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First of all, I'm a pro videographer doing mostly event work, weddings, bands, plays etc. I wanted something that would have a smaller DOF than my Sony z5u without going into the dslr arena. Dslr's are great but without features like nd filters or a power zoom, they are really designed for picture taking. This camera, with a big 1" sensor seemed to bridge that gap in a camcorder form factor. Here are my findings. The two things that stand out to me are the amazing low light capability and the narrow death of field with the iris open...both of which are significantly better than my z5u. From the reviews online I had hoped for this and it has proven itself quite well. Contrary to some reviews, I found the clear image zoom quite usable. It's one thing to freeze a frame and blow it up to compare pixels but just viewing the video back to back between the clear image zoom on and off, it was hard for me to tell the difference except when zoomed in the full 24x. Up to about 20x, it looked about the same to me. The steadyshot works so much better with the clear image zoom on, I'm probably going to keep the clear image zoom on all the time and just watch the max zoom. Since my z5u has a 20x optical zoom, i feel I've got about the same zoom range with this camera. Others have also said that the camera overexposes in bright contrasty scenes and tends to blow out highlights. If you turn off the auto backight control, it's exposes normally with a pretty wide dynamic range and keeps highlights in bright areas. I also found that the xavcs mode handles highlights better and you get lossless pcm audio instead of lossy Dolby Digital. You can also easily adjust exposure by hitting the "manual" button and scrolling the wheel next to it. With a little practice this is pretty intuitive and a great way to adjust your exposure. The auto focus is a bit slow but it usually gets there and I found going manual focus was easy(i use peaking mode) so I may pretty much shoot in manual focus all the time with this camera(the z5u is faster on auto focus and I usually shoot with it on). I tried comparing the xavc s mode to the avchd fx mode to see if there was much difference in picture quality. I was using the clear image zoom in both trial shoots but I really couldn't find much difference. They looked similiar enough where I don't think I could have picked one over the other. Granted, I only shot about 3 minutes outside for each clip doing some movement, some holding still on flowers but I was doing all my viewing on a 61" screen in my living room. I took some stills too that looked amazing. Update: I use xavcs mode now because I've noticed it handles the highlights better and has lossless audio. It's really just like shooting in the highest AVC mode and doubling the bit rate. With a 128gb card I get 5 1/2 hours, perfect for an all day shoot like a wedding! So to sum up, I still believe it's better to get a camera based on what you are going to shoot most...if you are going to shoot video, get a camcorder, if you are going to shoot stills get a dslr or a point-and -shoot. While this camera takes great stills it does not have a flash so you are out of luck if it gets too dark. Do I wish it had more features? Well xlr's would be nice but I have an adapter that I can use if I need to. It is designed for consumers so it has features I won't use(auto backlight, intellegent auto, power save mode shuts off the camera after a minute or so and an annoying "chime" every time you open the lcd screen(all defeatable). So I would say its customizable enough for me to use professionally and not have to spring for the pro version PXW-X70 that has xlr's and two card slots but at almost double the cost. This isn't a dinkycam at 2 lbs so try it out, but for pros, it'll seem small, about the size of my old TRV-900.Read full review
the CX900 is a good basic version with some of the basic features of the higher models such as the 1 inch sensor, some of the manual controls found on other higher model cameras like the AX100. it doesnt have 4K, BUT......it does have XAVCS, which is the format that 4K uses, only it applies 1080 to it instead. i can tell you that 1080 XAVCS IS VERY SHARP, and consumes alot more space. not complaining, i use that mode when i need really high detail. otherwise the AVCHD 1080 60p is so sharp compared to my CX380 which has what i thought was good quality video until i compared it to the CX900 video LOL. overall a good entry level camera to the big leagues....next camera up from this with the fast hybrid auto focus is the AX700, then the next up from that i want is the NX80
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great Camcorder with more than the usual manual settings with quick access buttons. Only HD and not 4K but the best HD I have ever seen in a camcorder due to the large 1" sensor. If you don't mind the extra size of this camcorder, well worth the cost. Plus can film longer than 30 minutes (unlike DSLR). Great for long performances, etc.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Ideal for Webcasting as the low light performance is great
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great devise. Ahead of its time. More easy look-up specific instruction need.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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