Sony HDR-XR500V Review

Sony still can't quite match Canon quality, but built-in GPS adds an interesting twist.

Summary

Have tape- and DVD-based camcorders gone the way of the VCR and the cassette Walkman? It sure looks that way, as we’re pretty hard-pressed to find a super cool model featuring those media types. And how do you beat something like Sony’s high-def HDR-XR500V, with a 120GB hard drive, 6-megapixel CMOS imager and GPS map tagging? It’s tough. The XR500V is definitely not cheap, at $1,299, and is far from perfect, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s see what state-of-the-art looks like in the consumer camcorder arena.

Features and Design

Like the recently reviewed Canon Vixia HF S10 and last year’s Sony HDR-SR12, the HDR-XR500V is not a camcorder for wimps: It’s big, bulky, and definitely not something you’ll pop in your pocket for some casual vids. Oh, it’s easy to use, all right, but this is heavy-duty firepower geared for someone very serious about home videos, or who has aspirations of going beyond YouTube clips made with a cell phone or Flip.

The XR500V has gloss black and charcoal gray finishes, which exude a competent, high-tech vibe like the HF S10. It measures 2.9 x 3 x 5.5 (W x H x D, in inches), and weighs 20 ounces with the battery. Helping tip the scales is the 120GB hard drive on the right side, near the comfortable strap. One of the great benefits of a HDD is storage; You can save over 14 hours of best-quality AVCHD video, blowing away purely flash memory models. And don’t even mention tape or disk editions in the same breath. Even the highly-rated HF S10 has “just” 32GB embedded, which can be supplemented by SDHC cards. And if 120GB is not enough, the $1,499 Sony XR520V has an amazing 240GB. As we said, nothing comes close, although in time Samsung will have larger solid state drives in its new HD camcorders (64GB is the current max for the $899 HMX106).

The front of the camcorder is dominated by the 12x zoom, but instead of the typical Zeiss glass, it features a Sony G lens with low-dispersion aspheric elements. That’s photo-geek speak for better quality. We’ll see how it works in the performance section. The front also hosts a flash for improved still quality, a remote sensor, and a manual dial. With this, you can dedicate a specific function, such as focus, to adjust by turning the knurled dial when you’re in manual modes.

On the top is a 5.1-channel surround mic, a hot shoe and an adjustable, pull-out electronic viewfinder (EVF), something not found on the HF S10. A diopter control lets you adjust it to your eyesight. The EVF is a failsafe option if the LCD wipes out in direct sunshine, a problem we didn’t have with the Canon. The S10 only offers two-channel stereo, so keep that in mind if surround ambience appeals to you. There’s also a wide/tele zoom switch and a dedicated photo button. A GPS logo designates this is the first camcorder with a built-in tagging device. Pretty cool stuff.

The left side has a huge flip-out 3.2-inch touch screen LCD rated at 921K pixels, which is about as good as they get right now. You’ll tap on the screen to cruise through the various menu options and make your picks. The icons are fairly straightforward, and simple to navigate. On the left bezel are four controls including home, wide/tele for the zoom, and start/stop. The overall menu layout is fine, but it’s not nearly as sophisticated as the new top-end Canons. Still, you’ll have no problems making the most of the features.

On the body, opposite the screen, is a slot for a Memory Stick Pro Duo card and a speaker. There are controls for playback, easy no-brainer mode, disk burn, power, and display, to eliminate icon clutter on the screen. There’s also switch to enable and disable GPS, and another to pick your options for low-light shooting: standard, low lux and NightShot. That setting is designed for recording still subjects in almost total darkness. The results are pretty poor, and look like night vision goggle clips seen on CNN. But still sleeping babies and kitties look cute—even if they are green.

On the back is a mode button for switching between stills and video, the record button, as well as a slot for the recess battery and a jack for DC-in for charging. Connections for headphones, accessory mics, USB, mini-HDMI and component video flank the hard drive on the right. On the bottom of the Made In Japan camcorder is a metal tripod mount and battery release.

What’s In The Box

The Sony HDR-XR500V comes with the body, battery, AC adaptor, a 65-page operating guide, a short guide to GPS, component, A/V and USB cables, and a remote. The CD-ROM has Picture Motion Browser software and a PDF of the full owner’s manual.

Once the battery was charged and a 1GB card loaded, it was time to start recording.