumer looking for a good video camera. Look and Feel The first thing that struck me about the camera was its weight (or lack thereof). The camera is very light, almost plastic (like a TV remote control). I suppose it might be ok for some but I prefer my electronics to have a bit of weight on them. I like the look of the camera, it's very sleek and clean. The chrome accents really stand out and look great. - Editing and converting videos Editing videos is very easy and if you want to save your data on an SD card, it is a very quick process. The default folder structure is very easy to navigate, find files, and transfer them to your computer. The camera also handles an attached USB cable, so you don't need extra cables to get videos/images. Battery life and other characteristics The battery life is ok, not great, not bad, just ok. At maximum video quality, you get around 120 minutes of video footage, which feels right. My biggest criticism of this camera is that it doesn't have a power button. The camera turns on and off automatically when you open or close the screen. That's a good thing, since you probably don't need a camera with the screen closed, but I'd still prefer the power button. There is a switch to open/close the lens cover, which is good. The camera also has a few different video settings: sports, indoor, etc. The camera does a pretty good job of auto-switching between them (if you have that feature enabled) and generally looks good in it. Video Quality and Lens Auto Stabilization feature does a good job of making videos smoother. The shot varies depending on the lighting conditions. Daylight and the picture outside looks great, very clear, but indoors is my problem. Indoor shots with decent lighting are very grainy. There is a lot of noise in the video; It's not a total surprise, but a little disappointing given the specs and claimed low-light performance. Using the low light setting makes things look almost so grainy as to be impossible to see. As I've used the camera more, I'll update my review. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will answer as best I can. Even though I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of the interior shots, I really like the camera. It's still pretty good in the sub-$400.00 range.

Pros
  • Video
Cons
  • Questionable purchase for seniors