4 Responses to “Sony HDRXR200VE High Definition Handycam Camcorder with Built-In 120GB Hard Disc Drive”

1. P. B. J. Spaas
   November 30th, 2009 @ 10:44 am

   Bought this for a wedding and it did not do too bad, until I found out how processor hungry HD movies are on the computer. You need a good fast computer to deal with the high end HD movies, and, you need the Sony software to import the movies, it’s stored on the HD in a strange format (at least I’ve never seen it before).
   
   The GPS part is slow, it can take a lot of time to aquire a position. I work with GPS day in day out and this GPS is the slowest I’ve ever encountered. Also the maps on the camera are very rudimentary for many area’s. I yet have to find a location where at least roughly streets are visible. With all these car GPS’s around nowadays Sony should do more it’s best in really making this work.
   
   The way you hold it in your hand also needs improvement, the HD is a bit big so it does not really sit well in the palm. The placement of the buttons could also do with an repositioning somewhat. Although I have an average hand size I struggle to make it feel comfortable.
   
   Battery life is good although I expected a bit more from that. I’ve got a 60 and 70 battery but when I use the separately bought stand alone charger I can’t keep up the charging and slowly start running out of battery oompf. So I bought a 3rd battery, the 100.
   
   So why 4 stars then after all this moaning? It’s overall not a bad piece of kit and it has many very good features too. The anti shake works well, it takes some getting used to as when you move too fast it lags behind so you stop moving while you are already past the center point. You get used to this and then you’ll love the feature.
   
   Screen is good, touch sensitive and it works well. The HD, well, 120 Gb, do I need to say more?! It starts up quick, more then quick enough.
   
   I bought separately the 0.6x wide angle conversion lense, the VCL-0630X. This is not the high end version but the more affordable version, and, I love it. Want to do indoor shooting in living room or so, get that lens, it’s worth it!
   Rating: 4 / 5

2. D. CLERK
   November 30th, 2009 @ 1:22 pm

   I have been using this camera now for 3 months and am extremely happy with the purchase.

   During daylight conditions the picture quality is excellent when played back on a HD TV, and it is worth recording on the highest quality setting. However in poor light conditions the camera, like all others I have ever used, produces good, but not great results. It makes no sense using the highest quality mode when light conditions don’t permit as you end up using a lot of the Hard disk space without any gain.

   I have not used the GPS/map functionality yet – maybe this will come in useful later.

   I use the camera in conjuction with a Play Station 3. I save my recording onto a NAS and play them back through the PS3. The PS3 can play the native file format from the camera directly. This is a nice function. After 3 months of usage I still have not deleted any files from the 120 GB HD as it is still only 50% used. It really makes such a difference having all of your films with you without have to carry around a bag full of tapes.

   I bought the Sony ACC-FH60 Handycam Accessory Kit for the Camcorder which contained another H-60 Series Battery and the LCS-SRA Carry Case itself. This is a must – don’t think about it just buy it. The bag is perfect for this model and having another battery is a bonus. Incidentally one H60 battery lasts for a good 1.5 hours, if not more.

   As an aside, on the day I bought the camera I set it up to monitor the garden as something/someone had been taking my golf balls. The camera ran for 13 hours overnight using the built-in Infra Red light and night vision mode. At 2am the camera recorded a fox coming up to the house and stealing anything we had left out – including golf balls! The moral of this story: Night vision mode can save fights with the neighbours!

   Conclusion: Very nice camera with many functions (too many to write about here) and excellent quality on daylight conditions but struggles in poor light conditions. I gave it only 4 starts because of the issue in poor light conditions, however most cameras suffer from this and only going high-end (i.e. throwing money at the problem) will solve it. I was orignally looking at the SR12e camera, but this model appears to offer everything from the SR12e apart from the manual focus functionality so I went with this model instead.
   Rating: 4 / 5

3. P. Chudasama
   November 30th, 2009 @ 1:22 pm

   Overall a good HD camera and easy to use. Here are some of the things to consider when buying this model having now used it for a good few hours and on local trips.
   
   - battery life is about 60-80mins, not bad but could be better and upgrade it if you need it
   
   -GPS, works well but does take a few minutes to figure out where you are and by that time you might have done your shots
   
   -auto smiling shots, this is v.poor. This is where while recording the camera picks up a smile and take a picture automatically. This is good function but quality is VERY poor
   
   -switch over to taking pictures 4MB, very reasonable quality and pictures are usable.
   
   -pc/mac transfer. For PCs , you must install the Sony software to import. very good software and interface to find vidoes. Minus point is i would have liked to import direct to Windows Movie Maker but can’t. You need to import using SOny then export. FOr Mac user,,,great…direct import into iLife09 and start editing!!
   
   –zoom function very good, sound wise ok except for the wind interference
   
   -handling, very good feels good in the hand and small
   
   -recording, beware default setting is not on high quality, but with 120GB who cares max it up! Plenty of space.
   
   For picture quality is is very good, but cavaet that HD i was expecting super sharp pictures but maybe i have an old TV. But picture is very good and you need all your equipment to be HD to get full experience.
   
   hope this helps
   Rating: 4 / 5

4. Mr. D. Hartley
   November 30th, 2009 @ 2:22 pm

   Not sure what the previous buyer was on about,I tend to not agree on a few points.

   The editing software is not up to the job at all, but that is no problem there is lots of software on the market that can edit AVCHD.

   I am just back from 3 weeks in Florida and used the HandyCam every day,and found the feature that takes pics when you smile a bonus and very good quality.

   The HandyCam is a joy to carry,and on full HD will give you about 30 Hours of recording time,and high 70 mins battery life with the supplied NPFH 60 battery.

   I was looking at buying the 520VE but to be honest for an extra £300 i think it isn’t worth it.

   The sound is superb with Dolby 5.1 as standard

   Anyhow i think the best thing is to view the videos i shot on Youtube that may help you decide, type in mrj2k8 that is my username and check out the tests i have of the camcorder in action
   Rating: 5 / 5

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