Sony HDR-XR100

The Sony HDR-XR100 is one of the latest high definition camcorders offered by Sony, and this one retails in the sub $700 category. This instantly gives it appeal to a much wider range of potential buyer that just cannot afford to be spending well over a grand on a video camera, but really wants their chance to record in high definition to capture precious family moments and preserve them forever. This is a Sony, which means that you are looking at a quality piece of kit, but it is still over priced even for the lower end home user to really want to spend their hard earned cash on – or is it bang on the money and set to fly off the shelves? We are lucky enough to have seven – yes count them – seven Sony camcorders to review for you this week, so we are in Sony heaven. Let’s see how the Sony HDR-XR100 got on.

Sony HDR-XR100 Camcorder

Design

A chunky camcorder awaits us when we open the box this time. It is shorter and fatter in shape than some of the longer thinner models we have seen, but we like it – chunky but dinky measuring just 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 5 1/8 inch and weighing in at a delightful 11 ounces – this is a lovely little camera that is a delight to hold, fitting beautifully in the palm of the hand. Oh and before we forget, this one is silver. Most have stuck firmly with black, so it is nice to see this one in silver with black trim around the edges. We really like it, but note that this is a home user unit that has been given a chunky look to allow for the abuse it could get in a home setting with children knocking it and dad dropping it. It does mean the professionals are going to find it quite grotesque, but hey, it was never meant for them at this price.

The cover of the pull out screen is silver with the black edges, and once open the screen itself is framed in black. There is a row of control buttons down one edge, and we were pleased with the overall screen size, which also has touch screen functionality – again a nice touch. The hand strap in on the right, and this side of the camcorder is all black, as is the rear end of the unit where the battery pack sits – an eye pleasing unit in our opinion.

Actual user review:
“Excellent HD camera by Sony. Easy to learn and easy to use. High-quality lens by Carl Zeiss is hard to beat. The Zeiss lenses are why all of my digital cameras are Sonys. This is a relatively small package that fits the hand very nicely. The anti-motion software and the face focus features are well done and a big help.” – S.West (NC,USA)

Functionality

The memory is excellent on the Sony HDR-XR100, offering a stunning 80GB which is excellent and again this can be expanded by using the memory stick pro duo slot, which is Sony standard stuff. We were disappointed to find that still pictures could only be taken in 4 megapixel quality, which is low for this day and age. However, we must remember that this is a lower end Sony camcorder.

Moving onto video shooting, we have to say we are not really that impressed. This is high definition, but only just. The pictures were no where near as sharp as they have been on higher end Sony camcorders – we know they can do it – so why have they not bothered with this offering, we wonder? It does have the 1/5″ Exmor™ CMOS sensor with ClearVid™ array, but it doesn’t seem to bring as much assistance to the images as we have seen this technology do with other camcorders they offer. Also in the technology pot is their Smile Shutter™ technology, Optical SteadyShot™ image stabilization and Face Detection software all designed to make the filming easier, yet they all seemed to be performing at about 50% compared to what we have seen before. Some what deflated we viewed our footage for one last time and agreed it really wasn’t Sony at its best, and packed the HDR-XR100 back in the box.

Conclusion

This looks like a home use camcorder, and operates like a home standard camcorder. The choice really is yours. With picture quality only really being ratable as average and the irritations of things like the touch screen being a pain to use, the fact that this isn’t really user friendly is really defeating its own objectives as these are the users that are really going to enjoy the point and shoot functionality that could so easily have been offered. We did hope for better with the Sony HDR-XR100. As we said earlier, looks wise it ticks the boxes. Sadly, performance and ease of use let it down. We aren’t that impressed. The choice must be yours.

Average User Rating:

• “I have been using a previous generation Sony HDR-SR7 high def 60GB hard drive camcorder and been overall happy with that model. I then waited patiently for Sony’s new “XR” series of camcorders and am very pleased with the Sony HDR-XR100. Overall I’m very happy with the Sony HDR-XR100 because it is significantly smaller and lighter than the previous generation HDR-SR7 I own, with all of the great convenience that comes from using a built-in hard drive coupled with a wonderfully easy touchscreen LCD. I did not think there were enough differences for me to purchase the more expensive XR200, but you may want to consider the even more expensive XR500 for its possibly improved low-light video capability with the “backlit CMOS” sensor technology that only the Sony HDR-XR500 and XR520 have.” – E.Kim (USA)
• “If you are looking for a camera that shoots great HD outside, then you have found the camera. The quality of shooting outdoors is very good. But when you go indoors and you do not have a lot of light coming in from the windows then the camera will start picking up noise. What I did is pick up a headband flash light and took the band around the camera to attach the light. Adding that extra light has help. You can change some gain and aperture settings. But it isn’t enough like pro camera can do. I do love the small size of the camera.” – B.J.Hill (USA)

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