Budget camera/camcorder

My actual rating is 3.5 stars but I've rounded up for now.

First I read the specs of this before I ordered it so I knew what I was getting myself into. I did not buy this for great recording capabilities and did not expect that. I bought this device to have a easily portable recording device for cheap and it delivers.



The negatives for me so far has been the awful sound recording and the lighting. I did not expect a great mic but the quality of sound recording is far below my expectations. Combine this with the inability to attach an external mic (let me know if there's a way that I don't know of) makes this device subpar. The lighting recorded fluctuates quite a bit. Sometimes I would have to set the setting a couple times to get video to appear versus a dark/black screen. Let me note that I was recording in the evenings indoors without much light in the first place. Yes this isn't ideal but if it is not able to handle that lighting setting the device's settings a couple times should not magically "fix" the issue.



The overall design works well and the navigation is a breeze similar to other Sony cameras. You can also easily pull this device out of your pocket and start shooting either in camera mode or camcorder mode within seconds. I do feel that they could have utilized the screen space much better; video is displayed on the top of the screen and the bottom of the screen is basically wasted IMO. There are no exposed ports so the unit is nice and sleek. The area that goes over the USB doesn't completely move out of the way so depending on the USB port you are connecting to you might not be able to plug it in. No worries though a USB extension is included. Oh and you can use both SD and the memory stick yay!More detail ...

Wow... Just WOW...

I was looking to replace my JVC Everio that had a 60GB hard drive in it. I loved the convenience of the hard drive since that replaced an older unit I had that used the small tape cartridges. But the prices for the HD capable units are more than I was willing to pay for a camcorder so looked at the units that just used memory sticks.



I have the Sony DSC-TX1 digital camera and was blown away by its optical quality and it even took 720p movies which were just insanely clearer than my 1 year old JVC camcorder. That was when I realized I needed to lose the JVC. Almost all the movies I do are of my son now 6 years old so the better the quality the happier I would be. Too many artifacts with the low definition JVC panning was just ugly ugly ugly and while it had a great response in low light the picture quality was just not what I wanted considering how good everything else with my TV and still camera.



I was initially going to get the 100 version of this since it was so insanely cheap for a 1080 capable camcorder but the bad low light capability put me off since most of what I record is in my house. And the very low numbers for optical zoom also concerned me. But amazon conveniently puts little links under the initial product listing if there's a new version so I saw the 110 and the price was good. I did some digging on Sony's site somewhat confused that the cheap little 100 had 16GB built in but the higher end had none but when I saw the rest of the specs in comparison I felt it was a very good unit to give a test run with. My local brick and mortars didn't have it in stock so I ordered it from Amazon and got the Saturday delivery early on Saturday plenty of time to charge it up and try it out.



I left all settings at default except for the quality setting. That was easy to find and the touchscreen on this unit makes it very easy to operate. As with my sony still camera it has a "user" screen too where you can pin the six most used functions to save you from having to navigate into submenus. I love this feature as it made my touchscreen still camera so simple and quick to use.



So I did four test movies all of the same thing (my 6 year old playing with a huge Geotrax set) at all four of the options for 1080p resolution. The camera is smaller than I had expected very light and fits well in the hand. The only real buttons to deal with in normal operation are the zoom and the start/stop recording which are placed well despite the small size of the unit. If you want to grab a still as well which you can do while recording that button is on top right behind the zoom so it's easy to get at. So use is great no problems.



As I said touch screen menu is great so changing settings as I went was a piece of cake.



Started with the highest 24Mbps then the next down (I think it was 17Mbps) then the "default" one they start you out at 9Mbps then the lowest. When I was done I pulled the card out (nice quick access on the bottom with a great sturdy hinged door). Went into my macbook pro just fine and i started playback.



I have a 13" macbook pro the aluminum unibody that I got about four months ago. So new core2 duo processor nvidia 9400 graphics... And it could not play the highest or second highest quality movies raw... Which told me that they were going to be great on my windows 7 media center. The third and fourth files played but since the laptop is not a 1080 screen it didn't look that good. So I went ahead and pulled the memory card out of the laptop put it in my Dell Zino that runs my beautiful 46" Samsung HDTV and played them all.



One thing I hadn't realized is that when it creates the files it creates them in a native bluray playback format the folder structure and all. So that should make it easy for people who will want to burn to Bluray.



Anyway on the media center i played the highest quality one first. And my jaw dropped and I nearly had to go buy some adult diapers. WOW. That was all I could say or think. WOW. It was just outstanding WAY better than I had expected. And it's not like I'm so unfamiliar with HD that even bad HD was impressive to me - my first HDTV was purchased back in 1999 a huge 60" Mitsubishi diamond line TV. So I've been using HD for over 10 years now. And this just knocked my socks off.



I had nearly no artifacting or blurring or anything with the movement of the camera as I've come to expect from camcorders. Even the blurring was minimal. And the shots of things were just crystal clear. I had a 1080p version of the movie BOLT running on the TV as he played with his geotrax so I zoomed in so that filled the viewfinder and recorded some of the movie. During playback at that scene I couldn't even tell it wasn't the original playing back that it was a recording of the TV from earlier it was that clear.



I was indoors in Wisconsin on a winter day with snow falling so there was no direct sunlight just all clouds. Only one window's curtains open and no lights turned on inside. And the clarity and lighting was excellent. Every bit I could hope for.



So I tried the next down quality and it blew me away. As did the third and then the lowest quality. All looked stunning. When I got down to the lowest I could see some difference between it and the highest but for what I was and will be shooting (my son) I think I'll end up using the default third lowest setting because it was still jaw droppingly good on my HDTV.



I got the 16GB card since the 32GB card was still in the three digit price range and i have a habit of transferring the files to my computer as soon as I'm done shooting anyway. And at the third quality setting the default 9Mbps one a 25 minute clip used just 1.9GB so I should get about 3 1/2 hours on this card at this rate so I'll not have to worry about running out of media for my normal use.



The display is crisp and clear widescreen format and not cluttered when recording. Response to touch was very good only once when selecting something from a bottom of a menu did I have to touch it twice since the first didn't register. Didn't take any pressure to get it to see my pressing.



The still picture while shooting video worked easily enough but they're not great quality so it won't replace your digital camera if you have a good one. But it may give you a decent still shot of something you would have missed otherwise...



All in all this is waaaayyyyy better than I had expected and more than I had even hoped for. 100% satisfied with the unit.



I can't attest to battery usage yet since I have only had it for five hours and only ran about 40 or 45 minutes of recording through it so far. In a few days I'll pop back in here and edit this with the results I've seen with regards to the battery life since this is evidently the first review of this model.More detail ...

sony handicam

My first impressions of this small camcorder are very good. The size is perfect as it fits in your purse so it is available at all times. How many times have you thought I wish I had my camera. The battery last about one and a half hoursit is a infolithium battery which means that you can see how much time you have left on it. Plus it will hold and retain its charge over time. The record time on sp is about 85 minutes. This camcorder will accept up to a 16 gig memory card. And you can purchase additional batteries with longer record time. The number of the batteries range between np-fh50 to np-fh100. The touch screen is simple and easy to use. It is powered up when the lcd screen is opened. The controls all have a good placement.The zoom is great works quietly and quickly. The sound is also very good(I could hear every bite the cat atethe screech of the rocking chair and even the tv which was turned low.)No it is not hd but the picture is very good. This camcorder has a quality build and a Carl Zeiss lens. Because of the features you would expect this small beauty to be more expensive. So in the end you get quite a lot of bang for your buck.I wanted to add that with a 8 gig card you get an additionl 174 minutes(nearly 3 hrs. additional record time.The npfh50 battery gives you 3 hrs of additional charge. When this two items are added you have nearly 4 and a half hours of record time. Also the camcorder allows you to choose to record on the internal memory or the memory stick. Plus Amazon has the best prices on the battery and memory card.More detail ...

Great Camcorder Both for Entry-level and Freelance Videography Enthusiasts!

Since its purchase on Monday April 6 2009 at my local Best Buy I've been very satisfied with this wonderful portable camcorder.



Before I purchased this camcorder I used to produce videos with both my Hitachi VM-E635LA 8mm and RCA CC6262 VHS-C camcorders and while videotaping was simple capturing and editing on a computer became both troublesome and a hassle but thanks to my Sony HandyCam DCR-SX41 computer-based video editing has never been any easier for me.



For those who are expecting High Definition video this camcorder is NOT for you as it records in 720x480 Standard Definition on the highest recording setting [HQ].



Keep in mind if you are looking into purchasing this camcorder I highly recommend setting the recording setting to HQ for the best picture quality as some who've reviewed this camcorder have mentioned poorness in picture quality.



Pros: At a first glance the camcorder is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and is lightweight and portable enough to take anywhere. The battery life is excellent and gives you up to two hours [if your camcorder's recording mode is set to HQ] when fully charged and to make this camcorder an even sweeter deal it comes with 8 Gigabytes of internal solid-state flash memory [much like USB flash drives] which means no internal moving mechanisms adding longevity to the camcorder's life. The Sony HandyCam DCR-SX41 also has a Pro-Duo Memory Stick slot for memory expansion adding extra hours to capture those once-in-a-lifetime moments. This camcorder also has a responsive LCD touch screen for easy access to changing various camcorder settings including recording modes picture settings and white balance. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens delivers excellent picture quality [again on the HQ setting] for such a tiny camcorder. Finally this camcorder is quite durable for its size. I've dropped mine at least three times in a year's time and it still works like the day I've unboxed it.



Cons: While this camcorder is great there are some things that it lacks. Being since this is an entry-level camcorder for the consumer it is not expandable for external audio such as adding a shotgun handheld or lavalier microphone. It also lacks a headphone jack for previewing audio and while the Sony HandyCam DCR-SX41 has a built-in speaker it is not the best for previewing audio from your videos directly from the camcorder itself and while the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens delivers great picture quality [again on the HQ setting] auto focus can be troublesome at times during low-light conditions [especially when your camcorder's picture setting is set to auto (I highly recommend using the Twilight setting which reduces focusing issues in lower-lit places)].



Despite the camcorder's down-sides the Sony HandyCam DCR-SX41 is overall a very good camcorder for what it's worth and is great for entry-level amateur film-makers and freelance videographers.More detail ...

Wow... Just WOW...

I was looking to replace my JVC Everio that had a 60GB hard drive in it. I loved the convenience of the hard drive since that replaced an older unit I had that used the small tape cartridges. But the prices for the HD capable units are more than I was willing to pay for a camcorder so looked at the units that just used memory sticks.



I have the Sony DSC-TX1 digital camera and was blown away by its optical quality and it even took 720p movies which were just insanely clearer than my 1 year old JVC camcorder. That was when I realized I needed to lose the JVC. Almost all the movies I do are of my son now 6 years old so the better the quality the happier I would be. Too many artifacts with the low definition JVC panning was just ugly ugly ugly and while it had a great response in low light the picture quality was just not what I wanted considering how good everything else with my TV and still camera.



I was initially going to get the 100 version of this since it was so insanely cheap for a 1080 capable camcorder but the bad low light capability put me off since most of what I record is in my house. And the very low numbers for optical zoom also concerned me. But amazon conveniently puts little links under the initial product listing if there's a new version so I saw the 110 and the price was good. I did some digging on Sony's site somewhat confused that the cheap little 100 had 16GB built in but the higher end had none but when I saw the rest of the specs in comparison I felt it was a very good unit to give a test run with. My local brick and mortars didn't have it in stock so I ordered it from Amazon and got the Saturday delivery early on Saturday plenty of time to charge it up and try it out.



I left all settings at default except for the quality setting. That was easy to find and the touchscreen on this unit makes it very easy to operate. As with my sony still camera it has a "user" screen too where you can pin the six most used functions to save you from having to navigate into submenus. I love this feature as it made my touchscreen still camera so simple and quick to use.



So I did four test movies all of the same thing (my 6 year old playing with a huge Geotrax set) at all four of the options for 1080p resolution. The camera is smaller than I had expected very light and fits well in the hand. The only real buttons to deal with in normal operation are the zoom and the start/stop recording which are placed well despite the small size of the unit. If you want to grab a still as well which you can do while recording that button is on top right behind the zoom so it's easy to get at. So use is great no problems.



As I said touch screen menu is great so changing settings as I went was a piece of cake.



Started with the highest 24Mbps then the next down (I think it was 17Mbps) then the "default" one they start you out at 9Mbps then the lowest. When I was done I pulled the card out (nice quick access on the bottom with a great sturdy hinged door). Went into my macbook pro just fine and i started playback.



I have a 13" macbook pro the aluminum unibody that I got about four months ago. So new core2 duo processor nvidia 9400 graphics... And it could not play the highest or second highest quality movies raw... Which told me that they were going to be great on my windows 7 media center. The third and fourth files played but since the laptop is not a 1080 screen it didn't look that good. So I went ahead and pulled the memory card out of the laptop put it in my Dell Zino that runs my beautiful 46" Samsung HDTV and played them all.



One thing I hadn't realized is that when it creates the files it creates them in a native bluray playback format the folder structure and all. So that should make it easy for people who will want to burn to Bluray.



Anyway on the media center i played the highest quality one first. And my jaw dropped and I nearly had to go buy some adult diapers. WOW. That was all I could say or think. WOW. It was just outstanding WAY better than I had expected. And it's not like I'm so unfamiliar with HD that even bad HD was impressive to me - my first HDTV was purchased back in 1999 a huge 60" Mitsubishi diamond line TV. So I've been using HD for over 10 years now. And this just knocked my socks off.



I had nearly no artifacting or blurring or anything with the movement of the camera as I've come to expect from camcorders. Even the blurring was minimal. And the shots of things were just crystal clear. I had a 1080p version of the movie BOLT running on the TV as he played with his geotrax so I zoomed in so that filled the viewfinder and recorded some of the movie. During playback at that scene I couldn't even tell it wasn't the original playing back that it was a recording of the TV from earlier it was that clear.



I was indoors in Wisconsin on a winter day with snow falling so there was no direct sunlight just all clouds. Only one window's curtains open and no lights turned on inside. And the clarity and lighting was excellent. Every bit I could hope for.



So I tried the next down quality and it blew me away. As did the third and then the lowest quality. All looked stunning. When I got down to the lowest I could see some difference between it and the highest but for what I was and will be shooting (my son) I think I'll end up using the default third lowest setting because it was still jaw droppingly good on my HDTV.



I got the 16GB card since the 32GB card was still in the three digit price range and i have a habit of transferring the files to my computer as soon as I'm done shooting anyway. And at the third quality setting the default 9Mbps one a 25 minute clip used just 1.9GB so I should get about 3 1/2 hours on this card at this rate so I'll not have to worry about running out of media for my normal use.



The display is crisp and clear widescreen format and not cluttered when recording. Response to touch was very good only once when selecting something from a bottom of a menu did I have to touch it twice since the first didn't register. Didn't take any pressure to get it to see my pressing.



The still picture while shooting video worked easily enough but they're not great quality so it won't replace your digital camera if you have a good one. But it may give you a decent still shot of something you would have missed otherwise...



All in all this is waaaayyyyy better than I had expected and more than I had even hoped for. 100% satisfied with the unit.



I can't attest to battery usage yet since I have only had it for five hours and only ran about 40 or 45 minutes of recording through it so far. In a few days I'll pop back in here and edit this with the results I've seen with regards to the battery life since this is evidently the first review of this model.More detail ...

Sony Handycam is ok

I bought this with 3 basic needs 1.I wanted something compact 2. I wanted the capability to take pictures. 3. I wanted it to have a night vision light. You would think these 3 things would be easy to find in many cameras at a decent price range but they were not! So how did this fair up? This camera is one of the most compact even smaller than I expected. 2. It's picture taking ability I was least impressed with. It was pretty grainy. 3. The night vision light was pretty weak but hey I expected that for such a small camera. The battery life with the standard battery was about avg. 4 hrs. As far as working the camera it was VERY simple figured it out in 5 minutes w/o reading instructions needless to say there are VERY few menu screens touch screen is kinda nice but would also liked to have the capability to tape w/the viewfinder closed. All in all i'm pretty happy w/the purchase just don't buy it if you want it to take good pictures i've had phones that took clearer pictures.More detail ...

Wow... Just WOW...

I was looking to replace my JVC Everio that had a 60GB hard drive in it. I loved the convenience of the hard drive since that replaced an older unit I had that used the small tape cartridges. But the prices for the HD capable units are more than I was willing to pay for a camcorder so looked at the units that just used memory sticks.



I have the Sony DSC-TX1 digital camera and was blown away by its optical quality and it even took 720p movies which were just insanely clearer than my 1 year old JVC camcorder. That was when I realized I needed to lose the JVC. Almost all the movies I do are of my son now 6 years old so the better the quality the happier I would be. Too many artifacts with the low definition JVC panning was just ugly ugly ugly and while it had a great response in low light the picture quality was just not what I wanted considering how good everything else with my TV and still camera.



I was initially going to get the 100 version of this since it was so insanely cheap for a 1080 capable camcorder but the bad low light capability put me off since most of what I record is in my house. And the very low numbers for optical zoom also concerned me. But amazon conveniently puts little links under the initial product listing if there's a new version so I saw the 110 and the price was good. I did some digging on Sony's site somewhat confused that the cheap little 100 had 16GB built in but the higher end had none but when I saw the rest of the specs in comparison I felt it was a very good unit to give a test run with. My local brick and mortars didn't have it in stock so I ordered it from Amazon and got the Saturday delivery early on Saturday plenty of time to charge it up and try it out.



I left all settings at default except for the quality setting. That was easy to find and the touchscreen on this unit makes it very easy to operate. As with my sony still camera it has a "user" screen too where you can pin the six most used functions to save you from having to navigate into submenus. I love this feature as it made my touchscreen still camera so simple and quick to use.



So I did four test movies all of the same thing (my 6 year old playing with a huge Geotrax set) at all four of the options for 1080p resolution. The camera is smaller than I had expected very light and fits well in the hand. The only real buttons to deal with in normal operation are the zoom and the start/stop recording which are placed well despite the small size of the unit. If you want to grab a still as well which you can do while recording that button is on top right behind the zoom so it's easy to get at. So use is great no problems.



As I said touch screen menu is great so changing settings as I went was a piece of cake.



Started with the highest 24Mbps then the next down (I think it was 17Mbps) then the "default" one they start you out at 9Mbps then the lowest. When I was done I pulled the card out (nice quick access on the bottom with a great sturdy hinged door). Went into my macbook pro just fine and i started playback.



I have a 13" macbook pro the aluminum unibody that I got about four months ago. So new core2 duo processor nvidia 9400 graphics... And it could not play the highest or second highest quality movies raw... Which told me that they were going to be great on my windows 7 media center. The third and fourth files played but since the laptop is not a 1080 screen it didn't look that good. So I went ahead and pulled the memory card out of the laptop put it in my Dell Zino that runs my beautiful 46" Samsung HDTV and played them all.



One thing I hadn't realized is that when it creates the files it creates them in a native bluray playback format the folder structure and all. So that should make it easy for people who will want to burn to Bluray.



Anyway on the media center i played the highest quality one first. And my jaw dropped and I nearly had to go buy some adult diapers. WOW. That was all I could say or think. WOW. It was just outstanding WAY better than I had expected. And it's not like I'm so unfamiliar with HD that even bad HD was impressive to me - my first HDTV was purchased back in 1999 a huge 60" Mitsubishi diamond line TV. So I've been using HD for over 10 years now. And this just knocked my socks off.



I had nearly no artifacting or blurring or anything with the movement of the camera as I've come to expect from camcorders. Even the blurring was minimal. And the shots of things were just crystal clear. I had a 1080p version of the movie BOLT running on the TV as he played with his geotrax so I zoomed in so that filled the viewfinder and recorded some of the movie. During playback at that scene I couldn't even tell it wasn't the original playing back that it was a recording of the TV from earlier it was that clear.



I was indoors in Wisconsin on a winter day with snow falling so there was no direct sunlight just all clouds. Only one window's curtains open and no lights turned on inside. And the clarity and lighting was excellent. Every bit I could hope for.



So I tried the next down quality and it blew me away. As did the third and then the lowest quality. All looked stunning. When I got down to the lowest I could see some difference between it and the highest but for what I was and will be shooting (my son) I think I'll end up using the default third lowest setting because it was still jaw droppingly good on my HDTV.



I got the 16GB card since the 32GB card was still in the three digit price range and i have a habit of transferring the files to my computer as soon as I'm done shooting anyway. And at the third quality setting the default 9Mbps one a 25 minute clip used just 1.9GB so I should get about 3 1/2 hours on this card at this rate so I'll not have to worry about running out of media for my normal use.



The display is crisp and clear widescreen format and not cluttered when recording. Response to touch was very good only once when selecting something from a bottom of a menu did I have to touch it twice since the first didn't register. Didn't take any pressure to get it to see my pressing.



The still picture while shooting video worked easily enough but they're not great quality so it won't replace your digital camera if you have a good one. But it may give you a decent still shot of something you would have missed otherwise...



All in all this is waaaayyyyy better than I had expected and more than I had even hoped for. 100% satisfied with the unit.



I can't attest to battery usage yet since I have only had it for five hours and only ran about 40 or 45 minutes of recording through it so far. In a few days I'll pop back in here and edit this with the results I've seen with regards to the battery life since this is evidently the first review of this model.More detail ...

The best camcorder I ever had

This camera is an important upgrade in image quality and features. I replaced a Sony HDR-CX100 by this camcorder and the upgrade is noticeable. First the LCD screen is much more detailed and brighter and that was something I missed when I compared the CX100 with the Canon VIXIA's specially when I film in the sunlight. Second the light sensitivity is simple AMAZING. With very low light this camcorder is capable to obtain beautiful and grain less HD movies. I guess this is because the new backlight XMOR sensor and of course the Sony G lens. Third the stabilizer effect is something that I have never seen in any other camcorders: you can walk filming without any undesirable shake or vibration in the filming movie. Also if you film in a car or in a sportboat the steady shot feature in this camera is simple incredible. This helps you a lot not just for filming but also to take photos using the zoom in low light conditions. Fourth the wide angle lens is a very nice feature that allows you to capture more wide scenes and is very useful when you don't have to much space to film. Fifth this camcorder power up in a very short time and open and close the lens protector automatically so you can't miss any good shots opportunities. This is what I can tell you about the most important features for me. I guess I will use this camcorder for a long time not just for filming but also to take photographs.More detail ...

A camera with excellent HD quality but not many features

I bought this camera on Monday had fun with it for two days and then returned it. Although I can't afford it I then closed my eyes and ordered the HDR-CX550V. I basically went from the bottom of the Sony consumer class to the top in one fell swoop.



Things I liked about the CX150:

* FABULOUS quality in adequate light. The video in 24 Mbps mode is stunning. Search YouTube for examples. Every hair on my cat dust particles in sunlight it all shows up with beautiful resolution. It's amazing. Almost Blu-Ray quality. You won't find any consumer-class camcorder with better quality.

* 25x zoom when used with a tripod lets you get really close

* "macro" works without any special settings. Just put the lens an inch away and it will focus. Resolves fingerprints.

* Amazingly tiny. With no hard drive or tape drive the unit is frighteningly small. You can put it and all the cables + charger in a camera case designed for a DSLR + telephoto

* PMB software works has good basic editing. Used it to grab frames from movies - almost don't need the "still" function if 1990x1080 res is good enough.

* It will take a 32GB memory stick even though the feature list says they only support 16.

* The touch screen is responsive

* "touch the object" spot focus spot white balance is cool

* Give it the NP-FV70 battery and it will record for hours and hours



Things I either did not like or features missing (by "missing" I realize that you have to pay more). Don't mistake the length of my 'cons' list as hating the little guy - it's a good camera for what it is designed to be.

* A bit pricey. I think it is worth about $450.00 not the $549.00 list

* No wide-angle. I wish Sony had made the lens go from slightly wide-angle to about 15x instead of from normal to 25x.

* No external mic input

* No hot shoe - not even the Sony proprietary one

* Zoom motor noise is very audible in quiet settings - don't expect to use this camera to record acoustic orchestral music in concert halls

* The "smooth slow-mo 240 fps" is NOT HD 1080i60 quality. Might be OK at 720 but I found it disappointingly blurry. I'd love to see it have the same capability as the Casio EX-FX1 (not holding breath)

* Not enough buttons - too much reliance on the touch screen. I prefer buttons to scrolling through menus. Sony could fix this by providing more than 6 "my menu" choices.

* Auto focus works good most of the time but when it gets confused it is horrible. Combine that with no quick focus wheel and it is a recipe for loosing shots

* Picture mode is not available in 24 Mbps HD mode.

* The electronic stabilization does not work. I've grown used to optical stabilization in my DSC-H50 and there is no going back.

* Short of using something like the Black Rapid Straps Fasten-R2 screwed into the tripod shoe there is no way to attach a neck strap. I almost dropped it several times.

* The plastic housing is sensitive to noise - any little touch while recording will show up as sound in the video.

* No windscreen for the mics. Combine that with no external mic capability and you won't be able to hear anything in windy conditions.

* No remote

* No "night shot" infrared

* Low light performance is what you would expect from a small lens size. All the electronics in the world can't fully compensate for glass area.



Summary: if you want a fairly cheap tiny camera for shooting GREAT quality vids of vacations the kids and the pets this is an excellent choice. Want to do more and you will need to pay more for a better unit. Just want to help other people avoid my experience of being a bit disappointed and having to trade up.More detail ...