/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

Name

HDR-CX550V

HDR-UX1

European name ?

HDR-CX550VE

HDR-UX1E

US name ?

HDR-CX550V

HDR-UX1

lowest US price

1899 $

1700 $

On the market since

March 2010

October 2006

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Sufficient

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

AVCHD
SD MPEG2

AVCHD

Recording Medium

SDHC card
Memory Stick PRO Duo
built-in flash memory

MiniDVD 8cm
MiniDVD-DL 8cm

video resolutions EU ?

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
SD MPEG2 720 x 576

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
SD MPEG2 720 x 480

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

24 Mbit/s

12 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

MPEG2
MPEG4

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Sony

Carl Zeiss

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

29,8 mm

41,3 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

30 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optically and electronically

electronical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/2,9 inch

1/3 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

4150000 Pixel

1434000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/10.000

1/425

Maximum shutter time ?

1/6

1/3

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

adjustable sharpness ?

Adjustable color ?

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Yes

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

About Special Equipment

via accessories

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

440 g

660 g

Weight (with battery)

490 g

740 g

Battery type

Sony NP-FV50

Sony NP-FM50

Battery capacity

1180 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

66 mm

76 mm

Width

74 mm

89 mm

Depth

143 mm

165 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

201600 Pixel

123200 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

921000 Pixel

211200 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Rocker
Ring

Manual Focus ?

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto

Audio levels ?

Still

Recording Medium ?

Memory Stick Duo
hard drive
SDHC card

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

2100000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

4000 x 3000 - Max

2304x1728
2304x1296

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

GPS with geo-tagging functionality

3 sec. slow motion

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Resolution ?

Very good

Sufficient

Color performance ?

Good

Sufficient

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Excellent

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Configuration / sound ?

Poor

Sufficient

Handling ?

Good

Sufficient

Portability ?

Very good

Photo function ?

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Sufficient

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

390

264

Pros

+ multi functional ring
+ focus and exposure control via touchscreen works well
+ good lowlight sensibility
+ wide angle
+ Display with high resoultion

+ good Display
HDMI out

Cons

- image characteristics cannot be modified
- no focus or exposure assist

- SD-quality only average
- bad color resolution
- Only short clips recordable on DVD

Conclusion

The wide angle (which shrinks a little with active image stabilization) as well as the low light performance is better than on all competing modells.But in terms of sharpness, manual control options and color reproduction the Sony is not quite on par with the class winners.The automatics work solidly in a Sony-typical way.Remarkably good is the high-resolving display, but a focus assist option is nevertheless missed when setting the focus manually.

For a AVCHD model the Sony HDR-UX1 offers only average brightness resolution, the color resolution is beneath SD-level.Occasionally significant (colored) moirees can be seen on fine details.The subjective image impression is satisfactory, which may be due tothe maximum data rate of 12 Mbit.Color-wise the UX1E is pleasantly coherent.The wide angle is very small, on the other hand there are few lens errors.In low light situations the UX 1E performs satisfactory.

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