Ive had my Sony Cam for about 6 weeks now. Although it has gotten great reviews…I dont think I like it that much. Why? Because I have a Mac and unbeknownst to me….Sony records video in a format that Macs cannot read. Thats right….if you have a Mac and a Sony Camcorder…expect issues. Type in “Mac”, “Sony” and “Incompatible” into a google search bar and see what you get. Now there are ways around the issues if you enjoy making your workflow more tedious, time consuming, have another computer that might be able to convert it, etc etc. Who has time for that?

Sony is also the company that made those CD’s that you cannot upload to iPods…thats right. I think there was a lawsuit and they’ve since changed this.

Sony is also the company that makes those purple memory sticks that only work in Sony type gear….are we seeing a pattern here?

What they are doing is trying to lock their customers into their products only. Mysteriously, Sony’s editing system has no problem with their video footage, even my PC had to re-render the “native” HC7 footage, even in SD, before I could preview it….its annoying.

Other things I noticed with my little camcorder. The slow motion is not that great, and you need a lot of light to get that function to work. Its nice that it records to mini-DV tapes, yes it is small, from what Ive seen the image looks good, but most of the controls are accessed through this tiny screen that you have to push with the tips of your fingers just right. I found it frustrating to have to look through all these menus to get it to do what I wanted it to. Too hard to use for my taste. Ive had some friends ask what I’ve thought about it….Canon just makes more user friendly stuff and arent overly greedy about making you do what they want you to.

If you are in the market for a nice HD handheld camcorder try the Canon HV20. (its only drawback is it doest shoot wonderfully in low light.)
Here are some articles you might find interesting:
Sony and Ipod
Sony and Video Issues…just some