Sony Handycam HDR-CX260V (Black)

Pros: Quality of the video was extremely good,
Microphone does a very nice job of recording,
Audio quality surprising good,
Zoom Lens & Image Stabilization,
Auto focus is good,
Smile Detection,
Large Internal Memory 16GB,
Camera is easy to use.

Cons: Records in 1080/60p Takes up a lot of memory fast,
There is also a constant clicking sound when the low lux is turned on.

Summary: This is my first Sony in a very long time. It is a very nice camcorder with some nice features. I video high school theater and I like to use a small camcorder as my fixed wide shot camera. I decided to give this camera a test at a recent event.

While the camera fits nicely in my hand, it is difficult to use the top zoom switch with the same hand holding the camera. It is not impossible, but it will cause severe camera movement. Also, it is almost impossible to hold (this or any) camera steady when zoomed all the way in, so I would recommend a tripod (or monopod) if you are shooting from a long distance.

The lens on this camera is quite good and produces sharp, clean video. The auto focus seems to be fast enough and stays locked on even while moving the camera to another subject. In normal lighting conditions, the pictures and videos are wonderful In low light there is a little noise, but that is true of most cameras. The auto focus is good, even in low light once the focus has been achieved. The microphone does a very nice job of recording too. I was pretty impressed.

One anomaly I did notice was playback on the camera. When I shot video of people on stage with stage lighting and played it back on the camera I was very disappointed. It looked like the auto-while balance was way off. But when I played the video on my computer, the colors were what I expected. So while the LCD produces a nice image, the colors seem to be off (in that situation). In normal outside light, it seemed fine. There is a low light setting that I did not use in this case as I was going in and out of the theater.

I do not like the menu system. You can play, record, zoom (via switch), photo and switch to projector with real buttons, everything else is done on the touch screen. With "fat" fingers it is hard to maneuver. I end up pressing the wrong screen button all the time. There is even a calibrate function, to calibrate your screen touching, but that didn't help much.

This camera has a projector. It is pretty useless in my opinion. If you are within a few feet of the wall or screen, it is bright enough. But because of the inverse square law for light, the brightness drops off very fast as you get further away from the screen. Since you can't make it brighter, you can't make the image large enough for a lot of people to watch easily. If you don't mind, you can watch the equivalent of a about a 24" TV.

The camera has internal memory of 16GB. That should get a little more than an hour of the highest quality video. I really like having that as a backup to using a 32GB card, in case something goes longer than expected or even if I were to forget to put a card in the camera. All cameras should have a reasonable amount of internal memory now-a-days. Too bad the included battery doesn't last that long.

All the cables you might need are included. Not all manufacturers do that anymore.

*Note, before you will buy this sony camcorder, I suggest check for best deal at my blog: hdhandycam.blogspot.com/p/sony-hdr-cx260v.html

I highly recommend this camera even if it is not perfect.