Description

Capture stunning 1920 x 1080 Full HD video and 3.0 Megapixel images with the ultra-compact HDR-CX150, which features an "Exmor R" CMOS sensor for superior low-light performance, 16GB of embedded flash memory, and a Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* 25x optical zoom lens to help bring you closer to the action.

Customer Reviews

 Great, they shipped it sooner than expected - Aug 31, 2010

I ordered it on Sunday, got it on Tuesday. Great service, Camcorder looks good with in a sealed box, good packaging.

 Very impressive Camcorder - Aug 16, 2010

I was quite impressed with the quality of the images produced by this camcorder, even at Standard resolution. I've yet to try using the HD mode, but can't imagine how these images will appear. The only shortcoming I perceive is that this camcorder doesn't have a through-the-lens viewfinder, but with time, I'll be able to adjust. The idea of having every image recorded to either the internal flash drive or a choice of SD or Pro cards makes this camcorder quite versatile. Having a Sony mini disc camcorder (which is operating very erraticly, and in need of service), I think having fewer moving parts to deal with is a big advantage. The capacity of the internal flash drive is more than adequate for my needs. Excellent product.Sony HDR-CX150 16GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder

 Great HD Video Capture Device - Jul 28, 2010

I have the Dark Blue Color available from BestBuy Only.
From owning a Mini-DV camera using MiniDV tapes for the last 8 years ( which I already thought was goog quality) I never imagined I would have own a Video capture device of this calibre.

Pro's:
* HD Output via HDMI.
* Lightweight.
* Nice touch screen controls. Easy to navigate.
* Simple Design. No Viewfinder, No power-on or off button .
* Simple Unit Power-on achieved by opening the touch screen.
* Internal 16GB is sufficient for daily use. Option to install additional memory or SD Stick.

Con's:
* No Remote-Control Option. I miss the remote control. I like to hardwire the unit to my HDTV and control from my couch. I do not have that option now.
* Should include Mini-HDMI cable by default. The cable costs only $[...] in Amazon.
* Getting to a point that the camera can be too small for average adult hands. Clasping the unit on your palm and controlling it with finger tips is slightly challenging at first. One thing is that your 8 year old can easily take videos as well.

FaceBook: HD video needs to be converted to MPEG2 format via the included PMB software then Facebook recognizes the file for upload.

Overall I am happy with the purchase. I would immediately buy a 30mm filter to protect the lens. A extended battery would also be a good idea for those long shoots...

 Love This Camcorder - Jul 05, 2010

Easy to use right out of the box and beautiful video. It's amazing what they put in such a small package; it's very easy to hold without your arm getting tired like the old camcorders. I had tried a different brand camcorder and the zoom was very choppy, but the zoom with this Sony is very smooth. I also like that it has 16GB on board so I could try it out without having to purchase media.

 Excellent HD camcorder - Jul 04, 2010

I bought this Sony HDX150 Handicam to document a two week trip to Alaska. After a brief practice session recording a trio jam session at my home - which has been posted on Youtube - I was ready for the trip. The camcorder performed flawlessly, is so compact and light it was a perfect choice for documenting the awesome Alaskan trip. True, the still photos are not as good as those taken with the two Canon SD1000 cameras we also took with us, but still, they are not bad, and the convenience of clicking the photo button to add to the videos is great. The 16 gig built in flash memory was also a deciding factor with the purchase of this Camcorder. With an added 8gig card we were able to record over 7 hours of video and photos. When we returned home and I connected the HDX150 to our Sony Bravia HD TV with an HDMI cable I was very happy with the detail and clarity of the movies. The colors and focus were exceptional as well. A perk, and one of the factors I considered when purchasing this camcorder is that with the HDMI connection, the camcorder links to the TV and one can control both with the TV remote. Lowlight videos came out very natural and impressive. We are very pleased with this Sony HRX HD Handycam. And of course, the price was right even with the shipping charge: $485.

 Too Good - Jun 29, 2010

I have recently bought this camcorder in India and used it in Dubai for a holiday.
There are four things which I like about this Camera, which has warranted me giving it 5 stars.

1. The light weight and compact size. It is so small and light that you can easily put it in you jacket pocket. All the other sony models that I saw in HD were bulkier and heavier. It is such a pleasure to hold and carry the camera.

2. I have a HD Sony TV, so I wanted a HD camcorder. At its top settings it gives 24 fps at 50i, so it does not get much better. Outdoors the visuals are STUNNING !!!! Indoors it is acceptable, and not all that bad. Its better than what I expected considering its a budget camcorder.

3. 25X optical zoom is amazing. Not to many camcorders give this much zooms. At 25x, you need very steady hands or a tripod. You can take shots of events/ people from far away. Good if you are a spy !!!!, or if you have a pretty girl in the building next to yours !!!!

4. I can connect an external hard drive DIRECTLY to the camera to transfer files. That way with a total of 48 GB (16 inbuilt +32 memory card) is more than enough for my daily needs. In the evenings I transfer the files to my 500 GB external drive. Do not buy a camera with a hard drive because those camera have movable parts (Hard drive), is heavier and chances of hard disk getting spoilt in the long run is a possibility and the camcorders are more expensive.

The following are the things that I don't like about the camera.

1. Image stabilization sucks big time. You need steady hands when you are zooming.

2. While driving over sand dunes in the desert, I came across situations where it took 2-3 seconds to focus.


I have not tried editing my clips, so I will not comment on that subject. To view, I just connect my 500GB external drive to the front USB port in my Sony Blue Ray player, and it works seamlessly.

Really value for money, does not get better at this price !!!!!

 I was surprised at the quality from such a small camera - Jun 28, 2010

I was thoroughly surprised at the quality from such a small camera. My last Sony camcorder I owned was a standard definition 8mm tape type that had lots of bells and whistles that I never used. I was a little reserved on how well this camera could be considering it's size. I have used it for two different events now and found it does have a few draw backs but the pluses out weigh the negatives.

I used it indoors for my daughters dance production which was indoors in a theater/stage setting; had various scene changes, low lighting, bright stage lighting, different colored lighting, spot lighting and the camera kept up with all of it better than my expectations for a camera in this price range.

The second was a concert of my band that was outdoors in bright sunlight, this is where this camera really shines for video but lacks in audio. There is no wind cancellation so it picked up wind noise easily. I will probably stick some velcro on the front of it and put some foam or fabric over the mic when I record outdoors next time.

Pros:

*Very small, pocket sized
*Idiot proof (open the screen and the camera turns on, push the iAuto button and the camera makes all the settings for you.)
*close the screen and the camera turns off
*tells you when the lens cover is closed...
*25x optical zoom
*Not many external buttons for controls (this can be good or bad, for me it's good when my wife or kids are using it they can't change the settings by accident. I can see where some might not like it though)
*Pretty good picture quality
*Almost too small to hold steady but Sony added a zoom and record button to the touch screen so you can alter the way you hold it to be the most steady and use either the touch screen or hard buttons for this.
* about 2 hour battery life with stock FP50 battery
* Just under 2 hour recording at 2nd highest quality setting (I think this is comparable to 1080p), Almost 4 hours at 3rd setting (I'm guessing something like 1080i) which when viewing on my TV and computer monitor looked very close in quality)

Cons:

*Low light is not as good as my older camera that was much bigger (but still a compact unit in it's day)Low light was still acceptable though in my opinion.
*Microphone is sensitive to wind noise
*electronic steady shot is not as good as optical steady shot on my older Sony; but perfectly usable at moderate zoom. Anything over probably 7x needs to be on a tripod if your picky about your video being ultra stable.
* no viewfinder for bright sunlight. Although the screen is relatively easy to use in the direct sunlight, it is a bit difficult to change settings if you had to and I had to remove my sunglasses to best see the screen outdoors (which is typical in any of the ultra compact cameras)

 Very good travel companion - Jun 26, 2010

This is the first HD cam for me, coming from a Panasonic mini DV digi-cam. I use the cams on my vacation travels, so a small, light, inexpensive cam is preferred and the Sony fits perfectly. In this respect the Sony is top notch. My test videos are excellent. My computer runs Windows XP SP3 home, has a Pentium 4, 3GHZ with a 320Gig, 7200 rpm hd. This is barely enough to handle the Sony software for converting HD FX to HD FH files and burn Mpeg 4 DVDs(can't have any other apps running). I am amazed at the very good quality non-BluRay DVDs I have burned and played back on my Sony BD player. This is a very handy feature. Videos in the 3 lux mode are ok if you pan very slowly.
I do not have any hardware to burn BluRay movies, but the play-back on my HD TV from the cam in HD FX mode is great.
The HD FX and HD FH picture quality is excellent. (Looks like a new duo or quad core computer will be on my future shopping list). The Zeiss lens system has no discernable distortion or barrel effect on the sides of the pictures that I noticed - not even in full zoom.

On the con side:
No remote to use for playback, non Sony batteries will not work, no neck strap, no HDMI cable, takes a long time to charge batteries, noticeable recorded wind noise outdoors.

 Decent camera for the money - Jun 20, 2010

I got this camera to replace a Sony Hi-8. The video quality is very good as is the great telephoto lens. However, the quality of the sound is poor. When shooting, the camera records the motor noise and if the scene is fairly quiet, the sound of the camera is very annoying on playback. If there is a lot of sound in the shot, then it masks the camera noise. So when shooting, my advice is to talk a lot or on landscape shots, just record over music.

I still have problems getting the internal memory to load on my computer. Contacted Sony customer service and they could not fix the problem. I connected the camera to two separate computers and each one indicated that they could not detect the source. For me, the 16gig internal memory is wasted.

The color quality is excellent; low light is pretty good....certainly far better than my old camera. There are a number of scene settings but I found that the intelligent auto mode works very well and recognizes the environment automatically. No need to use the manual settings, in my opinion. I am using a 16gig memory card and you can get just about 4 hours of recording time at the lowest HD setting. Don't bother with the standard setting.

Overall, this camera is pretty good for the price. Extremely compact and build quality is good. Most of the controls are easy to use but it does require reading the manual.
That brings me to another minor issue. The manual included with the camera is poor. You must go on line and download the manual which gives you full operational details. Unless you do that, you will be lost. All of my other Sony products have excellent user manuals and this is the first one that falls short of the mark. The online manual is very comprehensive.

 Poorly Designed Camcorder - Jun 08, 2010

I just purchased the Sony CX150 camcorder to record my grandkids' activities. It's going back to the store today. I have used many cameras and this one was so uncomfortable to hold that I couldn't operate the buttons easily. Although it is lightweight and nicely compact, the flimsy hand strap is at the bottom of the camera, so that when you inert your right hand, the camera doesn't balance correctly in your hand. It leans to the left. There's no way to hold the camera tightly against your hand so that you can easily reach the on/off switch or the Wide/Tele switch. You have to use two hands to balance the camera or the pix are tilted... I found myself using my left hand to push buttons. The video was not very good in low light, but great in outdoor light. I also found that the picture took too long to refocus when I tried to zoom in, so my pictures were blurry, even when I tried to zoom slowly and evenly. I can't believe that Sony made such a poorly designed camera. I don't like the touch menu design either. I'm going to try other camcorders in this $500+/- price range.

 Great value for money - Jun 02, 2010

Internal 16G memory is a plus. The picture is sharp in HD. The zoom is plentyful for normal every day use. It gets shacky when on maximum zoom, need to use tripod for steady shot.
Just wishing there is a software for MAC to burn the HD quality DVD. HD DVD can only be played with Blue-Ray player. Battery lasted quite a bit if not using zoom to much. Overall, great product!

 Amazing everything you could want. - May 16, 2010

You could not ask for a better camera for everyday use. It starts up in about three seconds which I think is one of the most important things. It's auto focous is great. And it keeps the shot steady and works great with low light. The only problem is that the software doesn't seem to work very well with the camera. But you can always use another cheap software or even movie maker and it works fine. GET THIS CAMERA!!!!!!

 Just what we needed !! - May 15, 2010

Were looking for a camcorder with following features:

-small, lightweight & sexy
-works in low light
-has sufficient internal memory (no HD)
-has exceptional video quality
-has decent photo quality
-touch screen
-good battery life
-lots of wires with it (even though i will use only usb and s-video only)
-battery saving features (auto display off)
-excellent 25x zoom
-black color
-sony brand

Got:

-is small, lightweight & sexy
-works in low light
-has sufficient internal memory (no HD)
-has exceptional video quality
-has decent photo quality
-touch screen
-good battery life
-lots of wires with it (even though i will use only usb and s-video only)
-battery saving features (auto display off)
-excellent 25x zoom
-black color
-sony brand

thats 5*s for me.

 Light Weight Video Camera - May 13, 2010

Very light weight. Easy to store and carry. Sharp picture, I just have to learn how to video the events that I purchased the camera (sporting events). Have not had it long so have to learn more about it!!

 Great little camera - May 05, 2010

We received this camera 2 days ago. The first night was spent charging it and looking through the manual, but last night I actually got to use it for the first time. So far, I love it. It's strange going from a heavy 1990s era 8mm tape camera to this as this is so much lighter and actually does more. My big concern had been connecting it to our Mac as I've heard there were many issues with Macs and Sony not working well together. I was pleasantly surprised to see that when I connected the camera to my mac via the included USB cable, it was recognized right away and iphoto popped up asking if I wanted to import the pictures I had taken...gotta love a Mac! (I had told the camera to use the smile detector feature which takes a picture of a specific person each time he/she smiles...worked great by the way). I imported them with no problem, then called up iMovie to see how it would do with the video. In this case I simply used the iMovie pull down menu "import from camera". It imported all the video perfectly. So, if working with a Mac was a concern of yours, have no fear. I've ordered a mini-hdmi cable (although the port is on the camera, a cable isn't included) so I can easily connect to our HDTV so I can't say how well that works yet. I also have only recorded to the internal memory and haven't tried an SDHC card yet. One thing I am worried a bit about is that the stability control is a bit iffy when you zoom way in. I'm thinking for my daughters upcoming graduation I may want to bring along a mono-pole to brace it on. This Amazon purchase came with a free battery which made be believe the camera itself didn't come with a battery, but that was incorrect. I now have two batteries which will be nice for long days on vacation as I'm sure it will come in quite handy. So, if you are looking to upgrade to a new camera like we were, this is a very nice option. It's small, light, fits your hand nicely and seems to work great. No, it doesn't have every bell and whistle of the $800 - $1000 cameras out there, but we didn't need that. Watch Amazon if you want to purchase this as the price seemed to change daily when I was shopping. I got the free shipping, but please realize that the free shipping seems to be used as an excuse to wait a week before shipping, so if you need it soon, pay for the shipping yourself.

 Big Features packed in a small body. - May 04, 2010

I purchased this camcorder (HDR-CX150 Black) yesterday from Costco for $449 including a bonus camera bag. A month ago, I purchased the Panasonic TM10 and was not happy with the results on indoor shooting so, I decided to look around and found the CX110 at Walmart which have great reviews online including Amazon. Luckily my wife and I went to Costco to look for a DSLR camera. I saw the guy setting this camcorder up. He said that it just arrived. I quickly went to Amazon when we got home and found that the CX150 is the same as the CX110 with the 16GB memory built-in so, I returned to Costco the next day to get this camcorder.

Our purpose for this camcorder is to record precious moments from our 2 kids (3 year old and 1 year old). We have our camcorder ready all time to shoot video when they start dancing or having fun and this usually happens inside our home. This camcorder performs excellent indoor with just a flourecent or a lamp as a source of light. I set the panasonic TM10 and this Sony CX150 side by side and record my 3 year old walking, running and jumping around and going to the different part of the house. The difference is night and day on scenes with only the lamp as source of light. The CX150 is sharp and clear while the TM10 are already grainy. When I have my daughter turned off the light, the CX150 looks a lot darker but is more viewable than the TM10. This is because the TM10 though clearer, shows a lot grain. The CX150 also exhibit some grain at this point but is more acceptable. Anyway, who will be shooting videos with no light? The test I did is set to HD|HQ which is the third quality down. Maybe the highest resolution will give better result.

The only thing I noticed with the CX150 is that it tends to get out of focus when you zoom too fast to an object. Something I did not see on TM10. Also, the TM10 have a simpler menu option. I was able to figure it out within 5 minutes after opening the box. For the CX150, I'm still trying to figure out how to change video quality. I can change HD to Std but I could not select the other HD options like HD|FX to try the highest resolution.

Other features that I like:
1. Slow motion is great, I will be using this a lot with my kids.
2. "My Menu" option. This will let you set up to 6 favorite menu item.
3. Battery life shows 125 minutes when fully charged.
4. Image are stable even when you walk around while taking video.
5. 25X Optical Zoom
6. Clear LCD
7. Built in lens cover
8. Direct copy. Let's you copy to a portable harddrive without the need for computer.

Features I don't like:
1. No viewfinder. Newer HD camcorder at this price range does not offer viewfinder but I just hope that there is one available as my kids likes to watch at themselves while doing their stunts. I have to hold it to my side so I can also see if they are at the center of the camera.
2. Cover design for ports (Memory, cable, power) looks easy to break. It looks great with the body but I like the rubber type better as I feel that I protects the ports more from dust.
3. Battery charger is sold separately. Need to plan ahead to make sure you have enough battery on big events. Current package will only let you charge battery with the camcorder so camcorder will be out of commission for a couple of hours.
4. You need to dig deep into the menu if you need to change some settings. Maybe this is why they setup the "My Menu" option but I don't have time to play with it yet.

Those are the things I noticed so far after 1 day of ownership. I will update when I find more things here.

----------------------
UPDATE - JULY 8, 2010
----------------------
Still happy with the product after over 2 months of having it. I was able to figure out all the menus and setup the camera to my preferred setting after looking at the manual. The videos are great and I like the fact that it creates a new file on each new clips that you take. I learned to control the when to cut and create a new video file for easier editing.

We went to Alaska cruise at the end of may and this camcorder continues to work even on extreme changes in temperature. From inside the boat with room temperature to going outside at the Glacier Bay, I was expecting the lens to fog up but it did not.

Battery life is adequate. I never run out of battery as long as I charge it at night during our vacation. Also, the battery seem to hold its charge really well. I have it fully charged and just keep it inside its case and pull it out when I need to take videos. So far, I have only recharge it once in a months time.

Memory: 16GB memory can hold up to 4 hours of HD|HQ and around 2 hours for the highest quality. LP mode will give you close to 7 hours of recording time. I currently have it set at HD|HQ since I only do small edit and convert it to DVD. Will use the highest quality when BlueRay disk becomes cheaper. Also, it is fast and easy to tranfer the files compare to the old MiniDV tapes so I just transfer the files to the computer often and delete the memory.

Lens: I added a wide angle lens VCL-0630X as I found out that the widest angle is sometimes not enough when taking video of kids inside the house. Kids moves a lot and it forces you to move back or they will get off the frame. With the wide angle lens, I can just stay in one place and adjust the zoom using my fingers. The wide angle lens also help me take videos inside the ships cabin without any problem.

 Amazing performance in a small package - Apr 26, 2010

Where do I begin? I'm not sure. I didn't know what to expect when I order this camera, but the minute I powered it up, I was amazed at the clarity. I mean right out of the box, this thing is practically set up for you to succeed with your project.

The camera has many adjustable settings, but many of them a buried within the menu system, which is accessible via it's touchscreen.
Sony was even nice enough to give you a quick menu area where you access the features or settings that you may use more often. I
wish there were more than one screen of these as I often have found myself needing more quick buttons than this.

However, the real reason I am so pleased with this camera is because you don't need to fool around with anything to take good video.
The intelligent auto feature is activated by default and it pretty much has you covered, as the camera will quickly detect scenes
and select the proper settings based on the environment. What this means is, if you are a point-and-shoot type of person (like me),
this camera will not let you down.

And did I mention the picture quality? It is incredible!!!!

The camera has 4 HD modes and 1 SD mode. They are FX,FH,HQ, LP (all for HD), and STD HQ for SD.
I have only tried the different HD modes and I must say they are great, but I found that I often need to shoot longer videos, so
I am currently using FH mode, which allows me a bit more recording. BTW, this camera has 16Gb internal flash memory, plus a
slot for an SD card or Sony's memory stick duo.

And did I mention the picture quality?

No matter which of the recording modes you choose, the quality is absolutely stellar!

Battery life is pretty good. You get a battery that you nearly squeeze 2 hours out of. What I like best is that the battery is
external, meaning you can buy a larger capacity battery (Sony has at least 2 additional batteries that will fit).

What I liked about this camera:

1. Quick and easy to use
2. Excellent picture quality regardless of recording mode (1080i)
3. built in flash memory
4. adjustable microphone (recording is dolby digital 2 channel)
5. small and compact
6. zoom is smooth and steady
7. has touch focus
8. has face recognition, including priority of one face in the picture
9. smile detection will take a photo if one of the faces smiles (and smile detection is adjustable)
10. shoots photos while filming
11. reasonably good low light performance (not great, but the colors still looked like themselves)

What I didn't like:

I waited a while before writing the review to see if I had an issue that I could complain about with this camera.
I don't have any complaints. It exceeded my expectations in every area. I read some complaints about not having 1080p....
whatever.


Video Formats:

For HD this camera produces MPEG4 H.264 AVC/AVCHD files (files have .m2ts extention when imported by PMB, .mts if you browse
the camera)
For SD I believe the format is MPEG2 (I haven't shot much SD footage, but what I have was very good)

Make sure your computer is loaded with the proper codecs and you should have no problems.

The camera came with Sony's PMB software, which I use to download my footage to the computer. It allows you some manipulation
of the files and the ability to burn to DVD in AVCHD format, where it can be played on a Blue-ray player. You can also burn
normal DVDs with PMB as well. However, I only use PMB to import from the camera. I have other software to produce videos.

I would mention the picture quality shot with this camera again, but I think I'll close the review by saying that, this is an
excellent camcorder and it was worth every penny.

 Excellent camcorder - Apr 25, 2010

This camcorder does a great job, Its very convenient. I decided to also purchase Sony's editing software (Vegas Movie Studio) which adds to the convenience of using this camcorder.

 overall good camera - Apr 25, 2010

Overall it works great for me.
Pros: steadyshot, very small size, PMB software, price
Cons: still picture is pretty bad. The save-a-frame-to-jpg from a movie is much much clearer from the PMB software compared to the still picture of the camcorder. Thus, you don't need to take still pictures separately, just keep the camcorder record movies and you could choose any frame to still from the PMB software and it's pretty clear.

 Great All- a Round Camcorder - Apr 23, 2010

I bought this camera a few weeks ago. I have used it for two occassions thus far. The first being the filming of my daughter's musical. The play back from the camera with theater lights was amazing. I filmed in the available lighting of the theater and the picture was better than expected. The second occassion was filming my son's soccer game. This was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to wtch the game instead of filming. The parts that I did manage to focus on the filming came out great. The zoom allowed for across the field shots that werefirst rate.

I would definately buy this again.

 I love sony!! - Apr 23, 2010

I've am sony fan since last 5 years when I bought my first sony digital camera. I am also satisfied with the camcoder. Features I love in CX150 are:
Ease of use
Light weight
Touch Screen
25X Optical Zoom
Image Stabilization
Smile Detection
Can take picture while shooting
Can take picture from captured recording
Can be converted to MPEG format which can be played by windows media player
Full HD recording
Good image quality
Custom settings

Features I do not appreciate:
Cannot record well in low light even with its Low Lux technology.

 Great high-def camcorder - Apr 22, 2010

I found the CX150 to be easy to operate and to provide very nice video. So far I have only used it in the default 1440x1080/60i AVCHD mode, but it seems to work well. I was a bit disappointed that the default was 1440 rather than 1920, but it still looks great compared to my previous camcorders. I might add that although SONY says that the provided PMB software is not compatible with Win 7 64-bit or starter, I have not found a problem on my 64-bit Win 7 system. However, as indicated above, I have not tried the higher quality video yet.

I would also like to say that the shipment from Expo Electronics was very fast.

 Do not record to the end of SDHC memory, it will get destroyed. - Apr 02, 2010

I am nicely surprised by the quality of video in less than perfect lighting condition.
For comparison, I also use JVC Everio X that has 1/2.3" size sensor, that is much larger surface than the 1/4" size of CX150, and costs nearly twice.

The noise in Sony is much better supressed, and the smaller sensor allows the 25X zoom.
None of them is a "pro" camcorder, but the 1920 x 1080 quality is great for pocket size device.

One problem is that the CX150 recognized inserted a 30 MB/s 16 GB SDHC Sandisk Extreeme card, and allowed formatting, but I do not see the menu to switch recording, like if the card was not inserted ???
Possibly ??? it will use the card after the built-in memory is used up ? - just a guess. I will try original Sony card, next.

Update: June 29. 2010. Installed the camcorder on the windshield and recorded beautiful surrounding while driving, not paying attantion that the memory card was used up completely. The camera informed as appropriate and stopped recording, BUT also damaged the card beyond repair. All half day video was lost, and the files cannot be recovered, and the card cannot be re-formatted in camera or in a computer.

 A camera with excellent HD quality but not many features - Apr 01, 2010

I bought this camera on Monday, had fun with it for two days, and then returned it. Although I can't afford it, I then closed my eyes and ordered the HDR-CX550V. I basically went from the bottom of the Sony consumer class to the top in one fell swoop.

Things I liked about the CX150:
* FABULOUS quality in adequate light. The video in 24 Mbps mode is stunning. Search YouTube for examples. Every hair on my cat, dust particles in sunlight, it all shows up with beautiful resolution. It's amazing. Almost Blu-Ray quality. You won't find any consumer-class camcorder with better quality.
* 25x zoom , when used with a tripod, lets you get really close
* "macro" works without any special settings. Just put the lens an inch away and it will focus. Resolves fingerprints.
* Amazingly tiny. With no hard drive or tape drive, the unit is frighteningly small. You can put it and all the cables + charger in a camera case designed for a DSLR + telephoto
* PMB software works, has good basic editing. Used it to grab frames from movies - almost don't need the "still" function if 1990x1080 res is good enough.
* It will take a 32GB memory stick, even though the feature list says they only support 16.
* The touch screen is responsive
* "touch the object" spot focus, spot white balance is cool
* Give it the NP-FV70 battery and it will record for hours and hours

Things I either did not like or features missing (by "missing" I realize that you have to pay more). Don't mistake the length of my 'cons' list as hating the little guy - it's a good camera for what it is designed to be.
* A bit pricey. I think it is worth about $450.00, not the $549.00 list
* No wide-angle. I wish Sony had made the lens go from slightly wide-angle to about 15x, instead of from normal to 25x.
* No external mic input
* No hot shoe - not even the Sony proprietary one
* Zoom motor noise is very audible in quiet settings - don't expect to use this camera to record acoustic orchestral music in concert halls
* The "smooth slow-mo 240 fps" is NOT HD 1080i60 quality. Might be OK at 720, but I found it disappointingly blurry. I'd love to see it have the same capability as the Casio EX-FX1 (not holding breath)
* Not enough buttons - too much reliance on the touch screen. I prefer buttons to scrolling through menus. Sony could fix this by providing more than 6 "my menu" choices.
* Auto focus works good most of the time, but when it gets confused it is horrible. Combine that with no quick focus wheel and it is a recipe for loosing shots
* Picture mode is not available in 24 Mbps HD mode.
* The electronic stabilization does not work. I've grown used to optical stabilization in my DSC-H50 and there is no going back.
* Short of using something like the Black Rapid Straps Fasten-R2 screwed into the tripod shoe, there is no way to attach a neck strap. I almost dropped it several times.
* The plastic housing is sensitive to noise - any little touch while recording will show up as sound in the video.
* No windscreen for the mics. Combine that with no external mic capability and you won't be able to hear anything in windy conditions.
* No remote
* No "night shot" infrared
* Low light performance is what you would expect from a small lens size. All the electronics in the world can't fully compensate for glass area.

Summary: if you want a fairly cheap, tiny camera for shooting GREAT quality vids of vacations, the kids and the pets, this is an excellent choice. Want to do more, and you will need to pay more for a better unit. Just want to help other people avoid my experience of being a bit disappointed and having to trade up.

 It is what it is - Mar 31, 2010

I paid, after shipping, $489.99. For that price, this camera is worth it. It lacks certain features you would find on the more costly camcorders. There is no optical image stabilization, only steady-shot. No night shot, no external light, no remote... I can take about 2 hours of video on the highest setting. Battery life is about the same (2 hrs). The sound seems pretty decent, although, nothing to write home about. Video quality is average. Nothing amazing. Images arent quite as sharp as I've seen on higher-end Sony's. I viewed files on my 46" Sony LCD and the video quality wasn't what I hoped for. It looks better on smaller screens. The videos were presented in 1080p only when played back through the camcorder. For just average consumers who are looking to play video that fills up their T.V. screens, and do it on a budget, this would probably be a suitable choice. If video quality is a major selling point for you, I don't recommend camera. I guess what can you expect for $489.99?

!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!! 03/31/2010

After taking this camcorder outside on a beautiful spring day, I must say, in environments with good lighting (outside), the video quality appears to be a lot better. It definetly makes it worth the price. You WILL need a tripod or some form of mounting device to keep the image stable. This thing is lite, as I've stated previously. There is no weight to counter any jiddering or wobble your arm/hands makes when operating. I must say that I am overall pleased with this product. I still stand by everything I said before the update.