Customer Reviews

Sony HDR-UX5 4MP AVCHD DVD High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The combination of ClearVid CMOS and x.v. Color standard makes the difference. Supposed to capture 1.8X colors more than the human eye can recognize and i agree with that. Your LCD with HDMI will blow your eyes (component is nice too). I never tought my TV can display those colors, clear, crispy, vivid, you got to see it to believe it.

You can capture still images at 4MP even while you're recording (you need a MStick Duo). The pics are ok but doesn't replace a semipro digital camera. But let me tell you that you can leave your digital camera at home.

Your home movies will be flavored with dolby digital audio, so if you have a home teather you will see your friends in the scene while you're hearing sounds from other directions.

Slow motion mode lets you capture up to 240 fps for just 3 seconds, that's a 12 seconds sequence with no lost frames at normal playback, interesting for sports or any fast move.

The only con is the AVCHD format, you will need a PS3 or Blue Ray player in order to play the Double Layer DVD but can use the camcorder as player. Anyways you can use standards mini DVDs.

Is a good deal, i think camcordes twice the price are not much better than this.

The price of this SONY HDR-UX5 camcorder is a bit high. Also, you cannot just purchase this camcorder without also getting a Sony blu-ray disc player because you need a Sony blu-ray disc player to play the disc on your tv set if you are shooting with high def. Sony uses a video compression scheme called AVCHD to encode the high def video, so your disc with AVCHD video cannot be playback with regular dvd player. You can use the software that comes with the camcorder to playback the AVCHD video on your pc but I would rather watch my high def video on the big screen. On the pc, image size for AVC HD is 1440x1080 and MPEG2 SD is 720x480 which is about 4 in by 2 in. The quality of the video and audio is good and the 4M still photo is acceptable. In-door video is good if you have proper lighting. You can shoot at the screen of your tv set and get comparable result when you show the recording later on the tv set. Auto flash has three settings (high/normal/low) to give you sufficient lighting for still photo. I do not have problem shooting photo indoor.

The camcorder ($700) is expensive. On top of that, you need money for the accessories.

1. You have two choices of video format- HD OR SD. With HD, you should get the sony blu-ray disc player because the High def is AVCHD 1080i and can be playback on your tv with sony blu-ray disc player. Without a sony blu-ray disc player, you can playback the high def video by connecting the video camera to your tv set with the supplied component video cable. You will not be able to play "the disc" by itself using a regular dvd player if it is recorded with HD video. With SD, it is MPEG2 video. So, for SD, you can play your 8cm disc without the blu-ray disc player. For high def, you should get a Sony blu-ray disc player. I think of the Sony blu-ray disc player as an important accessory to the UX5.

2. Using the supplied battery(FH60), the recording time for SD (on SP mode) is about 75 min. I upgraded the battery to FH70 and I expect to get about 150 min. So I do not need to run back to my hotel to charge the battery when I was only halfway through shooting at the Great Wall. The mini dvd+rw disc records 30 min (single-sided, 1.4GB). If you want to record continuously on a single disc, consider using dvd+r DL. In SD (on SP mode), it is about 55 min.

3. If you record with dvd-rw disc, you can split or trim the video and that is all the editing function you got from sony. Or, you can use Nero 8 Ultra Edition to edit High Definition content in AVCHD format. Roxio easy media creator 10 and Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus will edit AVDHD. I don't know whether EMC 10 down-converted your footage. Certainly, it is much less expensive than doing it on the mac with Final Cut Studio 2. On the mac, you need Intel Core 2 Duo, Quartz Extreme graphics card, Mac OS X v10.4.9 or later, at least 2GB of RAM, Final Cut Pro 6 which is included in FCS 2. If instead, you use imovie '08, which is included with iLife '08; it will downgrade the high def to 480i. To me, it means it is not high def anymore.

So, as I've said before, AVCHD means get a Sony blu-ray disc player, shoot in high def and show your footage on the big screen like it is meant to be.

[...].

I upgraded from a Sony DCR-HC30E that was 3 years old to this new HD camera and these are the pros and cons that I have found:

Pros:
* High definition. Pretty amazing quality on good light conditions even when conected to a 32" Samsung LCD TV that is only HD Ready (not full 1080i)
* 16x9 rather than 4x3 format
* Power adaptor is smaller (important when travelling)although the power cable could also be shorter and smaller.
* Faster transfer to PC (not at viewing speed like old tape camera)
* More efficient for archiving the original videos in external HD (about 1/3 of disk space).
* Direct one-cable connection to TV with Standard HDMI connector
* Simple PC Software provided to view AVCHD files and to convert into regular Video DVDs (although it can take the whole night to genereate a DVD of 15 min)

Cons:
* Much bigger and heavier than my old camera. Now I need to think twice before taking it for my next trip.
* Being realistic can only record 15 min instead of 1 hour of video, before changing the DVD.
* Editing AVCHD files require a lot of processing power. Now I need to upgrade both my PC and my video editing software.
* Not possible to record both high def and standard def in the same DVD
* All disks have to be finalized before being able to read on a PC, and this is a slow operation that can take up to 5 minutes. So better to transfer videos through USB if you haven't had to remove the DVD from the camera because you ran out of disk space.
* Battery duration. Battery supplied is NP-FH60 rather than NP-FH70 and sometimes won't last for 2 DVDs of 15 minutes each.
* Only as emergency photo camera since quality of photos is way below my old Canon Ixus 2 Mpixel camera.
* Photos taken during video recording are even worse
* Memstick is not provided, so unless you buy one, you cannot even try it as a photo camera.
* I bought a Mem stick of 1GB. This is the same capacity than the DVDs, but you cannot recrd video to the memory stick!
* Camera is slow to start recording since you press the record button, so you may loose the first two seconds. In addition it is slow powering up.
* No multi TV System. I bough in the US and therefore is NTSC only, but I want to use it in Asia Pacific and in Europe. Fortunately I have a multisystem TV.

The reviews here are well done and pretty comprehensive. Check out the CONs before you buy. The Mini-DVD's won't go in my Macbook, which I should have realized before buying. I thought for sure I could pop the dvd's in and use Handbrake to grab the clips. You can't, and only 15 minutes of HD video on a DVD is not practical at all...

AND -- I'm also VERY disappointed because my camera died 91 days after I bought it, which means it costs me $165 (plus tax and shipping) to send the camera to Texas to get it fixed. I bought it in Feb. 2009 for $359.00

For the product and technical illiterate, this is a great camera. For those who know a little bit more, it is an excellent camera. Easy to set up, use and edit. Placing the dvd directly into the camera is the best! Finalise it, and walk right over to the DVD player...Awesome!

First video camera I ever owned and I am really pleased. I am gradually learning what all it will do and with each discovery I am amazed. So far it has performed well and the movies are great. I recommend it highly.

This camcorder is awesome. The quality of video is great. It is very versatile and gets the job done.

The Sony HDR-UX5 is a decent little HD video recorder. It's light and very easy to use. Transferring the AVCH format was tricky at first but I learned that not setting the camera at it's best setting made it a lot easier to edit on the computer.

Like most of you. I desired to break into the high-def era. But I didn't want to spend a lot of money for and I did not want to buy a piece of junk. After careful research I decided on the Sony HDR-UX5 and was fortunate to find one on Ebay for a great price.

What an excellent camera! Although the UX5 debut in Feb 2007 for $1100 it has all the bells and whistles the average user will need. Right now on Dec 01, 2010 this camera sells new for over $700. Check Amazon if do not believe me! No CCD sensor on this baby! It boast a CMOS sensor just like the big boys with the professional broadcast cameras! This is a high-definition camera! It is capable of standard and 1080i (1430 x 1080) resolution. Do not be fooled by 1080i vs 1080p. Trust me you cannot distinguish the difference. The UX5 also takes 2.3 megapixel photos and saves them to a memory stick . I have a Sandisk 4gb memory stick duo pro in mine. So there is no need to lug a still camera along.

Keep in mind this camera records to mini-DVD in AVCHD format (Advanced Video Coding High-Definition). When recording in high-def you will get approx 15 minutes recording time on a single disc or 30 minutes on a dual-layer disc. Some have complained about the disc recording time but this is plenty of time to record your memories. (2) mini-DVD disc will render you an hour of viewing. Of course your time will increase if you record in standard definition. Personally I like mini-DVD better than tape or hard-drive systems. The disc are cheap, they last forever, the camera requires less mechanical parts, and you record, transfer, and copy over +RW discs.

You will need a Blu-Ray player to watch your recordings in high-definition. Or you can plug the camera directly into your HDTV via a standard HDMI cable. Or you can use an editing program and covert to standard definition. Then burn to a standard DVD and watch on any standard DVD player. Or upload your video to YouTube, Facebook, etc. Microsoft Movie Maker 2011 is free and it can convert AVCHD to standard definition. I think Cyberlink PowerDirector 8 Ultra is the best AVCHD video editing software. But there are other great programs like Adobe Elements 9, Sony Vegas, etc.

Pros:
1. Sony build and quality (very dependable)
2. no noise! (camera is very quiet) including the zoom function
3. records to mini-DVD (their cheap and last forever)
4. 1/3" CMOS sensor (awesome detail and clarity)
5. Carl Zeiss lens with tele-macro mode and 80X digital zoom (optics are top notch)
6. active hot-shoe (for flash or video lighting)
7. digital stabilization system (reduces camera shake)
8. built in camera flash
9. variable scene modes (plus an easy button)
10. auto and manual zoom
11. onboard HDMI (standard HDMI cable. Not mini)
12. 12 second slow motion function
13. lithium battery life adequate (upgrade to the NP-FH70 or FH100 for longer recording)
14. 2.7 inch touch LCD (it works great!)
15. low light recordings looks great
16. digital color viewfinder (a plus for macro recording)
17. fader and video effects

Cons: None so far

I think that the HD is in progress, because when I record in HD HQ, I can't edit the recorded material in the cam before finished the DVD.
I don't have been used all the facilities of the cam recorder.

Thanks.