HDR-PJ580V
4.7
5
6
6
Best One I Have Purchased so far
I have had and used a lot of camcorders in my time and this
one is one of the best i have bought in a long time.Easy to use and navigate through in the menu ,one poor thing i can say is the card slot on the bottum should be on the side or
inside the lcd cover ,trypod covers it and hard to access..
March 20, 2013
Great Camera, Minor Software Improvements Needed
Overall I am very happy with the video camera and would recommend to buy because I think that the performance at this price is worth it compared to other cameras (despite the cons to follow).
In general I find that the movie picture quality is excellent which was the reason I bought this camera. The frame route, stabilizers, autofocus, and physical controls allow for smooth panning and zooming. I didn't realize that the video camera is small enough to fit into my DSLR camera bag with the usual stuff I bring, so I find that I bring my video camera out more than I thought I would have. Also, the camera fits in my jeans pockets making it convenient to stow. I also rated convenience as a pro because I like that I can just open the camera viewing screen and click record and I am ready to go. The slickly hidden USB connector is also a plus. The projector works well, in my opinion better in dimly lit areas than I thought. The challenge is finding a big enough wall, nothing to do with the camera.
I think the movie/picture management needs some work. There are too many clicks needed to delete photos/movies on the camera itself. I cannot figure out how to change the default picture import directory on the Sony import software. The software doesn't allow easy management of the media on the camera and again deleting media is a pain when transferring. Also, if you don't delete something, it copies additional copies of the media which I have to go find and delete on my disk. It lets me select movies to copy, but how I am going remeber what I copied? The software should remember for me like Picasa. The included editing software does not work on my modern fairly high-end gaming machine because of performance issues of the software. However, on my wife's old Mac running iMovie '09, managing the media is great and editing works perfectly which makes me realize the performance defect is in the software and not my PC which doesn't blip running PC games. The included Sony software does not also resample the videos as nicely as iMovie making sharing the movies via e-mail or upload impossible from the included software. Note that I can still function on my computer with basic capabilities using Picasa 3 once I convert the file on the Mac. While shopping for the camera, I noticed a degredation in quality filming in the dark. Even the Sony store is dark making the demo camcorder performance seem worse than it really is. Even though the quality of the dark movies is not as good as movies taken in well lit circumstances, it is not as bad as what you would see on the small viewfinder screen when filming a demo. So it is hard to judge unless you are able to capture a movie and watch it on an HD TV. When you do, you will see some noise, particularly objects that have a hint of red and are moving (see attached picture example, video would not upload in native Sony MTS format#. I also think the red and maybe the blue are slightly over saturated in the dark, but again not enough to stop my from buying or recommending the camera nor compared to other cameras in the price range that I compared with unless you only plan to film in dark areas and if you are that picky. Also, my last beef is that I have randomly taken photos captured in my imports - somehow I am hitting the photo button or something randomly while I am filming and while I am just holding the camera. I do not get feedback when I do this #like a camera click sound or visual), at least not one I am noticing. The photo picture quality is ok, but I would prefer my DSLR for taking real pictures.
Overall, I am happy with my purchase and I have been using the camera often since my son was born. I was concerned that my wife would not use it, but because it is so easy to use, she has no problem picking it up and filming. Most of my cons, maybe even all, can be fixed with firmware or software updates, so I hope there are updates which address at least some of the issues.
December 8, 2012
HDR-PJ580v, Great Camcorder for anyone!
So, I've had this camera for about 4 months and L O V E it! The super slow mo is a very cool feature that records in 240i but only for 3 sec. The projector quality is way better than i expected and very handy when showing a large crowd a video. The choice of formats in this camera are great and simple to use (like changing from 60i-60p, LP-HD etc.) the quality in pictures is great as you see in my picture I provided and overall just an amazing camcorder! Great job sony!. But, if you are a mac user, importing full 1080p HD in 60p is such a pain to import because iMovie and iPhoto can't read AVCHD format that well, or read anything over 30p. My suggestion, download the free app, SmartConverter and you'll be all set. It will take longer to import, but its better than not having the video at all! Mountain Lion users, open the videos in Quicktime and select file>export to> iMovie or file>export/ to desktop and drag those clips to iPhoto. Otherwise a great camera that i love, but mac really needs to corporate with AVCHD formats soon. I RECOMMEND IT! (: If you'd like to see some footage of this camera since it's not offered that much in youtube, click the link below to see my first movie made with this camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqvD6SkjWyY
Thank you and enjoy this camera! (: If you have any other addition questions concerning this camera, PM me on youtube or just comment on the video linked above!
September 27, 2012
SUPER COOL AWESOME CAMERA
It's a wonderful camera.. Build in light is very useful... PROJECTION is superb... Kids get sooo excited watching themselves on the walls, sofas, etc.... Its a great feature...
IT"S A EXCELLENT CAMERA GUYS..
GO FOR IT...
April 11, 2012
