First look video: Sony bloggie MHS-CM5/V HD camcorder

The good: It has 1080p and 720p video; 2.5-inch swiveling LCD; one-touch video uploading to YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook; removable lithium ion rechargeable battery; HDMI output; compatible with both OS X and Windows machines; dual memory Stick Duo and SD card slot; 5x optical zoom; capable of focusing on objects close up.

The bad: Relatively large; no HDMI cable included for HD output to HDTVs; no bundled carrying case; Picture Motion Browser Portable software is underwhelming and won’t work on some operating systems.

The bottom line: The Bloggie CM5 isn’t as compact as competing models from Flip Video and Kodak, but it delivers an above-average feature set and video for the money.

So far, Sony has not done too well in the fast growing area of good handheld market dominated by Flip Video camcorder, characterized by designs candy bar camera vertical and prices ranging from $ 150 – $ 250. After a flop with the cam misnamed Net-sharing NSC-GC1 few years ago, he redubbed its line of pocket camcorders for misnamed as “Webbie.” This transfer has fallen flat, and now he has now moved a little less badly named “Bloggie” and referred the specimen to the pistol grip design of yesteryear, who remains popular with small camcorders zoom companies like Sanyo and Aiptek. Although redesigned its predecessor, Webbie offer HD-CM1 MHS, the MHS Bloggie HD-CM5 a similar set of features: 1080p video capture, 5x optical zoom, a swiveling 2.5-inch widescreen LCD, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that is removable. It adds a mini HDMI connector and the ability to charge via the USB connection.

Weighing 6.9 ounces and measuring 4 inches high by 2.8 inches wide by 1.6 inches deep, Sony suits in big, loose, pockets like cargo pants pocket, but it is more easy bag pocket friendly. Sony is also smaller in MHS-PM5 which updates the PM1, we examined last year.

Both camcorders record 1920 x1 Bloggie true resolution 0.080 pixel HD H.264 recorded as compressed MPEG-4 support SDHC and Memory Stick Duo, add a new 720p 60fps, and can now start the Picture Motion Browser Portable software for Mac .

Overall, we prefer the smaller designs Flip camcorder-style, but goes has its advantages. Firstly, there is a significant difference between digital zoom models in paper and 5x optical zoom, click here. The digital zoom is practically useless because the degradation of the image when you zoom. And while the CM5 optical zoom is not stellar and the autofocus can be slow when you zoom, the image is relatively strong. You must keep your hand ultrasteady at higher zoom levels, however, or your video is very fragile.

This model can do something much better than the Flip camcorders: it can focus on objects as close as about 2 inches. Even Zi8 Kodak can be as close as about 6 inches in macro mode. You can really tight, almost macro-like shots of objects, which may be important for those who want to show close-ups of product details – or people.

Interestingly, in 1080 or 60 720 frames per second capture settings that you can not initiate Sony Steady Shot electronic image stabilizer. It only becomes an option when shooting in 720p at 30 frames per second or lower resolution of 640 x 480 mode. The video looked better without the impact, however, less nervous and less artifacts. For a rock solid image, it obviously helps to use a monopod or tripod, and if you are so inclined to use one, there is a threaded tripod mounting on the bottom of the device.

Overall, we found the image quality to be decent, doing well compared to the “standard” set by the Flip Mino and Ultra HD. The color is very warm and saturated, but the video is clear and the camera exposure rule reasonably fast autofocus responds more slowly, though. Like most models, it underexposes chronic backlit subjects. There is some noise and softness when shooting in low light, and it seems that the CM5 drops from time to time the shutter until it fits, resulting in episodes short idle. But the video seems solid.

Navigating the CM5 is fairly simple, so beginners will have the shooters to read the document memory at startup to get a handle on full settings, Flip camcorders are easier to use, but it did not almost play with the settings, some people prefer. To put the camcorder, you just open the LCD. By pressing a menu button, options such as resolution image stabilization and face detection (which tells the camera to find faces and focus on them). Skip to capture still images (5 megapixel), and opt either to enable features such as face detection.