Good Value for money!
Sony's 2012 model HDR-PJ200 has lots of bells and whistles
for an entry level camcorder and 5.3 megapixel still image capture device. The
price is okay knowing that you get a SONY quality camcorder with built-in
projector but honestly, the still image capture is very poor and video
recording performance is average at best.
Recenty 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.
You can buy this from Amazon here: SonyHDR-PJ200 High Definition Handycam
No comments:
Post a Comment