Sony HDR-CX11 review

Sony's impressive new HDR-CX11 AVCHD camcorder is further proof that the Mpeg-4/H.264-based high-definition camcorder format is now the most affordable route to HD home video.

Pitched against the likes of Panasonic's HDC-SD100 and Canon's HF11 camcorders, both of which will be pushed into a pre-Christmas battle for supremacy in an increasingly tense market, the CX11 offers completely solid-state recording and playback of full specification 1920 x 1080i high-definition video.

It does this using the company's proprietary Memory Stick Pro Duo flash memory cards, of which the maximum available capacity is 32GB. Unlike its rivals, however, Sony bundles a 4GB card with this model, which means it can record and replay up to 89 minutes of HD video at the lowest of four quality settings (HD/SP, writing at 5MB/sec) or, at the top end, 28 minutes (HD/FH, writing at 16MB/sec). This is less than the Panasonic, whose top data-transfer rate is 19MB/sec and much less than the 24MB/sec offered by all three of Canon's new AVCHD models, including the HF11. However, the Sony CX11 does have an advantage in that it facilitates not only HD recording and playback, but also Mpeg-2 standard definition in three quality modes.

The camera's images are created by the 1/3.1in ClearVid Cmos sensor, which produces a total resolution of 10.2 megapixels (3680 x 2760). However, the effective resolution is a lesser 3.81 megapixels for 16:9 widescreen movie clips and 5.08 megapixels for 4:3 clips.

The CX11 has a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 12x optical zoom lens, with the further options of 24x and 150x digital zooms. Optical image stabilisation is supplied in the form of Sony's own Optical SteadyShot, which is very effective in preventing wobbly handheld shots. A filter diameter of 37mm enables you to use additional lens adaptors and filters, while an automatic opening/closing lens shutter protects the front elements when the camcorder isn't in use.

There's a heavy reliance on the use of the 2.7in colour LCD screen to make menu selections and function changes, both before and during recording. Sony's continued reliance on Touch Screen operation is a matter of contention for some users who don't like to cover the screen with finger marks during operation, but it's actually a very fast and effective means to browse the well-designed menu system when recording and playing back, as well as making quick changes to values such as focus and aperture while recording.

The dial on the front of the camera offers manual control over focus and exposure. This is a very useful facility, although the touch screen operation is just as quick and effective. Other notable features include Face Detection and Smile Shutter. This is useful when shooting in the CX11's stills mode in that the camera will detect when the subject is smiling and grab still images at precisely that point.

Connectors include mini-HDMI-out, A/V-out (for component digital or analogue video and audio on a single socket) and DC-input, all of which are provided on the main body. However, a USB 2 socket is provided on the DCRA-C240 Handycam Docking Station, where the camcorder sits during file transfer and charging. Unlike rival models, the CX11 provides neither a dedicated headphone output nor external mic input to supplement the built-in 5.1 surround sound zooming microphone. In the current market, that would put off some buyers.

Replaying full-resolution clips on a 24in iMac's screen, after USB 2 import into iMovie 08, the quality of HD/FH clips is superb. Colour, contrast ratio and even outdoor sound can hardly be faulted. Even clips shot indoors under lower-light conditions hold up well and demonstrate little picture noise or tell-tale shimmering.