REVIEWS / CAMCORDERS / SONY INDIA

Sony HDR – PJ50E Handycam Review

21 Sep, 2011, 10:34 am IST | by Karan Shah | Camcorders Camcorders

Sony's HDR – PJ50E Handycam

Sony's HDR – PJ50E Handycam
The charging port is located on the side
The connectivity options are enclosed inside the flap
A brilliant projector
The handycam is small but has powerful features
A glimpse of the user interface
The flap could have been better reinforced

on-video-sony-hdr-pj50e-handycam

PRICE IN INDIA

39,444
View Stores

TECH2 RATING

7.5

AVERAGE USER RATING

How we test

CONTACT

Sony India

 sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com

 1800 103 7799

 www.sony.co.in

In recent years, camcorders have taken a backseat owing to the success of point-and-shoot cameras and high-end smartphones, which offer high quality video capture at an almost similar, if not better, quality. Sony has launched its new HDR – PJ50E that boasts of having capabilities of a camera, video recorder and an in-built projector. Well, that’s quite a lot of stuff in one device, but is it worth your money? Read on to find out. 

 

 

 

On video: Sony HDR - PJ50E

 

 

 

 

 

Design and Build Quality

Sony’s HDR – PJ50E has a glossy black exterior with shades of silver on the frame. The front consists of the optical lens and an LED flash. The zoom button, mode selection, photo button and the Flash slot are located on the top and the start/stop button for video recording is located at the back of the camcorder. The side flips open to display the viewfinder, as well as the power, play and projector button. The connectivity buttons are housed on the inside, as well, viz. the mic, mini HDMI out and microUSB. The slots might be there, but the camcorder doesn’t ship with the HDMI cable or the microUSB cable. The projector focus button is placed on the top of the flap while the bottom consists of the microSD card slot. 

The charging port is located on the side

The charging port is located on the side

 

 

The camcorder hinge seems sturdy, but it doesn’t have any prevention mechanism to protect it in case you snap it on too hard. Button feedback is good with both soft presses (for focus), as well as full presses (for clicking). The camcorder weighs around a kg with the battery and the HDD included, but it doesn’t really feel heavy in the hand. The button placement is great but that said, with the flap open it’s difficult to manoeuvre as the buttons are located on all three sides of the camcorder. The flap can move a maximum of 180 degrees in the front direction and 90 degrees on the back, which makes it a total of 270 degrees of rotation. Design and build is good, which is standard with most camcorders. 

The connectivity options are enclosed inside the flap

The connectivity options are enclosed inside the flap

 

 

Features

The camcorder has an Exmor R CMOS Sensor and a 29.8 mm wide angle Sony G Lens capable of clicking up to 7.1 megapixel still picture shots at a resolution of 3072 x 2304. It has a 12x optical zoom and 160x digital zoom and comes with a 220GB hard disk drive and supports SD cards upto 64GB. The camcorder has a 5.1channel MIC with Dolby Digital audio technology and a 3-inch LCD touch panel display with a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. 

 

As part of the features, the camcorder has ‘Optical SteadyShot’ technology that facilitates image stabilisation. The device has face detection and smile detection features, which pop up in white and orange square boxes respectively. It also comes with the x.v. colour technology, which conforms to the xvYCC, an international standard for colour space in videos along with a D-range optimiser that works on the camcorder’s Bionz processor. 

A glimpse of the user interface

A glimpse of the user interface

 

 

User Interface

The camcorder has a simple UI and operating it is further accentuated by the prompt responsiveness of the touch screen. Opening the flap takes you to the movie mode by default and the menu, zoom and recording icons pop up on the screen. The menu includes six clearly defined icons viz. shooting mode option, camera/mic settings, image quality/size, playback functions, edit/copy function, and setup.

Tags: Sony HDR – PJ50E Price in India , Sony HDR – PJ50E Price , Sony HDR – PJ50E Handycam Price in India , Sony HDR – PJ50E Handycam , Sony HDR – PJ50E , HDR – PJ50E Handycam , HDR – PJ50E Handycam , HDR-PJ50E Price , HDR-PJ50E Review , HDR-PJ50E Price In India , Sony HDR – PJ50E camcorder price in India , Sony HDR – PJ50E camcorder price

Would you buy it?




 

How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

Leaked Images, Availability, Pricing,
Specs, Pre-order

On video: HTC One V

On video: HTC One V

18 May, 2012, 04:44 AM

4.5

On video: Cowon Z2 (16GB)

On video: Cowon Z2 (16GB)

15 May, 2012, 04:58 PM

2.3

On video: Samsung WB150F

On video: Samsung WB150F

08 May, 2012, 04:23 AM

5.0

MORE VIDEOS

features

A Few Choice HD and SD Camcorders

A Few Choice HD and SD Camcorders

Here are a few camcorders to consider in the HD and SD segments.

By Sandeep Balachandran

Buying Guide: Camcorders

Buying Guide: Camcorders

Looking to buy a camcorder? Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind...

By Sandeep Balachandran

Top Pocket Camcorders

Top Pocket Camcorders

Pocket camcorders are here to stay. Here is a list of affordable...

By Sandeep Balachandran

MORE FEATURES

Google Nexus tablet to be unveiled at Google I/O 2012

Satya Prakash Gupta

Sun May 27, 06:15:37

Google Nexus tablet to be unveiled at Google I/O 2012

Eric Gonzalez

Sun May 27, 04:27:20

Motorola RAZR XT910 Review

Carlos Castilho Azevedo Jr.

Sun May 27, 04:24:25

MORE DISCUSSIONS