Digital Trends

Sony HDR-CX7

August 13th, 2007 | by David Elrich

Testing and Use

It’s a good sign when the security guards want to “confiscate” your camcorder before entering the game; this was good-natured New York banter and after a few laughs it was pretty obvious even these guys knew I had something really cool in my bag.

Powering up the HDR-CX7 takes slightly less than two seconds and you’re ready to record. As always, I began in the Easy Handycam setting which is basically full auto. Since this camcorder is so light, it was very easy to hand hold while zooming in on the players and various crowd/stadium scenes which I used to check out the color. After moving the mode dial to still it was a no-brainer taking snapshots that also get saved to the Pro Duo card. Even though the camcorder has a 3MP sensor, it takes 6.1MP files using interpolation, a feature I’m not fond of since quality is not anywhere near as good a true 6MP digicam from a name brand.

When I returned from the game it was time to delve a bit deeper into the camcorder’s options including a variety of scene modes which are the usual you’ll find on any camcorder (portrait, fireworks and so on). On the manual options front you can tweak the focus, exposure and white balance. You simply tap the screen to make the adjustments. For those who are really serious about their videos, there’s a zebra setting to measure brightness. This camcorder is about as easy to use as you’d imagine—once you check out the PDF file on the CD-ROM. I just wish Sony would supply a longer printed manual.

Playing back your videos is very simple—just connect the HDMI or component outputs to your TV. You then highlight the scene you want to watch on the touchscreen or with the remote and sit back to enjoy the show. This is exactly what I did and for the most part I was very pleased. There was barely a spec of noise and colors were very accurate and lifelike—for the most part. The camcorder did have problems with strong reds and yellows; the colors weren’t smeared, just off reality but this could’ve been the lights at Shea Stadium throwing things off a bit. Focusing was very quick and the OIS really smoothed out my jittery hands. The 5.1-channel mic was fun as it captured fans yelling behind my for the rear speakers. Just as I was very happy with the quality of Panasonic HDC-SD1, I really enjoyed watching the baseball game again (since the Mets won). Besides the footage shot at a night game at Shea Stadium, I also recorded indoors and out around my home. The results were quite good although shooting indoors with low light there was a lot of noise. If you plan to record indoors, I’d definitely recommend an accessory light. With good daylight, the CX7 did a fine job and the backlight switch was good capturing my cat in her window seat. Close-ups and detail were spot on. Moving into Tele Macro for some close-ups of some fresh gladiolas was a marvel. The shots were terrific as were scenes taken outdoors in the sunshine. You’ll be very happy with the results. When I saw this footage and how good it was, I forgave the slightly off colors from the lights of the stadium.

Image Courtesy of Sony