Sony Handycam HDR-CX7

The Sony HDR-CX7 is my first flash drive camcorder. Flash drives use a memory chip to record the video instead of using tapes, DVD's or a hard drive. The great thing about flash drives is there are no moving parts so there's a lot less to go wrong. In older camcorders, tapes eventually get jammed, and tape transports wear out. The Sony CX7 has nothing to wear out, so it should last for decades unless you drop it and break it.

Right now, the memory chips are expensive. The largest 8 gig chip can only record about an hour in High Def mode. At 200 dollars a chip, that's expensive. You can also buy much less expensive 4 gig or 2 gig chips. You can re-use the chips after you copy your footage to a computer or DVD recorder. If you are willing to sacrifice video quality, the camera can be set to the LP mode for six hours of video on an 8 gig chip. That quality is good enough for a lecture presentation where time is more important. The good news is that as the chips keep getting larger and cheaper, this camcorder will grow in it's usefulness each year.

The CX7 has a 3.1 megapixel image sensor. The image quality it produces is better than what you will see on High Definition satellite broadcasts. The color is very accurate and the image is extremely clean at the edges. Video grain is not visible in daylight conditions. The image is just so clean it's like looking through a window at what you are recording. It is simply amazing that for 1000 dollars, you can get high definition imaging this crisp.

Interior shots are solidly clean until you get down to normal home lighting. A single ceiling lighting fixture in your home with a 100 watt bulb will provide enough light to get a fairly clean image with rich color and very little video grain. Once you get into very dim lighting, like that from a 25 watt bulb or less, and the grain comes on fast and the color loses it's richness. That happens with any camcorder, though. But even in low light, the image is still sharp around the edges. The CX7 has a hotshoe that accepts a Sony 3 watt video light. This helps a lot in low light conditions and does not drain the battery too much.

Battery capacity is about 90 minutes with the included battery. Add the largest capacity battery, and you can record seven hours on a charge.

Sound quality is crisp and clear with the built in 5.1 surround sound mode, but you need to be careful not to cover the mikes with your finger. The camera body is solid, so there's not a lot of plastic creaking sounds that will make their way to your video. Sony makes several mikes that use the hotshoe, including one wireless model. They all work well to eliminate hand noise from handling the camcorder. The only audio problem is some distortion in very high volume areas like recording a loud band at a wedding. You will have to use the camcorder menu to change the audio setting to the low mode in order to record high volume sounds without distortion. In a normal environment, distortion is not a problem.

The flip out screen is very clear. It is the only way to see what you are recording. There is no eyepiece. Most of the manual controls are on the touch screen menu, so use clean fingers when you touch the screen.There is an easy mode button that presets everything to good average settings for everyday shooting.

All in all, I like this camera for it's small size, it's razor sharp imaging, it's long battery life and the flash drive with no moving parts.

Took a while to get here but I expected that coming from China. Does exactly what it is suppose to do. I would trust them again. Plus, we ironed out the the PayPal miscommunication pretty easily.

I've had this camera for 6 months. I've used it for personal video work, as well as some concert filming.

Pros:
-Quality is decent, even when zoomed in.
-Low light filming is pretty good.
-Touch screen is mostly easy to navigate
-Small but comfy size

Cons:
-No viewfinder (can't record in dark places without the LCD screen lighting up the place.
-Picture can be choppy on fast pans
-The HD format (AVCHD) is difficult to work with at the moment. Many editing softwares won't work with it very well, or at all. THere are some options starting to come out.
-THe included Sony software is mediocre at best. I've had trouble with all aspects of it. Converting HD to SD videos using the software removes the audio for some reason. Burning a disc of videos takes hours. And at the moment, I can't even install it on my new computer because of compatibility issues.

Bottom line:
The camera is nice. The format is difficult to work with. The included software is not good.

I'd like to start this review by declaring that I've been a Sony hater for years. I believe the marketing machine called Sony has overmarked for years and most of their stuff is crap.

When it came time to replace my trusty old Panasonic MiniDV piece I've had for ten years, I had a rough decision to make: everyone everywhere was rating the HDR-CX7 better than the Panasonic HDC-SC1. My initial response was to just blow off the Sony and find the Panasonic due to my experience. Logic, however, took over and although I felt as if I were succumbing to the Sony machine, I caved and purchased the one more highly rated. Looking back, I made the right choice.

First, the appearance of this piece is art. It's very well-balanced in my hand and it is SO UNBELIEVABLY TINY I thought the shipper forgot to include the camcorder! Pleased with the size and look, it came time to turn it on. It gets better.

The touch screen made it a breeze to set the clock and all the features I wanted. It was much more simple than I expected it to be. In less than a few minutes, I was playing around with the capabilities of this little miracle's Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar-fitted lens. To say it captures every little detail is the understatement of the moment. It flawlessly captures (and reproduces) images and video.

While I haven't used the software yet, I am certain I will be using another program to edit and burn my work since my research pointed out that the editing capabilities of the included software is nonexistent.

Overall, I'm more than pleased with my first Sony purchase since my Walkman in 1987. I hope it holds out as long as my Walkman did!