Review rated by 10 Ciao members on average: very helpful
This review received a counterstatement by a party concernedRead Comment
If you love surprise packages, you'll love this!! This model of Digital Camcorder somehow manages to look bigger on screen than it actually is. Upon opening the box i was delighted to find a very compact camcorder! (This was the reason why i very nearly bought the Canon 250i) The main difference between this camcorder and the 250i is the price, where the MV 750i is about £400-500 and the MVX250i ranges about £600-650. Notice the latter has an 'X' in its model number which means it is a 'Megapixel' camcorder; for normal consumers this simply means it has over 1024 million pixels whereas the 750i has 800,00 pixels on the CCD screen (the pivoting screen to look at instaed of looking through the viewfinder.) The 750i is about £150 cheaper with absolutely no difference in the picture quality! (I tested in the shops first.)
Faring far better than most for the same price, the 750i has a 22x Optical zoom and 440x digital zoom. When buying, disregard the digital zoom- all it does is take the original picture/frame and enlarge it digitally therefore pixelising the image and reducing the quality. As this camcorder has 22x optical zoom (the highest optical zoom in production is about 24x) it zooms clearly and in great detail. I found this feature a main selling point as nearly all of Sony's camcorders in the price range up to £900, only had 10-12x optical zoom. There is a choice of SD card (allows you to transfer images/frames onto computer and with a cable supplied to do this) or DV tape for recording. The tape allows playback on the camcorder itself or onto your T.V. with the included SCART connections and through the AV socket on the camcorder There is also a remote control, DV in and out and an S-video socket which supposedly improves the video quality when connected to other home peripherals, although there is no visable improvement really.
Flash is not included in the package although there is a hot shoe for an attachment. 0 lux allows night mode, which allows filming in the dark. It doesn't make the objects in the dark any brighter, just films what the naked eye would see and not complete darkness as a normal camera would photograph. Another feature that many other camcorders failed to include is the webcam option whilst connected to an internet computer, great image quality!!
To avoid clutter on the design of the 750i, some of the buttons are located behind the opened CCD screen. This is fine as these are buttons people would only be occasionally used and didn't inconvenience me in any way. Ergonomically it is very easy to use, the zoom is at your fingertips and the record button is placed perfectly for no re-adjusting when following the action. This is a new model, updating on the MV 600 and 700 range with all the latest technology and improvements. I have been using this camera non-stop since i got it a few days ago, and have encountered no problems and find it extremely easy to use. The battery life is quite short(60mins) although there are several longer lasting batteries available to buy seperately. I spent a long time comparing it to other camcorders beforehand and found it to be the best for value for money, my only worry was the size and design being bypassed in order to include as many features as possible. When i got the 750i in my hands, i saw this was not the case.
The extras included in the package vary from shop to shop, but all the cables and neccesities to get started are included including an 8mb SD and excluding a mini DV tape. The manuals make very easy reading and there are a lot of diagrams to help.
It is worth mentioning that this is a bottom-loading model, making it impossible to change tapes whilst on a tri-pod.
Very good review. I will difinitely get me one of these. One thing I found missing in both your, and the other review: you have given et three out of five in sound, yet neither of you have written even a single word in this regard, in the review itself. Now, I am going to get one regardless, but you might consider adding just a small paragraph. Thanks anyway for an otherwise good review :)
03.01.2005 19:10
Very good review. I will difinitely get me one of these. One thing I found missing in both your, and the other review: you have given et three out of five in sound, yet neither of you have written even a single word in this regard, in the review itself. Now, I am going to get one regardless, but you might consider adding just a small paragraph. Thanks anyway for an otherwise good review :)
29.12.2004 12:57
nice piece. well done
13.09.2004 18:08
Good mix of technical and practical!