Sony Handycam HDR-XR200V

06.10.2009
The GPS-enabled Sony Handycam HDR-XR200V certainly sports innovative features, but it lacks the video quality needed to make it stand out from--or even measure up to--the best small AVCHD camcorders we've seen this year. For $1000 (as of 9/25/2009), you get a Sony camcorder with overall performance on a par with the , a camera that costs half as much.

That $1000 price tag does get you some high-end features, plus all those one expects to find in a modern camcorder: optical image stabilizer, face detection technology to automate focus and skin tone adjustment, and a 15X optical-zoom lens.

The HDR-XR200V also includes two unique features, one useful, the other not. One called the Smile Shutter can automatically take stills of subjects as they smile, while also recording high-definition video. That's clever and useful.

It's also the first camcorder we've tested with a built-in GPS receiver. The 2.6-inch LCD panel can display a map pinpointing the location where individual clips and stills were recorded, and touching the map's location marker displays and plays the content. You can also use the feature to view your current location.

While the GPS tags can be viewed on the camcorder and through the bundled Picture Motion Browser software, common video editing applications don't recognize the tags. If GPS-tagged video becomes widely supported, then the feature will be great. But without wide support, it's merely clever.

The HDR-XR200V captures images with a 1/5-inch CMOS sensor, and records those images as to an internal 120GB hard drive that holds about 14 hours of HD video at the highest quality setting. You also have the option of recording to removable Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.