Sony HXR-NX30U Palm Size NXCAM HD Camcorder with Projector & 96GB HDD (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I bought this camera for a couple specific applications, and I think it fits the bill pretty nicely. I write this review to help others who might have similar needs and are wondering if this does the job. I buy everything based on consumer reviews, so I feel like I owe it to someone else to help them make a decision on a significant investment.Specifically, I wanted a video camera that could be controlled remotely (hanging on the end of a crane) and also one that could take pictures while doing video at the same time. I shoot photography professionally and have been running video off my DSLR's (Nikon, mainly my D800 & 600). Hard to beat a great lens on a great DSLR, but at the end of the day there are things a videocamera does better (like record an entire wedding, for starters, not to mention superior autofocus)To be fair to the camera, I have not read the manual all the way through, so I can't pretend to be an expert. Nonetheless, there are some FACTS:1) Viewfinder is useless - that's fine, I didn't buy it to use that.2) The hood does come off pretty easily. It doesn't just fall of when you are walking around, but any kind of bumping can have the thing falling off. Kind of strange since you do actually have to screw it on (in a really weird, inside-out fashion), but it can definitely pop off with some jostling (like inside of a bag).3) You will need more power than what comes with the included battery - you'll run out of juice before you get anywhere close to eating up the generous internal memory. The Wasabi's are great, can get through a whole day of video with those 2 extra batteries (each of which has more capacity than the included Sony battery).4) The microphone rig is nice, easy to control manually or put some or all functions in "auto" mode. Attaches easily and securely, definitely gives you a "compact professional" look - and delivers on this look.5) The projector is useful. Don't think for a second that it is just a gimmick. End of the day review of shots in a hotel room with no connection to the TV, project it on a wall in a flash, focus with slider up top, forget that it is even a video camera. No one thinks of it as a toy when you suddenly have a crisp image projected up on a wall. And the "crisp image" is really what takes it out of the toy realm. Get the Sony pistol grip controller that folds out into a tripod (a must, in my opinion - more later), and you won't even have to worry about holding the thing while the videos play.6) The touch screen is fine - adjust your brain to the fact it isn't an iPhone, and you'll be okay.7) It does have a remote. Hard to find this in any of the online documentation, but it actually is in the box. My 18 month-old apparently threw mine away (I usually catch her doing this stuff, but she slid this one by me), so I had to order a new one. NOT EASY TO DO since there are no part numbers handy and stuff. I got one that looked close and hoped for the best, and it worked. It even had a "PHOTO" button, something missing from the included one.8) Software stinks. It's just weird, and it is slow, and I feel like they could have done a much better job with that. Why have a great camera with bad software? But this seems to be a trend - Nikon has done that for a while now...I think if you use it for any extended period of time that you really need the pistol grip controller. Makes it 1000% easier to use than the side handle, though in my opinion it could be a tad bigger (I have big hands). I mention this because your enjoyment of the camera could be hindered by hand cramps if all you use is the side handle. I had someone walk up to me and ask about it since he was dealing with the uncomfortableness of his camera with just a side grip and could see that the grip made life way easier.Video quality is great, watching it on my 1080p HDTV it looked crystal clear and life-like. No issues here at all.Camera adjusts well exposure-wise going from bright light outside to not-so-bright inside, pretty seamless automatic exposure change. I left this alone and chose to put focus at my fingertips for the one mode that can be adjusted manually (button can only be set to do one thing manually).I give it 4 out of 5 not really because of things like no photo button on the remote, useless viewfinder and a hood that comes off too easily, but for non-intuituveness of some of the menus and bad software. I'm pretty good with stuff, but found myself a little lost at times trying to change some setting, or understanding exactly what the differences were for some things. You might think this was a result of not reading the manual through from cover to cover, but I feel like it really isn't the best menu system out there.Trying to take photos while doing video isn't just as easy as pressing the PHOTO button while you are recording - you have to be in the right mode, or it just gives you an error which makes it look like you are trying to do something the camera won't do. I REALLY had to dig to find the one sentence that tells you this information as side note. I had someone else running it while I was shooting at a wedding, and somehow it got in a mode where it was snapping photos non-stop. Wasn't any easy way to stop it (like some "stop with the photos already!" button, but I changed it to a mode where it couldn't take pics and kept on moving.If you select max quality/size for pics, it takes a while to process each image if you are simultaneously shooting video. In photo-only mode it is fine (couple seconds), but don't think you can take a quick succession of pics while doing a video.This is the first Sony product I have had for a while (and the first photo-related Sony product I have owned), and I know every manufacturer has a different system and way of doing things, so I don't ding them TOO hard for their menu, but I really think a few things could have been less buried and more intuitive.The software is a little unforgiveable because of the format of the files that come off of the camera. You can't just play them in any player, so you could be a bit dependent on the software for really knowing what you got when playing it on a computer. I am a Windows user as far as my computer, and Windows Media Player gives you a picture but no sound. I use VLC to get around this, but that doesn't really give you great video playback quality. The software is just really lacking, and slow to the point that you think it isn't doing anything sometimes and you start clicking other stuff to try and make it work. If it had some horsepower, it would probably be fine.Despite any flaws, I think most of them can be overcome with practice or ingenuity, and I find this camera to be very smart and quick overall. Autofocus is great, exposure is great, video quality is great and at the end of the day, it can do what I need it to do. Because the projector is good, it increases the camera's value in other people's eyes -- "wow!" as opposed to "oh, that's cute(i.e.-lame). I definitely recommend this camera wholeheartedly and do not have any regrets on my purchase.

Looked at and researched numerous video cameras before deciding on the Sony HXR-NX30. I wanted a camera that performed as well as a professional camera yet easy to setup and lug around. This camera does that and more. I recently used the camera to record a stage performance with some scenes in very low light and others in extremely bright spot lights. Since I received the camera the day prior to the performance I had no time to play with manual settings. I used the auto settings for everything and the video turned out fantastic. The video is so crisp and clear it looks as good as any professional video on my 55" HDTV. So far it's hard to find anything negative to say about this camera. The only negative thing I will mention is that it took a little time for the camera to automatically adjust the focus and adjust to the bright spot lights that were suddenly turned on from a completely dark stage between scenes. Other than that I haven't found anything I dislike about this camera. The auto focus works great in normal daylight situations.I mounted the camera to the dash of my 4WD truck, which has extremely stiff suspension and drove around to see how the Active SteadyShot feature performs. I was amazed at how steady the video turned out. It looked as if the camera was floating in mid-air. In the video you can see the hood of the truck bounce up and down as the truck hits dips and bumps in the road, but the video stays as steady as a rock. What more can I say.

Overall, a great camcorder. My one complaint is how Sony chose to handle the video clips. All of the video clips are contained inside a single AVCHD file. I have to copy the entire file down to my Mac, then open it in Quicktime Pro and "export" the individual clips to get them down to single MOV files. On top of this pain in the a$$, the only way to delete the clips on the camcorder is to painfully select them one at a time on the tiny viewfinder and delete them.This entire process from A-Z is absolutely the textbook definition of stupidity. A "normal" camera/camcorder would allow you to connect by USB and see each clip in Viewer (Mac) or Windows Explorer and copy them to the PC, delete them right there in the Viewer/Windows Explorer, etc. Very easy under normal circumstances. The operation of the camcorder is awesome and the videos are top notch. Getting the videos off the camcorder is a different story.

This camera is perfect for the half a step below professional but more than a novice and priced right, too! The HD video it records is sharp and clear and it easy to switch between recording to the internal harddrive or to an SD card. The included microphone kit works like a charm and sounds good with great control options. The fluid lens works great keeping the picture stable and smooth as you move around. The projector, while an odd add-on, is actually pretty cool to be able to show people what you recorded without having everyone crowd around.Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase and recommend it to others looking to have a high-end camera but not have the high-priced broadcast level cams.

I'm shooting cinematic looking documentary films. And I like everything about this camera except th e fact that I cannot adjust the shutter speed and Iris (aperture) at the same time! I always shoot at 24fps and 1/50 shutter speed and in order to manage depth of field I want to be able to set aperture manually. Also the camera does not have ND filter and you cannot have usable shallow depth of field without bumping your shutter speed so high that it creates the jittery high speed shutter look.But if you are looking for just point and shoot camera, you will love this one. You will get compact camera with a great stabilized image quality.