Uploaded November 2014 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Amazingly, this was the first HD camcorder I ever owner, and to say it was a disappointing experience would be something of an understatement.Firstly, the lack of optical image stabilization is in and of itself a serious flaw. The electronic image stabilization they decided to use on this model is terrible and barely works. It even had what's called an "Advanced" image stabilization mode. Activating the A.I.S. mode causes you to loose more of the already narrow field of view this camcorder's lens already has. Even the A.I.S. mode doesn't work very well, compared to other electronic image stabilizers I've been able to test in other camcorders. The low-light sensitivity of this camcorder is also another major flaw. The amount of light that is necessary to put out a clear, crisp, non-grainy image is excessive, (be prepared to turn a LOT of lights on indoors). The stereo microphones sound surprisingly good and have a decent amount of stereo separation. It's unfortunate that a camcorder close to $500 dollars when new, suffers from so many caveats.
Amazingly, this was the first HD camcorder I ever owner, and to say it was a disappointing experience would be something of an understatement.Firstly, the lack of optical image stabilization is in and of itself a serious flaw. The electronic image stabilization they decided to use on this model is terrible and barely works. It even had what's called an "Advanced" image stabilization mode. Activating the A.I.S. mode causes you to loose more of the already narrow field of view this camcorder's lens already has. Even the A.I.S. mode doesn't work very well, compared to other electronic image stabilizers I've been able to test in other camcorders. The low-light sensitivity of this camcorder is also another major flaw. The amount of light that is necessary to put out a clear, crisp, non-grainy image is excessive, (be prepared to turn a LOT of lights on indoors). The stereo microphones sound surprisingly good and have a decent amount of stereo separation. It's unfortunate that a camcorder close to $500 dollars when new, suffers from so many caveats.
