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111 of 119 people found the following review helpful
Great camera but faulty technical specs, By
This review is from: Sony HDRCX130 Handycam Camcorder (Black) (Camera)
I received my Sony HDR-CX130 today and was shocked to find that IT HAS NO MICROPHONE INPUT of ANY KIND!I alerted Sony and they thanked me for bringing to their attention this error on their technical specifications listed (and promptly linked me to a page that allegedly says it's not their fault if errors are made on their advertising.. that link did not work either, btw bwaha). So, no, NO 3.5 mini jack or ANY mic/audio input whatsoever. Also, every auto-focus mode is EXTREMELY SLOW, and the "manual" controls are next to impossible to adjust due to the DESIGN. I have been practicing for HOURS and STILL haven't gotten the hang of using any of the "manual" controls. It's basically, "set everything to automatic and HOPE for the best" which is not too convenient for any point-and-shoot. On the bright side, the "touch the screen to focus on that area" DOES seem to work rather well 50% of the time, and I am pretty sure THAT is the way I will be focusing The touchscreen however does respond accurately (even with my huge fingers) and menus are fairly easy to get to (even though it always exits as soon as you make any selection instead of taking you back to the menu). The touchscreen is a GIANT LEAP FORWARD in control when compared to that horrendous small "joystick" on earlier consumer camcorders like my old Canon. Optical stabilization is AMAZING!! And that Tele-macro feature is brilliant, if everything is extremely STILL! SO those are the biggest pros/cons so far. I still haven't actually recorded anything today so I don't know how the image quality holds, but it APPEARS to be great. I just thought i'd warn any potential buyers of the NO-MIC-INPUT (which was one of 3 absolutely-necessary aspects I needed, which basically means I wasted my money on this particular camcorder) and also warn of the near-impossible "manual controls" along with the snail-slow auto-focusing. Comments
Tracked by 1 customer
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Showing 1-10 of 14 posts in this discussion
Initial post:
Mar 15, 2011 9:13:13 AM PDT
Jonathan Pinto says:
Thanks for the info about the lack of mic input. I was confused when I heard there was none yet saw it listed on the Sony Style website for the item. Have you had a chance to test out the camera in low-light conditions? Also, do you know whether or not the CX-160 has a mic input? Thanks.
In reply to an earlier post on
Mar 15, 2011 11:24:10 AM PDT
Last edited by the author on Mar 20, 2011 9:15:56 AM PDT
Shannon says:
Low light recording is EXCELLENT!
If you can tolerate a little grain (nothing horribly distracting - in fact, 1 way 2 look @ it: it almost looks like 35mm grain in the theatres haha), using the "Low Lux" feature brightens an entire 12 x 12' room up, even if it's lit only by one small nightlight. . When Sony responded to my tech spec correction they ASSURED ME that the CX-160 does indeed have a mic input. . P.S. After 36 hours of trying, The auto-focus, and especially MANUAL CONTROLS are really, REALLY R-E-A-L-L-Y useless rubbish. P.S.S. I need to film with TWO cameras simultaneously. Good thing I was a little short on buying them both at the same time! I will be getting the CX160 so that the video quality will match. (No time to return it, I needed the camera by tomorrow. IF I can wrangle the focusing & manual controls better, and use a portable digital audio recorder, I may be able to salvage this fiasco until I buy professional equipment in summer 2012.)
Posted on
Mar 19, 2011 9:49:39 AM PDT
Last edited by the author on Mar 19, 2011 9:50:00 AM PDT
happy says:
why don't you return it? amazon provides free shipping if you bought it based on faulty information on their site.
In reply to an earlier post on
Mar 20, 2011 9:06:02 AM PDT
Jonathan Rayl says:
Very odd everyone. I bought mine on Friday night from Best Buy and already used it once in one of my productions yesterday. It works superbly well. The video image is stunning to say the least and my client was very pleased. Maybe you got your hands on a defective one.
Posted on
Apr 30, 2011 8:39:42 PM PDT
T. Smith says:
Yes! And if you download their manual for this camcorder, it shows the MIC IN in the images and even talks (on page 24) about LED lights that do not exist.
Bad Sony! No excuse!
Posted on
Jun 4, 2011 5:08:24 AM PDT
K. A. Klein says:
As of today, more than two months after your post, the Amazon technical specs still say "Audio Input: Microphone." Thanks for pointing out that this is not accurate, because it's a feature I, too, am seeking. Come on Amazon--show you care about your customers and fix this costly mistake!
Posted on
Jun 15, 2011 4:20:48 PM PDT
H. Lee says:
Hello, thanks for the information. Does anybody know which sony model has that mic input? I can't find it on line and hope somebody can give me advice on that. Million thanks.
Posted on
Jun 15, 2011 4:21:17 PM PDT
H. Lee says:
Hello, thanks for the information. Does anybody know which sony model has that mic input? I can't find it on line and hope somebody can give me advice on that. Million thanks.
In reply to an earlier post on
Jun 15, 2011 5:05:02 PM PDT
[Deleted by the author on Jun 15, 2011 5:05:24 PM PDT]
Posted on
Jun 16, 2011 3:33:23 PM PDT
George says:
I think I know what Sony ment by "audio input-microphone". They mean the built in microphone is the audio input. Very confusing and very misleading on their part. I'm getting ready to order a 160 and sure hope it's there.
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Review Details |
Sony HDRCX130 Handycam Camcorder (Black)
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