I visited a Sony store in Barcelona back in March and I remember how surprised I was to find that Sony products suffer from such poor design nowadays. I had heard Sony Vaio laptops was praised for their design, yet to me they looked extremely cheap. Shiny plastic, in an uncool way. It just screams “cheap japanese consumer blingbling”… Furthermore, this camcorder is a prime study of different ways to make sealed connections and doors. And all Sony’s proprietary MemoryStick crap. Lots to hate, but also lots to love.
I was trying to choose between Canon HF S10 / HF S100 vs. Sony XR500 / XR520.
I went with a Sony HDR-XR500VE
Sony knows how to do video pretty well. This camera simply has the ability for me to create the look I want.
For some obnoxious reason, Canon gave the S10/S100 so called rhomboid aperture blades / iris. That means lens flares become 4-pointed stars, and the bokeh looks “square” both of which factors looks lame. Sony on the other hand, offers a nice iris, and creates smooth bokeh, as well as proper lens flares, as I love it.
Sony Optical SteadyShot with Active mode
SteadyShot makes a huge difference. Unstable video looks amateurish. And from my background as a photographer I know I’m not a tripod kind of guy. I feel like a claustrophobic dude in a straight jacket. Besides, I’m a major Michael Mann fan, the creator of such fine works like Miami Vice, Collateral and Heat. That means lots of scenes shot while driving, yet with a stable, fluid feeling. Remember those legendary Miami Vice Ferrari wheel night shots?
Be sure to check out the amazing editing and music sync of this scene. Sonny and Caroline vs. the text of Phil Collins. Legendary.
Disregarding this guys smart-ass driving, it is a nice example of how Sony SteadyShot performs in real life!
This is a more technical, but very indicative test, that should make you jaw drop. It really is that good!
Low-light / night performance
Speaking of Miami Vice and Michael Mann, I am reminded of those eerie, atmospheric night shots. That’s where Sony’s backlit Exmor R CMOS sensor comes into the picture (pun intended). It features dramatically improved low light performance. And it’s not just good noise performance, the whole image is very balanced. What’s meant to be black is pitch black, not grainy and muddy. And a nice side-effect of the Exmor R sensor, is that there is absolutely no smearing. Smearing is when a strong light source causes a vertical or horizontal band or streak, that looks very digital and unnatural.
Does it do manual?
Yes it does. But not as well as the Canon HF S10 and HF S100. They have full manual control of shutter speed and aperture. The XR500 and XR520 has a manual control wheel (very smooth by the way) that lets me manually control the focus, exposure and white balance.
I’ve setup mine to control the autoexposure correction. I like being able to quickly correct a backlit scene. But wouldn’t it be great if the user didn’t have to select the functionality of this manual wheel deep inside the menu system, and instead have some quick select buttons right beside it, like the holes of a magic flute? You would quickly learn to “play” those controls, on the fly.
Sony’s original Gangsta lens
The lens is not a Carl Zeiss lens. Maybe Sony cut down on royalties to Zeiss in these financially challenging times? This lens they’re calling a “Sony Lens G” which sounds a tad lame. But that’s Sony anno 2009 for ya. What does the G stand for? Who knows? Maybe Sony credits it to the Grand architect of the universe? Or maybe it’s a real Gangsta lens? Nah, personally I tend to believe it is simply short for Sony glass lens. A hidden joke from Sony’s marketing department. No matter what it is made of or stands for, the lens performs well, seen with my eyes. I’ve seen little flare, chromatic aberration, and overall the image is very sharp and pleasing to my eyes. Color rendition is especially pleasing.
What’s bad about this Sony badboy?
The menu system is utterly horrible, confusing and ugly. And being an iPhone user makes me feel violent, since this touch screen is really intended to be pressed, not softly touched, like the iPhone. Will it break? Probably not, but I wish it had a joystick like the Canon S10/S100 instead.
My first Sony verdict
What Rocks
- Active Steadyshot is amazing!
- The slowmotion mode is useful and fun, though not full-res.
- I like the color rendition and sharpness.
- Low light / night shooting performance is very good!
What Sucks
- The menu system, yuck!
- The touch-really-hard-screen…
- Too consumer/soccer-mom looking with all the shiny plastic.
- No manual aperture and shutter speed controls.
I will post some videos made with my Sony XR500 very soon, so grab my RSS feed!
Read more about the Sony XR500 and XR520 technologies here!
The First Youtube Sony Hdr-xr520v Consumer Review
Yo! This review was not intended to replace a thorough, techy geek review. It’s just my own personal observations. If you have any questions regarding the camcorder, you are very welcome to leave a comment!
Pat says
Hi, I’m planning to buy xr500 during the weekend. Do you know how big of a difference it has with the new xr550? I like the specs on the 550(who doesn’t? xD) but the price is just way out of my budget.
Any ideas? I also asked around a lot of malls but they say xr500 has been faced out and the new xr550 replaced it.
oliver says
If you can find a place to buy the XR500 and get it a lot cheaper than the XR550 I’d just get the XR500 – since the difference is mostly “specs on paper” – the camera is more or less the same. You can do great stuff with both. Of course, the XR550 boasts 24Mbps AVCHD video, which is nice, but in reality I haven’t felt let down by the 16Mbps in the XR500. It’s like the difference between an 85% quality JPEG vs a 95% quality JPEG – the latter less compressed, but in use, the first one is good enough, and takes up less space.
Let me know what you end up with, and how you like it.
Marinos says
Hello.
I am planning to purchase the XR500 but i was wondering on the startup time. It features a quick start but what does this translate to real time.
Thank you
Marinos
oliver says
Hi Marinos
It is roughly right below 2 seconds.
Do you find that fast enough or slow? I don’t know what the standard is on other brands and models.
Oliver
Ahmad Abdulhamid says
and thank u so much everybody for the subject thank u Oliver
Timothy says
yo man.
i have this camera too.
but i just can’t figure out how to set the camera in slow motion.
could you help me out on thisone?
thanx
Ahmad Abdulhamid says
Hey Timothy,
there is a home icon button on the upper left, press it and then a menu of 3 option will pop up,i dont remember exactly the names of the choices but i remember that its obviously normal video, slow mo video and the photo mode or something like that…anyway i leave it to u to figure it out..i was reading the blog and i saw ur Q i was like no he should have some fun with the slomo…have fun…
soon check a mini compilation of some natural footages i shooted them in my country on vimeo…good luck
Tom says
I have had this camera for about 6 months, and used it to record my son’s wedding and on a 3 week trip to Hawaii. Overall, I agree with this review, and overall, I am quite happy with the camera.
As the review stated, the image stabilization is great, and the low light ability works very well, even in very low light.
I totally agree with the list of “What Rocks” and “What Sucks”. I would add the following:
The LCD screen works well in normal lighting, but is totally washed out in bright sunlight. And, don’t expect that the small pull-out viewfinder will help. It is near worthless in bright sunlight. About half my Hawaii pictures were taken by pointing and hoping. All the fingerprints on the screen makes things even worse in sunlight (although I don’t know how it gets worse than not seeing anything).
I totally agree that the menuing system is awful. But it should also be mentioned that the Sony software that comes with the camera is pretty bad as well. If all you are interested in is shooting your pictures and dumping them un-edited to a DVD, no problem. What you will end up with is a DVD that mimics the old VCR tapes. If you are interested in doing some editing, creating chapters, etc, you will need to upgrade to better software. It is particularly annoying that each time you press the stand-by button on the camera as you record your movie, the camera creates a new chapter. This gives you dozens of chapters in a typical one hour movie. The software does not allow you to combine these meaningless chapters into some organized menu system.
Finally, unless you are just dumping your movie to a DVD, you will need additional equipment. If you want your movie that you just recorded in High Definition to playback in High Definition on your DVD, you will need upgraded software, a Blu-ray burner for your computer, perhaps an upgraded sound card that can play back Blu-ray, and a Blu-ray player for your TV unless you only plan to view them through your computer. Also, movies can take up lots of disc space on your computer, so upgrading your hard drive(s) to a 1 or 1.5 Trillion would not hurt. In all, I spend about $500 above the camera cost in these upgrades. You can, of course take the movies in HD but downgrade to Standard Definition when you burn theDVD (the software does do this), but then what is the point of having bought one of the best HD cameras.
Tom says
I have had this camera for about 6 months, recorded my son’s wedding, and took it on a 3 week trip to Hawaii.
I agree with the review including “What Rocks” and What Sucks”. I would add the following:
The pictures I got were awesome. That’s the bottom line. But after 6 months, I am still confused by the menuing. Fortunately, it is pretty easy to take the pictures, it is just all the settings that boggle the mind. Once, I mistakenly thought I had it on the highest resolution, only to find I did not.
The camera performs well in low light (and even really low light. However, the LCD screen is totally washed out in bright sun. And, the small pull out view finder is also near worthless in bright sun. All the fingerprints on the LCD makes it even worse (although being able to see nothing in the LCD is probably as bad it gets). About half of my Hawaii pictures were taken by pointing and hoping. Luckily, most of the pictures came out.
In addition to the menus being poor, the software is really poor as well. If all you are looking for is to take your recorded video and transfer it to a DVD with little editing or chapter creation, you will be fine. To do more than this, and you will need to upgrade the software. This is especially true if you want to create chapters on your DVD. Each time you press the standby button as you record your movie, the camera creates a new chapter. In a one hour movie, you could have dozens of chapters which are meaningless. The Sony software has no way of combining these chapters in a single chapter that means something. Again, if you just dump the video from the camera to a DVD, no problem, and all these chapters will not effect you.
Finally, if you are half way serious about making High Definition movies, you will need lots of extras including:
Myk says
There is a way to quickly access the manually adjustable settings in this camera. By holding down the button in the middle of the manual knob for a second or two a little menu comes up on the screen listing the functions that can be controlled by the manual knob. Use the knob to change which function should be assigned to the knob, then press the button once to select the funtion you highlighted. Now the knob will adjust that function.
oliver says
Hey Myk, thank you very much for your nice tip!
Larun says
Hi!
Is there any diference between Sony XR500 and Sony XR500VE?
Thanks!
oliver says
Hi Larun, your question somehow slipped below my radar. Will answer now, sorry for the delay.
The Sony XR500VE is the european version of the XR500, meaning that it records in PAL instead of NTSC. NTSC is 60 interlaced frames per second, whereas PAL is 50 interlaced frames per second. PAL is because of that easier to make film-like, since 50 frames interlaced can easily be made 25fps progressive, because 50 just needs to be divided by 2, to give 25fps. Essentially 50i already is 25fps. Getting 60i to 24p or 25p is harder, because the pulldown is more complex, if a good, smooth result is to be achieved.
I hope my answer is helpful;-)
Jens says
Just a comment regarding the “G” lens.
The “G” brand is a heritage from Konica Minolta. Konica Minolta used the “G” label for their high end DSLR optics. When Sony took over the Konica Minolta DSLR division, they continued with the “G” label, for the high end lenses.
So the “G” brand is supposed to be a quality label, and Sony is now also using it for the camcorders and not only the DSLR cameras. It’s not Zeiss, but it is supposed to be associated with quality.
Other than that, I agree with your review. Well, on the “What sucks” list I would also add, the lack of time-lapse recording. I really miss that.
oliver says
Hi Jens! Thanks for clarifying! Nice to know they aren’t just pulling that G out of thin air;-)
Isn’t timelapse done quite easily with a still-camera set to shoot on interval, and then importing it into either Quicktime Pro or Final Cut to transform the sequence into a movie?
BTW…
Having spent some time in Final Cut Pro to edit some of my footage, I do miss being able to set my shutter speed, in order to have sufficient motion blur when panning, and overall prevent strobe-like movement, but apart from that I’m very happy with it.