SONY HDR - CX410VE

SONY HDR - CX410VE

SPECIFICATION

• 55x zoom
• Great image quality
• Image stabilisation
• 1080p at 50fps
• Excellent battery life
• Audio in, headphone out
• Optional extras

LONG, STEADY ZOOM

This camcoder effortlessly records silky smooth, razor-sharp footage at a TV-style 50fps or the more web-centric 25fps. Sony claims that you can even film with it, hand-held, as you run. The Sony's zoom takes it from a wide angle to 55x magnification and in digital zoom mode you can push it upto 350x.

 SLOW MOTION AND STILLS

The super smooth slow motion mode is a blast, capturing a couple of seconds of action and rendering the results in cheek-flapping slow-motion at a slightly reduced but usable resolution, so long as you don't mind it being interlaced rather than progressive video.There's also a mode for analyzing your golf shot which outputs a collage of animation frames on a still image, plus GPS tracking with a map to display your location.

PRO FEATURES

The Sony would make a decent semi-pro camera or a second camera for a pro setup. There's 5.1 surround sound recording, lots of control over focusing and exposure, and also an audio input so you can feed it a soundtrack from an external mic or a mixing desk. 

USB TAIL

Tucked into the hand strap you'll find a little USB tail which allows you to charge up the camera and offload footage to a computer when you don't have a card reader available. In the box there's thoughtful array of cables, including a USB extender and a microHDMI to regular HDMI cable.

SUMMARY

This is a great camcoder and image quality is excellent. It is well specced and featured without being overcomplicated with superflous features. If video matters top you, the Sony's neat mix of user friendly controls, a battery that lasts up to three hours and the ability to step up to more serious shooting should put it at the top of your wish list.