Customer Reviews

Sony HDR-XR200V 120GB HDD High Definition Camcorder w/15x Optical Zoom

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

 

 

In my opinion, the camcorder deserves 4/5 stars. The HD picture quality outdoors (rain or shine) is PHENOMAL. I got a similar picture in SD. It wasn't quite as sharp as HD but still an EXCELLENT picture. The sound quality is amazing. I had no problem with wind noise when outside on windy days. The camcorder itself is lightweight and I found the menus and buttons to be user-friendly. I read several negative reviews on the included Sony software but had no trouble installing it or using it. It does have limited capabilities but it was sufficient for me. The camera itself does have a "divide" option for cutting video. You choose where you want to divide and it will create and save a new clip. It also has excellent focus capabilities. It focuses very quickly when zooming in and out as well as moving left/right and up/down. I was overly impressed with its performance outdoors. Shooting indoors took me back a few steps and it could be that I expect too much in lower-light conditions. When the lights are on AND sufficient natural light is available through windows, the quality is REALLY good. During evening/night hours and during the day when its cloudy outside, the picture left me disappointed. The picture was grainy and the more I zoomed, the grainier it got. I did adjust the exposure and white balance which helped the situation but still left me wondering what I was doing wrong. I also played around with the different scene settings (sunrise, sunset, candlelight, etc...) but found the "auto" option to work the best. I would gladly welcome any suggestions or recommendations on helping the low-light situation. It's the only disappointment I have and it could very well be the operator.

I purchased this camera a few months ago to film some important family events. When I got back, I watched the videos both using the mini-hdmi cable and also by putting the full size videos on a PS3 for native playback of AVCHD. In both cases, every so often, I would see a slowdown in the framerate. It would quickly recover but it was clear that the hard disk could not keep up with the data it was getting. I had the quality and size maxed out but that shouldn't matter. Calling Sony, they were very nice and offered to check it out but advised me to return it if I could. It might be my specific unit, or maybe a general product issue. I'm not sure.

As far as quality, I don't think any of the cameras in this price range can provide good low light photography. What was nice was the NightShot which lets you take video in total darkness. It also has 5.1 Surround Sound it captures. Battery life was good. It feels like a good, solid, well built-camera. If it wasn't for my experience with the occasional slow frame rate, I would still own it.

I'm surprised that as of this writing there are so few reviews -- 3. Other canon HD cameras seem to have a ton more reviews.

I bought this HD camera after buying (and returning) a Sony DCR-SR47 SD camcorder. Differences are notorious (as well as the prices). DCR-SR47 camera simple didn't covered my expectations in terms of video quality. However, the HDR-XR200V did fully covered them. I used the camera in outdoors, where video quality is just awesome. No pixeling, full colors, full of light in videos. The "not that good performance" will be in indoors under low light condition, or just in outdoors, but at night. Wherever there is low light, the cam will not perform as well as where is full natural light. The reason is obvious right? It is a $700 camera, not a professional $1500 one. I won't say the quality in low light conditions is as bad as an SD camera, but it just decrease a little bit. You will see some kind of "points" appearing here and there, and the definition of the shapes won't be that clear as in fully sunlight, but it is still VERY respectful the quality. I would suggest buying this camera for home use, for going for vacations, enjoying in family and keeping VERY GOOD quality memories.

I'm moving up from a Sony HD-PC100 that is a miniDV tape based camcorder. This camera has a touch screen with great interface and easy to use menus. You can increase the overall size of the buttons on the screen by hitting the 'easy' button. It is priceless for me to be able to record footage and then simply upload them to my PC. After the upload to my PC it is extremely easy using the Sony Picture and Motion Browser software to create either DVD or Blu-ray disks. The GPS geo-tagging option is fun for about the first 15 mins. It would be very fun during a multi-stop European vacation or something. You can sort your photos and video clips by location. You can also sort your video and photo clips by a face! The face recognition function is also pretty impressive. The optional 3 watt video light is a must for perfect indoor, low-light video. Overall, highly recommended.

I am well pleased with the sony hd handy cam. I have only used it a few times and the picture quality is great. I have an older model sony sd handy cam and there is no comparsion. My only complaint is it is very hard to aim camera in bright sunshine you can not see the display. Have same problem with older model. Sony HDR-XR200V 120GB HDD High Definition Camcorder w/15x Optical Zoom

I've been waiting for the price of HD camcorders to come down a bit before buying one. A few weeks ago I stopped by a Sony outlet to pick up a charger for my cybershot, and they had the HDR-XR200v on sale for $599. I knew this camcorder was selling for closer to $1000 not too long ago. So I went ahead and bought it after one of the employees told me that if I found a better price online to go ahead and come back and they would match it. Even now I believe that $600 is hard to beat for a camcorder of this quality.

The only reason I didn't give this cam five stars was the fact that it doesn't come with an HDMI cable. Other than that I have been extremely pleased with this purchase. A lot of other reviews have called attention to the quality of indoor/low light not being the greatest. All I have to say about that is you are probably not going to find another camcorder that does any better in low lighting conditions anywhere near this price range. As far as outdoor use, this cam's quality is up there with the best of them. Consider what you used to get for $600 a few years ago compared to now. I never imagined we would be holding a camera as little as this guy with HD quality for under $1000 any time soon.

I purchased an Optika High Definition Platinum Series 0.3x Ultra Fisheye lens to go with my new XR200. The lens was on sale from $299 down to $99 on Amazon. The combination is absolutely fantastic. The 120GB drive provides for what seems to be a never ending amount of internal storage. The battery life is not bad, although I've never had another HD camcorder, so I don't really have anything to compare it to as far as that goes. All in all, if you are considering buying an HD cam any time soon, and you don't want to spend upwards of $1000, you can be confident that the HDR-XR200 will be an excellent addition to your digital equipment collection.

I purchased this camera at Christmas and really like the picture quality and ease of use. It doesn't give top performance in normal room lighting so my next purchase will be a video light. Outdoors it is very good, and the steadyhot feature allows handheld operation without any shake. I was not happy that Sony sells a HD camera but doesn't provide an HDMI mini-cable in the box, since one is required to get the best output quality for TV viewing, and the A/V cables they provide won't provide HD quality.

I love the camera and all of its features but you should upgrade all the lights in your family room to 120 watt bulbs if you wanna even get close to capturing a decent picture. But it should be known that most digital cameras lack in this area. It just seems that this camera is really partial to natural light.

I have the privilege of using this camcorder at our church to record services and other events. There are many great features on this camera and to be honest I haven't even touched half of them. The recording is smooth and focusing is quick. It also gives you the ability to take 4 MP pictures which is a bonus. It also has night shot capability as well as "slow motion" recording which is really cool. If you're looking for a high end HD camcorder that is just short of professional then look no further. This things is awesome and I love using it every time.

this was supposed to arrive at my house in april 19 to the 22nd, and i had standard shipping, and it came LITERALLY OVERNIGHT! i was pretty shocked to see it in my front door! lol.... but yes, i havent used it yet, and it seems to work right! but im just happy it was pretty fast! it seems to work, kind of dark indoors but i have lighting equipment i can use ^_^