Bought Sony HDR CX 150 model. My need was for taking videos/pics of newly arrived niece - her 1st birthday, baby steps and all. Though I hesitated to buy Sony products because of the premium they demand, this time decided to go for Sony. This was my first camcorder and my exp with shooting video was restricted to max few minutes on cameras loaned by friends - the tape version.
Now the choices: Standard Definition vs High Definition format. Went for HD, though I don’t have TV or other players supporting. But hey, you know what the future is. So no second thoughts but opted for HD.
Once zeroed on Sony, 2 options exists ( I believe same with other makes) - Go for Hard Disk vs Memory Card. Former gives more storage per Rupee, very slightly bulky form[ say 10%], high sensitiveness to crashes as with moving parts in any hard disc. The memory card version is exact opposite. Trust me, there wasn’t any clear winner on this, but I went for the Memory version, for the trend is towards Memory cards in future.
Describing the camera: Very compact, at least when compared to the erstwhile tape/cd versions. Given the compactness, you tend to carry it lot around and hence high usage - justifies the price you pay.
Controls - regular ones on the camera body + touch panel in your panel - Highly useful. Comes with "auto" mode which shifts decision making from "you" to camera and it works 99% time for any regular use. If you are "video buff", overrides exists for all stuff.
Pic Quality: You can choose between Standard Definition video format vs HD - storages varies. HD can easily consume 4x your SD format. Here comes the best part: Picture quality is amazing. Under normal circumstances, your quality would be as good or better than what the TV programmes you see. I beleive with proper lighting/planning etc you can truly create movie quality stuff with this. QUality is worth the price. A complete HD can be recorded for 1 hr+, while SD format can go for 3+ hrs. Audio recording is also great for indoors. Outdoors noise gets added ( windy locations). NOt sure any accessories exist to cancel that, but nevertheless, ignorable one.
You can also take photos, even when video recording is in progress.
Computer Synch up: A simple software can pull your videos/photos to your computer and provides some basic editing features. Havent edited much, except for burning videos to DVDs
Battery life: Unable to quantify, for you may need to recharge once in 2-3 months. Only catch is that battery isnt removable. Hence you need the plug the entire camcorder unit while charging.
Memory: 16GB inbuilt + SD slot. I got 8GB card free as on offer. Expansion capabilities exist, but for ordinary user the addl memory may not be required, if you can synch your pc whenever inbuilt card gets full
Price: Was 29500 Rs. Digged around many shops, but found none of them offering any discounts for Sony products.
What’s missing: Would prefer a remote, for I can take some candid moments :-).The moment I pick the camcorder, kids & adults become aware and react totally different !!!
Service Center: No issues so far, hence there wasnt need to approach them. Sony has lots of service centers around the city. Hence getting repaired shouldnt be an issue, if the need arises.
Overall a worthy purchase and would recommend to others.