Reviews
Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
- 1920×1080 Full HD Recording w/12MP still image
- 64GB1 embedded Flash memory
- 1/2.88″ 6MP back-illuminated “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
- Optical SteadyShot image stabilization w/ Active Mode
- Wide Angle G-Lens (26.3mm) with 10x Optical zoom
Capture stunning 1920 x 1080 high-definition video and 12 Megapixel still images with the HDR-CX550V, which employs an “Exmor R” CMOS sensor for superior low-light performance and 64GB of embedded flash memory. Optical SteadyShot image stabilization with Active Mode and 3-way Shake Canceling enables you to capture remarkably smooth video from wide angle to full telephoto shooting.
List Price: $ 1,199.00
SALE Price: $ 994.12
Rating: 
(out of 13 reviews)
Related Products
Related:
SPEED HD-8Z HD Digital Video Camcorder High Definition H.264 Flash Memory Recording in 1080P/720P Mo...
Sony® DCR-SX44 Flash memory Handycam® Camcorder
Sony DCR-SR87 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder
Sony DCR-SX83 Flash Memory Handycam Camcorder
Sony DCR-DVD650 DVD Handycam® Camcorder + 8GB Memory Stick + Sony Case + Extra Battery + Camcorder D...
Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
JVC GZ-HD620 120 GB High Definition HDD Camcorder
25 PC Deluxe Super Savings Accessory kit For Your Canon FS100 , FS10 , FS11 Flash Memory Camcorders
about 1 year ago
Review by Po for Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
Okay, so I’m about to be a dad due April 12th, and while I was looking for a camcorder wide enough for the delivery room, I was struggling with the Canon VIXIA HF-S21 that is due to be released on April 15th. However, let me state the highlights of the Sony HDR-CX550V which swayed my decision why I went for the Sony to suit my own preference:
Compact and Lightweight (something my wife wants over holding my Canon 5D2 and lenses)
Wide Angle 26.3mm Photo
Wide Angle 29.8 mm Video to 298mm (On the Canon it is 35mm equivalent 43.5-435mm which is longer)
12 Mega Pixels still images
10x Optical Zoom
Stabilization which works really well
Takes both SD-HC (this is great) and Sony memory sticks (I don’t use them)
Built-in 64GB Flash memory.
Excellent low light shooting
Includes GPS geotagging (which I haven’t used yet, I keep it turned off for now)
3.5″ LCD (921K)
Dolby Digital 5.1ch recording with Built-in Zoom Mic, which I haven’t really tested to say how good the results really are, but off-the-bat the results are very acceptable.
It is also very easy to set up and operate, not a lot of digging for menus to get it recording right! You simply either swing open the LCD or pull out the viewfinder (having one is plus for me) and it turns on and after a few second, you can hit the record button. Vice-versa to turn-off.
Shoots in HD and records in 1080/60i and this equates to it being 24p or 30p via software when editing, this is argued extensively on forums, but the HDR-CX550V does not let you specify, which may be a good or bad thing depending on your own preferences. Having said that don’t let the 1080/60i put you off, since this is the same with all other camcorders I have seen including professional camcorders. The 24p or 30p on the Canon HF-S21 also records at 60i.
I think ultimately making a choice on either the Sony or the Canon, you won’t be disappointed, however, to me the main highlights are that this is a very compact camcorder with excellent touch screen (this one works!) and shoots wide to long instead of normal to long, and has excellent low light results as well as support for SD-HC flash media and a wonderfully sized LCD display.
I ended up buying the BC-TRV Travel charger and the NP-FV100 battery, although is larger than the supplied battery it is still small enough that it shouldn’t bother you when you require the extra juice for extended shooting which is about 15 hours at High-quality HD mode.
Image results are great for such a small system, very satisfied.
about 1 year ago
Review by J. Beale for Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
The HDR-CX550V is a useful improvement with a significantly wider angle lens than the previous 500/520 version from 2009. It is as if you put a 0.7x wide adaptor on the lens of the earlier version, which is a very welcome feature. The zoom is now 10x instead of 12x, but for indoor use I had little use for the long end of the zoom. (However, people shooting wildlife may want a tele-adaptor.)
If you record outdoors with the sun in or near the frame edge, and you are at full-wide or within 5% of the zoom range of full wide, you may observe a surprisingly bright, sharp “blue dot” (search YouTube for examples) which is unlike the typical and expected circular or iris-shaped lens flares I’ve seen in 12 years of serious amateur photo/video, and 4 years of professional video and photography work. Some users cannot reproduce the phenomenon. Individual users may or may not find this a concern; check the examples online to see if it bothers you. I would expect the appropriate sized lens hood to prevent the problem if the sun or light is far enough out of the frame, although a hood cannot help if the sun is in-frame.
about 1 year ago
Review by Ryberg for Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
After comparing many camcorders and recording technologies I picked this camcorder for the following reasons:
1. I decided on flash memory because you do not have the sound of a tape drive or a hard drive and the camera is more compact. 64GB gives you hours of recording time without the need to change miniDV tapes or buying extra memory cards. Copying the highly compressed video files to a MAC or PC takes minutes for hours of video. Compare this to miniDV tapes – hour for hour.
2. Quality low light performance is great on this model and far exceeds my old Sony HC-1.
3. This camcorder has a wider angle lens than most camcorders which to me is more desirable. The drawback is that such a 10x lens cannot zoom in as close which is fine unless you go on a safari.
4. The image stabilization is phenomenal. You could have a tremor and the picture is rock solid. You can walk with the camera and the picture is smooth. If you make a sudden movement you can see the picture lag and move less abruptly.
5. The touch screen menus take some exploring. You can customize “My settings” with buttons you wish to have at your finger tips. The only wish I have would be another recording button for one handed operation when you do not use the wrist strap.
Best accessory: the under water housing
7. Finally, this camcorder works great with MACs. Image Capture and iMovie recognize the camcorder and you can work with these applications as usual. Final Cut Pro works equally well, but instead of Log and Capture you have to use Log and Transfer (Shift Cmd
about 1 year ago
Review by bobmar46 for Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
Built in viewfinder, high amount of internal memory, large high resolution flip out screen, and extremely sharp accurate color balanced video are positives. Location of still picture button and high price are negatives. .
Combination of built in color viewfinder and 64 Gb of internal memory made the CX550V a logical choice for me. I prefer using a viewfinder when outside in bright light and there were not many other camcorders on the market with viewfinders other than much more expensive and bulky pro level units. Also high on my wish list was having enough storage capacity for a full vacation. Combination of large internal flash memory and ability to store extra on SDHC cards fit the bill. With a 32 Gb SDHC card in addition to internal memory I should have 9 hours of recording capacity even at the highest resolution. At FH setting (17 Mb/sec vs. 24 Mb/sec) there is 11 hour 25 minutes recording capacity with the SDHC card and internal memory.
Effective street price was about 15% less expensive than Canon HF S21 I also considered. While the CX550V does not have Canon’s unique dual SDHC card slots, otherwise they seemed quite similar. At least now Sony is providing the option of SDHC cards rather than only their own more expensive memory chips. The camcorder cost savings helped finance some accessories. Nevertheless it is disappointing that there are not less expensive options for those who feel that an eye level viewfinder is important. Anyone who shoots outside in bright light should consider the viewfinder important.
Videos are extremely detailed – at least equal in both sharpness and detail compared to the highest resolution of what is on cable and more detailed than most. Also, results have been comparable in sharpness to most commercial Blu-ray discs. Color also seems well saturated and natural. Skin tones, in particular, are very natural with default color balance settings. The iAuto setting seems to do a very intuitive job of keeping focus and exposure adjusted quickly and correctly for most video. SteadyShot function also does a very effective job of smoothing out video when hand holding the camcorder while shooting.
The 3.5″ flip out LCD provides a large, very sharp view. The touch screen simplifies the amount of buttons, but the menu list requires a lot of scrolling to get to some functions. Fingerprints can build up quickly. I was concerned about cleaning the LCD because it is touch sensitive, but there is a power button that will shut off the LCD while cleaning it so that no settings will be inadvertently changed.
The color eye level viewfinder provides a bright image regardless of outside light conditions. It should also provide slightly better battery life than when using the flip out screen. Pulling out the viewfinder turns on the camcorder. It would be nice if the viewfinder pulled out farther than it does when using a larger than standard, long life battery. Compared to my previous camcorder that had a black and white viewfinder, the image seems smaller and more distant. Viewfinder image is also not as bright as my previous camcorder. Still the viewfinder offers a solid alternate to a washed out view on the LCD screen when taking video in bright sunlight.
The built in GPS seems more of a novelty than something all that much useful. However one potential benefit is automatic adjustment of time zone so that video is tagged with the proper date and time for local location. Otherwise, location tagging is only available while video is in camera or when using the included PMB software. The operating manual indicates there is a CX550 model that would appear to not include GPS, but that model does not seem available in the states. It could have provided a more economical alternate to those who wanted the primary features of this camcorder. Given a choice, I would rather have a viewfinder than the GPS feature.
PMB software that comes with the camcorder is useful for moving video from the camcorder to a computer, but otherwise is lame compared to most commercial HD video authoring software available.
One of the few things I do not like about the physical design is the location of the still picture button. It is too close to the zoom control. It is not locked out when taking videos, except when shooting at the highest 24 Mb/sec recording setting. While that can permit taking stills while shooting video, inadvertently pressing the button that can easily happen will create an unwanted picture. That has already happened many times while shooting, but perhaps in time my finger will remember the zoom button location. I would also prefer for camcorders to ship without a battery included, giving the buyer a choice of a longer life battery without paying for one that will seldom be used.
While there are a couple of things I might like to change, the features and spectacular video make this camcorder a worthwhile choice for anyone willing to consider buying one in a flagship price range.
about 1 year ago
Review by HD1080p for Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
Best overall Camcorder in its class. Most bang for Buck
The best features, ranked in order of what I thought was best for my needs.
1. The wide angle lens (29.8-298mm).
2. large 3.5 inch screen
3. Very good Low Light / IR Night Mode
4. 64 GB Flash Memory
5. EVF at high quality
6. 5.1 Stereo Mic
Features I wished the Sony had:
1. 8 or 12 Megapixel CMOS instead of the 6 Megapixel. HD still looks amazing though
2. 12x or 15x zoom I like the wide angle more so not a big deal to give up big zooms.
3. No wind screen
4. Dont find GPS useful
I was looking for a camera that had the most features, for the best price. I ended up looking at Panasonic HDC-TM700, Canon Vixia HF S20 and Sony HDR-CX550V. I actually went to a store that had all 3 models so I could compare.
All were around $1000-1100 in price, but I found the Sony to be the most comfortable, and had the best overall features. The features that sold me on the Sony was the wide angle lens (29.8-298mm), the good low light/night shot IR mode, 3.5 inch screen, 64 GB Flash memory, EVF, and Comfort in my hand.
Zoom/Lens
The Canon has a 43-435mm zoom, not wide enough for my taste, but good zoom for distance. Anything beyond 200mm does not interest me as I am rarely that far away to make that matter.
Touch Screen / EVF
The large 3.5 inch screen was amazing, sharp and easy to use for my fat fingers, compared to the Panasonic and Canon. Panasonic being the worst of the 3 for size, and the Canon touch screen was hard to use I thought.
EVF is a must, Panasonic had it but the Sony looked sharper and cleaner. Canon only has it on the S21 model for $300 more
Low Light
I tested the low light option by having the sales guy take all 3 cameras into a back stock room and shut off the lights, then recorded some footage, then turned on my cell phone as a low light source in the room, and shot some more footage. The Sony did the best overall with this test. Sharp clear well lit images compared to the other two, but the Panasonic did a decent job as well.
Autofocus was great on the Sony, and image stabilization worked better than I expected.
I cannot speak to the quality of the pictures from the Canon/Panasonic on my home TV, but on a 42″ HDTV the Sony playback looks amazing. Sharp, clean, and clear.
Audio
I also liked the 5.1 audio, which the Panasonic had, but Canon did not. Outside the Sony does pickup wind if it is a particularly windy day (20+mph winds) The Panasonic seems to have a wind screen feature that the Sony Lacks.
Optical SteadyShot image stabilization w/ Active Mode
Storage
64GB on the Sony, 32 on the Panasonic and 32 for Canon unless you go with the HF S21 but that model is $300 more, and not worth that price for only 32 more GB and nothing else that I could see.
All of them take still photos while recording, which is also nice.
To re-cap, I went with the Sony cx550V because in every category that I could see, Sony tied or exceeded the other camcorders in the same price range. And my number one feature was the extra wide angle lens and built in light and night mode ability. For me these are most important. 64GB is more than enough, but I have a 8gb backup chip in the camcorder. It was the most comfortable in my hand as well, and feels like a solid camera. Hope this review helps you out, as you will not be disappointed with the Sony CX550V if you have ~$1100 or so to spend.
about 1 year ago
Sony HDR Video Converter for Mac is the best video converter for mac software for sony users, it can help you convert all sony HDR Camcorders HD video files to avi, wmv, mov on Mac OS X for editing.
http://www.ilifesoft.com/how-to/convert-sony-hdr-video-on-mac.htm