Sony HDR-CX260V High Definition Handycam 8.9 MP Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom and 16 GB Embedded Memory (Black) (2012 Model)

This review is for the Sony HDR-CX260V. This camera is similar but not identical to the HDR-PJ260V. The differences between the two cameras are:HDR-CX260V:Records in stereo; has one speaker on the left side of the camera; average power use: HD: 2.6W, STD: 2.4W; Weight 7 oz; slightly smaller dimensionsHDR-PJ260V: in addition to the features of the CX (+ approx $100):Records in stereo or 5.1; 2 speakers at the bottom of LCD; can display audio level on the screen while recording; headphone jack; average power use: HD: 2.7W, STD: 2.5W; Weight 11 oz; slightly larger dimensions; built-in projector; wireless remote (sensor at front of camera); threads for conversion lenses, filters, etc.First of all, this is a really nice little camera. I did a lot of research before buying it, including reading all of the reviews and comments here. A lot has already been said, so I'm going to avoid covering the same ground too extensively. Personally, of the features on the PJ model, the only ones I might have had some interest in are 1) the threads to attach lens filters, and 2) the headphone jack. I just couldn't justify spending an extra $100 just for those two items.The camera itself is a nice size but pretty small, about the size of a small can of tomato paste. The image and sound quality are excellent.The Active SteadyShot and the Extended Zoom work together. There are 3 settings for SteadyShot: off, normal and active. In normal mode, the camera mechanically reacts to movement. The zoom at this point is completely optical, and it magnifies up to 33x. When SteadyShot is set to active, the extended zoom is also turned on, and you now can zoom to 55x. (Extended zoom does *not* reduce image quality.) Extended zoom isn't the same as *digital* zoom. Digital zoom *does* degrade image quality. It works by using an area of the sensor that is smaller than is needed to produce a full frame, and then "blows it up" to the size of a full frame. This makes it seem as if the camera has zoomed-in even closer, but it also results in a "blocky" or pixelated image which worsens as the zoom level increases. The digital zoom can magnify up to 350x (which I have been surprised to discover is fairly usable up until the very last little bit). The image stabilization does work, especially the active mode. SteadyShot is there to help with normal camera shake, but it can't fix everything (for instance running down stairs while recording). For that you want a much more expensive camera.Low light performance is pretty good also. Two caveats: 1) leave the white balance in auto 2) if the image seems a bit noisy, try manually adjusting the exposure down a notch or two. If I'm shooting where lighting is subdued, I try to achieve a watchable image; light enough to see, but still looking like it actually was. If you try to go too much beyond that, your image noise is going to increase substantially. Also, the "Low Lux" (low light) setting isn't handled automatically, even in Intelligent Auto. You must enable or disable it yourself.This camera has two available recording frame rates - 60i and 60p.One thing about the camera that I found to be insanely cool - online help. Whenever you go into a menu or click on a menu choice, there's a brief description of what that item does. Also, if a choice is grayed out, go ahead and try it anyhow - the camera will tell you exactly why that option isn't available, and in some cases will make the necessary changes for you.I found the menus to be pretty well laid out. My suggestion is play around with the camera settings a little; you're not going to break it. It takes a little time to get used to the layout. I find that I'm most often in either the Camera/Mic menu or Setup. Camera/Mic is more shooting related (white balance, scene selection), and Setup is more camera-related (usb settings, which memory to use, audio volume, etc.) In the other four submenus, there's really very little to see. I really like the touchscreen, I've kind of gotten used to that from my cell phone. (BTW the "screen calibration" menu item is to align the touch-surface with the image on the LCD, not to adjust the screen to your personal touch.) In navigating the menus, I kind of wish they'd given the option to swipe through, but the scrollbars work fine. If there are a few items you keep going to, there are 3 "buttons" on the left side of the home screen that you can customize with anything from the Camera/Mic menu. (You set this up in the Camera/Mic menu.) Some people have complained about "fat fingers" causing trouble with the touchscreen; I find that using the outside "edge" of my thumb towards the tip works well. Sometimes holding and pressing gently or even rolling slightly helps too, instead of tapping.The camera comes well equipped, but if you're serious about shooting, at least buy a pair of larger batteries. Big Mike's has a package Sony HDR-CX260V Handycam Camcorder Battery & Battery Charger Kit with (2) NP-FV70 Batteries, AC/DC Rapid Charger, LCD Screen Protectors and Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth for around $40, all good quality, which is less than the cost of a single OEM battery; a great deal.For memory, I purchased a Class 10 64GB SanDisk SDXC card. This camera requires an SD card of Speed Class 4 or higher. The largest card that Sony guarantees will work is 64GB, but larger cards MAY work. SD or SDSC cards are available up to 2GB; avoid them, they are most likely too slow to work properly. SDHC (High Capacity) 4GB to 32GB, are compatible with pretty much everything. SDXC (eXtended Capacity) 64GB up to 2TB (2048 GB); uses the ExFAT file system, which may not be recognized by computers (XP needs a patch to use ExFAT), TVs, DVD/Blu-Ray players, etc. unless the card is reformatted to FAT32 (which isn't straightforward). In a few of the reviews where people weren't able to access data, or their computers crashed trying, there's a good chance that they were using an SDXC card on a system that wasn't set up for it. Unless you're computer savvy and absolutely need a 64GB card, stick to SDHC cards (32GB and below) and save yourself some headaches. This is an issue with the memory card itself, not the camera.I was able to connect to my computer by USB with no problems on the first try. If you record on a removable card, you can also just remove it and use a card reader to copy files to your computer. Video files have an .MTS extension and are found in the "\PRIVATE\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM" folder. Photos can be found in the "\DCIM\100MSDCF" folder.Another note: you determine which memory you want to record to (internal or external) in the Setup menu. The camera won't switch between them automatically. Also, some concerns have been raised about the camera recording in 2GB files; there is no gap at the switchover and the camera will continue recording until you run out of space or turn it off; it's invisible to the user. If you use the onboard software, it will reassemble the clips for you. Otherwise it's simple to do in an editing program.The Built-in Zoom Mic works really well, I'm actually kind of impressed. Closer Voice on the other hand is much more subtle. With Closer Voice on, some of the background noise is removed, but speech seemed slightly muffled/distorted/burbly which is a side effect of some types of noise reduction. It's possible that some of the room reverb was removed also, but it's difficult to tell for certain. Since you can't have Zoom Mic and Closer Voice on at the same time, my vote is for Zoom Mic.Regarding some complaints about hearing camera noise; turn off the automatic gain control by setting Micref Level to "low", and make sure that the zoom mic is turned off. As an example, if you were shooting an outside scene through/near to window glass, the camera sounds will bounce off the glass into the microphones on the front of the camera and zooming in will make it even worse. With Micref Level set to low, I noticed no camera sounds, and quiet moments were actually quiet.Auto wind noise reduction; nice feature. In order to remove the noise, the sound quality will be affected to at least some degree. The noise reduction probably involves partially combining the left and right channels to cancel out some of the sound that is common to both channels. This would reduce stereo separation somewhat, making it closer to mono. I guess the question is, do you want an accurate recording with all the wind noise on it, or would you prefer something that is listenable, but sounds a bit "off"? My vote is for the latter.Intelligent Auto handles the following settings: face detection, scene detection, camera-shake detection and sound detection. If any of these settings are turned off, turning on Intelligent Auto will enable them; however, turning Intelligent Auto back off won't put the settings back where they were. You will need to go back and disable those items again. I suspect many people will just want to leave Intelligent Auto "on", or otherwise won't bother messing with the affected settings. (Incidentally Intelligent Auto isn't on by default; the "button" to enable it is on the lower right-hand corner of the LCD, or it can also be done in the Camera/Mic menu.) Normally screen indicators tell you either status (i.e. battery level) or that something's been turned on. For the following (which relate mostly to Intelligent Auto), you get a screen indicator when the item is turned *off*: Face Detection, Smile Shutter, SteadyShot, Auto Wind NR and Closer Voice.There's a setting available called x.v.Color; this is a cool feature whose time hasn't quite come yet. If your TV set supports it (and I discovered that mine does), it allows a wider range of colors to be displayed, which should result in more accurate color reproduction. Unfortunately, it isn't part of the DVD or Blu-ray standard, so if you burn your video to a disc, this feature is lost in the process. Bottom line, this isn't well supported yet or convenient to use, so it's of limited use at the moment. For now, it's best to just leave it turned off. Maybe in a few years industry support will improve.Eco Mode controls the LCD backlight status and powering-down of the camcorder after a period of inactivity. [Off] LCD brightness remains at menu setting (normal/bright) and camera remains on; [Standard] backlight off at 1 minute of inactivity and camera off at 2; [Max] LCD brightness is adjusted to the surrounding brightness automatically. Backlight off at 15 seconds, camera off at 1 minute. Anything plugged into the A/V remote connector jack will disable eco mode and keep the camera awake. This includes the optional Sony GPAVT1 Shooting Grip with Mini Tripod, and most likely the Sony RM-AV2 Remote Commander as well.(PC Only) The camera comes with a "lite" version of PlayMemories Home loaded on it. If you plug the camera into your computer's USB port and connect, the camera will appear in Windows Explorer as one or two drives (the internal memory and also the external memory card if present). The drive with the lower letter will have a setup file for PlayMemories. Once installed, you can tell it to update, and it will download additional features. The software's pretty basic, and for my purposes will probably only be used for some file management and nothing else. On the other hand, the program isn't the devil spawn some others would make it out to be. You don't have to install the program, but if you don't have anything else to use, it's there for you. It'll import video, allow you to annotate/manage it, burn it to DVD or Blu-Ray, and also serves as a decent player. You can do a bit of editing also, but it's mainly limited to trimming. For an entry-level bare bones program, it really isn't bad. Personally, I'm a big fan of Sony Vegas, which I've been using for a couple of years now; so personally, that's where I plan on doing most of my editing.Hopefully, this review helped answer some questions and maybe even solved or prevented some difficulties for someone. I've had the camera for about 6 weeks now, and I've had plenty of time to go through its features thoroughly and experiment with it. I feel that I paid a fair price for it, that it will do what I want it to do, and that I will be able to depend on it. It's not complicated to use, and if you aren't interested in exploring its features, turn on Intelligent Auto and just shoot. For someone more inclined to tinker with settings, there's a lot for them too. No complex consumer item is ever perfect for everyone, but this camera has a range of features and a level of performance that makes it a winner in my opinion.

After spending hours researching about this camera, I bought it because I decided it was the best. Now that I have used it for several months, I know for myself. Why? Several reasons.1. The image quality was my #1 concern and this camera doesn't disappoint. Indoors, the quality is definitely more than acceptable, but outdoors is where it really jumps out at you. Color was amazing and there was absolutely no blurriness, fuzziness or grain. It's really as good as it can get.2. The photo mode is very useful and more than just an added feature. In 8.9 mp, the quality was better than expected (outdoors at least).3. The touchscreen interface is easy to understand and people with steep learning curves will adjust without trouble. Also, the physical buttons on the camera are few in number, with only the most used and most logical functions being present; everything else is handled one step at a time on the touchscreen.4. I thought that the GPS function would only be a software gadget that didn't really do anything, but it is nothing short of phenomenal. I live in Ukraine, so naturally I got it shipped here. When I charged up the camera and looked at the GPS section, I saw that the map said I was in New York, presumably the place where the camera was manufactured. I told the GPS to refresh itself and went outside. The camera brought up a satellite map and started connecting with nearby satellites. Once it connected with four of them (after about 2 minutes) I got an exact map of where I was complete with coordinates and exact date and time. The map could zoom way in and I was shocked to find that not only were the names of local areas written in the local language, but the small, almost nameless street that I lived on was present on the map! Nice.5. The projector is worth every cent of the extra $100 you need to pay for that option. It is extremely clear and the colors are almost as good as on the LCD screen itself. It's a great way to show others the videos you just took. The projector is only a few lumens though, so naturally it works better the less light there is.6. Another cool feature, the camera takes pictures when someone on the screen smiles, great for catching moments that you would have missed otherwise. Also, you can play a video in slow-motion and then capture an image from it as a separate picture.Now for a few important notes.I stand by my decision that this is the best video camera out there for about $600, but that doesn't mean there are things for the buyer to keep an eye on.First, there's the battery. I think that Sony made a good choice when balancing battery life and the size of the battery, but realistically speaking, most people will only get about an hour and a half of recording time out of a full charge, and that is only if you avoid lots of playback, projector use, and standby time. You can't really complain when you see how small the battery is and how big the LCD display is, but for those hoping for longer recording time, your best bet is to buy the optional NP-FV70 battery like I did. It provides about twice the recording time and honestly, is completely worth the extra $60. Just look out for the NP-FV100 battery pack: It's almost half as thick as the entire camera.The other thing is the memory. Sure, 16 GB sounds like plenty, but by the time the manufacturer formats the memory and the basic camera software and satellite maps are on there, there is about 12.6 GB of space left. That's adequate, but if you like to record in medium-high quality like I do, then you might want to buy a high-capacity high-speed SD card. If you want to make good use of the GPS tagging function and the projector function, you pretty much HAVE to get an SD card, because once you move your pictures and videos off the camera, there is no way to use the projector function and using the GPS function requires that you install their software and run all of your data from there. I prefer to record in high quality FH mode which allows for full HD resolution, yet doesn't take up as much space as the higher bit rate FX mode. Not only that, but it's the highest quality mode that still allows for simultaneous picture taking and recording; anything higher and you have to quit recording to be able to take a picture. In FH mode, you can record for 1 hour and 43 minutes. By the way, don't bother recording in 60p PS mode unless you have a high-speed solid-state hard drive to put it on. Otherwise the footage will look jerky on your computer. Hard disks are too slow to adequetly process such a complex image.These notes aside, I think that this camera is flawless except for a slightly squeaky sounding LCD screen (update: it went away after a little while.) I'm sure it's nothing more than a minor issue unique to this one camera that I received. Oh, and still images taken inside usually look grainy even in 8.9 mp; keep in mind that if quality is important, the camera function should NEVER replace a seprate still-image camera.If you are looking for a video camera that has great video quality and a lot of cool features without bulky size or an eye-watering price, this is definitely it.