The Good:
Crisp, high definition video recorded and stored on a removable flash drive; small, sleek, and intuitive form factor; all the goodies that typically go along with Sony's high end HD Handycams (including 5.1 surround sound, still imaging during video capture, infrared night shooting, and smooth slow record)The Bad:
Working with HD video on your PC is a bit of a drag; Sony Memory Sticks cost (a lot) more than traditional video storage media; auto focus struggles in low light situationsThe Verdict:
It's a flash-based HD camcorder that makes shooting video as simple as snapping pictures
The PlayStation3 is running a distant third in the video game hardware race. Sony's Walkman, once the supreme sovereign of portable music, has been wholly and utterly usurped by the iPod. Even the Japanese company's unsurpassed -- but pricey -- line of LCD televisions, the Bravia, is struggling to maintain leadership against cheaper sets. But there's one area in which Sony is the constantly innovating ruler of the roost: high definition camcorders with non-traditional storage.
Sure, it's a relatively small market right now, but it won't be long before people start realizing how crappy standard def home video looks on their ginormous flat screens. And MiniDV tapes, with their time-consuming multimedia file management baggage, seem downright medieval when compared to the simplicity of hard disks and flash cards. (You DVD camcorder users sniggering in the back should remember that your preferred media doesn't do HD).
On that note, let me introduce the Sony HDRCX7 Handycam ($1,299), a high definition camcorder that relies solely on removable flash media for video storage. It's a great idea. And the HDRCX7 is a great camcorder—so long as you're willing to suffer a couple of technical and proprietary limitations.
No flash in the pan
Just about everyone knows by now that any Sony product that employs removable flash memory will be restricted to Sony's proprietary Memory Stick media. Yes, not being able to use any of your existing memory cards is unspeakably lame, but if you want to record high-def video on flash storage you'll just have to deal with it.
I tested the HDRCX7 with a 2GB Memory Stick, which was capable of recording about 15 minutes of video at the highest possible quality (Full HD 1080), 35 minutes of footage at the lowest HD setting, and 45 minutes in standard definition. Memory Sticks come as big as 8GB, which puts the maximum media storage capacity of highest quality HD video at one hour, roughly on par with a MiniDV tape.
Of course large capacity memory cards are pricey (2GB Memory Sticks sell for $70, 8GB for $200), but they are reusable, never degrade, and are far more convenient than MiniDV tapes. Just pop out the stick, jam it into the multimedia card reader on your PC, and copy and paste files — a task infinitely preferable to the technical and time-consuming process of recording MiniDV tapes to a hard drive. Plus, they don't have any moving parts, which results in a serious boost to camcorder battery life (I squeaked out nearly three hours of juice on a single charge) and no need to worry about skips when recording on the move.
With great video quality comes great editing tribulation
While creating and transferring HD video files is a snap, playing and editing these files can bring on a headache.
To get the most out of the HD files generated by the HDRCX7, you'll need a powerful, multi-core PC and a player and editing software that supports Sony's AVCHD format. Without these puzzle pieces the only way you'll be able to watch your home video in stutter-free HD is by connecting the HDRCX7 to your television with an HDMI cable and playing the video straight off the camcorder. The HDRCX7 comes with Picture Motion Browser and Player for AVCHD, a pair of apps designed for high definition video playback and simple editing tasks, but you'll need a third party software package (like Ulead Video Studio 11 Plus) if you want to get down and dirty with post production processes.
However, assuming crisp, beautiful, high resolution video is your first priority, the editing migraines are worthwhile. HD images captured with the HDRCX7 are simply stunning. You might hear professionals complain about poor colours in consumer grade HD camcorders, but most of us—myself included—will be too busy marvelling over the fact that we can actually read the tiny, squiggly print on the tag of the birthday present our grandparents are opening to notice a red that's a bit brighter than it should be.
