Preliminary review
If you're looking for a new camcorder you'll be searching online for the specs and prices, which I did in early December. I realised that new camcorders shoot at an aspect ratio of 16:9 and I actually prefer 4:3, but this was something I'd have to live with (or crop the footage in FCP).
I got the Sony HDR-CX730E from Amazon (£640) and have been testing it ever since. I'm still getting used to its rather fiddly manual operation, but am well impressed with the ease of use and image quality with everything set on automatic.
You simply have to touch the object you want to focus on in the viewfinder/LCD screen (most functions are only available through touching this screen) for the camera to focus on and then track the object. The anti-shake mechanism is superb, as is the wide-angle Carl Zeiss lens.
If you want the full specifications, here's the Sony HDR-CX730E page.
I'd recommend buying a spare battery and a separate charger. The camcorder comes with a mains lead that you have to plug into the camera in order to charge the attached battery, and using the camera to charge the battery is simply wrong to my way of thinking. You'll be needing a memory card to record to as well.
I'll be writing more about this camcorder shortly. In the meantime here are some of the results I've had with it.
Uploaded to YouTube as an mp4 with H264 compression, 1280x720 pixels.
Uploaded to YouTube as an mp4 with H264 compression, 1920x1080 pixels.
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