- 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
Product Description
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.
Rating:
Sale Price: $1,036.01
Total Costumer Reviews:(10)
Be aware there is a possible problem with this model. Please visit AVS forums and do a search for ‘BLUE DOT’.
Users are reporting an annoying blue dot appears on the screen when recording in sunlight. I can verify this with my model. Videos have also been posted on YouTube demonstrating the Blue Dot. Indoors, the video is excellent, but outdoors, in sunlight, users are reporting this problem.
Rating:
Im a pro photographer. The blue dot the person above is refering to is NORMAL for shooting into direct sunlight. It’s called flare and my 9000,00 Nikon 400 2.8 VR lens has it as well as MOST every lens on the market. No one shoots directly into the sun shooting video and for stills we use flash. Please do some homework before giving a product a bad review.
Rating:
I am using Sony Camcorders for last 10 years. What sets SONY apart from other companies is Carl Zeiss Lens.
I purchased this camera seeing its review & specification on sony site.
[...]
It has – Video Actual (Pixel) : 4150K Pixels (16:9), 3110K Pixels (4:3)
This is really great. But when I purchased this camera, I was really disapponited by it’s lacklustre image quality. It has all pixels & details. But it lacks something !! Finally I realized it’s nothing but lens. This camera has some sony G lens.
Please shoot same location with even older SONY camera ( with Carl Zeiss Lens ) and then shoot with this 12 MEGA PIXEL cx 550 V camera. Then compare the results. You will understand what I am saying.
Hope SONY reverts back to Carl Zeiss lens in upcoming releases ..
Rating:
I’m been using miniDV tapes to shoot my expedition Walking the Amazon and recently Bill Weir came out from ABC News to do a feature. Bill only used an HDR-CX550V and said that the results are outstanding and easily broadcast quality. See the piece at [...]
I was very impressed – a true alternative to professional cameras.
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.
Rating: