The Official Sony HDR-CX550V Owners thread - Page 2

Oh you can bet that everybody will sell them at MSRP ($1299) when it comes out. They may give you a $100 break, but you will have to wait a couple of month before seeing the unit being available at $400 discount. This price curve happened with the SR1, SR11 and XR500V in the last 3 years.

I think CX550V will be priced like this

March: 1199$
April : 1099$ (Canon 2010 Camcorders Arrive in april too)
May-August : 1099$ People will be buying a lot of Camcorders for the Summer holiday
September : Will drop to 999$ and if Sony announced a refresh for the Camcorder for the holidays the price will drop to 799$-899$

If thats true, its so discouraging, as spending more than 999 is too expensive

Actually, Sony models have gone down a good $200 off their MSRP about 2 months after release consistently over the last 3 years. So, unlike seph22, I expect the price to drop below $1000 around May (possibly around $950). Because of the economy, I suspect the resellers will price those somewhat agressively.

Also, since the CX series got an update this time, I personally don't expect a model refresh until January 2011. Maybe a CX555 and/or XR555 model with more flash/HDD space, like they did with the SR5/SR7/SR8, but otherwise no feature changes (though I could be way off here).

I think it depends on demand and if sony are willing to upgrade the camcorder again this year, canon already lost the battle to sony for this year since sony got a much superior stabilization, better wide angles, 5.1 Dolby Digital mic built in, better low light (Which is also Noise free compared to the noise of Canon sensor in low light) and HF S20 is pretty much HF S10 with Native 24p no real upgrade just like HV30 to HV40 upgrade

Sony also allowed SD card use this year which was one of the reasons why many people refuse to buy Sony camcorders and they improved their auto-focus speed a lot which was the reason why many people are getting canon over sony

I think we will know once the reviews are out if CX550v was praised i don't think there will be any decent price drop until you wait after the summer (September~)

Is there anybody that knows if when using the new auto (AI) setting of the sony xr/cr550, there is a way to disable the slow shutter speed ?

With my panasonic hs350 when I use AI, there is no way to disable the slow shutter speed, so if the conditions gets too dark, I am going to get a lot of grainy footages unless I switch to manual setting.

tx

I'm not sure what you're basing your arguments on. I'm basing mine on Sony's historical pricing over the last 3 years. Anyways... I guess time will tell.

its just a theory because i think in the past years canon camcorders were better but for this year the different is huge, HF S200 is a last year camera with Native 24p/Dual memory slot/bigger LCD while CX550 getting a lot of real upgrades.

I think I might just get it at that price.

In stock at sony now. they are shipping from tomorrow

Just ordered from Sony. Was really hoping to get this camera for a great price (under $1000) but I really need a new camera ASAP (Dropped my HDR-HC3 down a flight of stairs at Christmas and destroyed it) and really do not want to wait until March. With my luck, Amazon will get them from Sony tomorrow and drop their price to $999.99. Anyway, I cant wait to get this thing in a couple days.

I'm having a hard time waiting myself...I bought the CX500v first, but then returned it when Sony announced the CX550v...luckily I had still had time to return the CX500v...I really liked it, except I need a viewfinder...hated having only the flip-out screen...

Please, if you don't mind, write up a review after you have been able to get comfortable with your new CX550v, I would like to know your thoughts about the camcorder.


Rick

Awesome. we all are waiting for your review on the 550. Please let us know as soon as possible

Glad I got one while it lasted. It has gone back to pre-order on the sony website. My order status still says "ships 2/1/10" though so we will see. To tell you the truth I am a little bit skeptical. If they ship this camera to me today, that should mean they would have enough to fill all pre-orders taken on the Sony Style website the past month and then some left over to sell this morning. I hope I get it so I can play with it this weekend and have some thoughts to post up on Monday.

I was very happy with my HC-3 so if this camera has a better image in both dark light and outside it will be well worth the money. I am really curious to see if my batteries from my HC-3 work in this camera as I have a couple of long life ones I paid a decent price for. I had also bought a wide angle lens for my HC-3 which I do not think will work with this camera. However, the CX550V is supposed to have a wider angle lens to start width so I am very excited to see how that looks as well.

Rich, if you have anything specific you want me to try and determine for you let me know. I know my way around the camera but I am by no means a pro. I will write up my thoughts next Monday provided I get the camera by Friday.

Does anyone know if Sony Vegas Pro 8 can edit the video from this camera? I had no problems with the HC3 video imported into Vegas 8, edited, rendered, and burned to Blu-Ray disc using DVD Architect but that camera was MPEG-2 format.

Yeah, I have 3 Sony NP-FP90 Batteries that last several hours even with the light on on my HC-3. I am really hoping they might work but deep down I know they won't. I bet the camera will immediately recognize them as incompatible.

A caveat that AVCHD editing requires more horsepower than the MPEG-2 files I'd bet the HC3 used (I had an HC7). Essentially, it's a form of sticker shock as you look at other HW/SW to get. But you may already be covered.

Otherwise, comparing against my HC7, the Sony CX500V easily outperforms it in almost all categories. I'm hedging there because I'm certain something small must be less attractive about the 500, though I can't name it offhand. The few complaints people had about the 500 seem to have been handled with the 550 series, and I think the lens performance (wide angle vs zoom) might be about the same as the HC3. The new camcorders are significant improvements over the old HC series, in my opinion.

Now my only problem is (as is the case with all technologies) is that I left all my video stored on my HC-3 high def tapes so I didnt have to fill up countless hard drives. Now that my HC-3 took a 2 story free fall I have to find a way to transfer 40 to 50 tapes to a hard drive or Blu-Ray disc for cheap. Good Luck with that.

When i saw this camera it is exactly what I wanted. Finally, 24bit/sdhc/i wanted nightshot/ manual controls until I came to one thing! A darn wide angle with only 10x zoom. This means practically useless zoom. Don't tell me there's digital zoom either---not the same. Why in god's name would they put a freakin wide angle on this? I am done having my coronary!---calming down now. Anyway, why would they not at least offer 2 models ---one with a standard lens and another wide? Does anyone feel there may be a possibility in the Fall that that Sony may release one with a standar lens? Or may that happen in 3 years time?

That's kind of what I felt also, except I'm very happy with my CX500V with most of the features of the 550 and the better 12x zoom with more range. The 24 bps and "manual controls" aren't major selling points for me personally. So I too hope that the camera in two years will ship with two sets of optics and you select the model you need. I've only used my wide-angle lens once in three years, and that was a week ago for an Epcot fireworks show. I use the 12x zoom all the time and surely don't want to carry a telephoto lens everywhere.

But that's life, I guess - somebody somewhere must have wanted the wider angle - or it's just what fit in the redesigned case.

What I do not understand with this wide anngle is :

at no zoom (when not zooming), does the object looks farther in comparison to the xr500?
Thank you

Ya things are gonna be smaller in general. i have absolutely no use for wide angle except on still shots. I do alot of animal/nature vids---especially at night. Wide angle makes everything painfully smaller. This will not let me get real close to animals that don't let you or want you close to them.

yea but it will be great for home videos and where you will not be using the zoom a lot. more wider area will be covered in the shots