HDR CX100 is 2.3-inches by 2.4-inches by 4.5-inches and weighs 11.7 ounces including battery and Memory Stick Duo; at this weight and dimensions, it is a compact camcorder. Although not very small and sleek, it still comfortably fits in a jacket pocket. It is available in three colors: black, silver, and red. With clean lines and a combination of matte and glossy look and feel, it has a very neat design. It is nearly identical to its sibling, the HDR-XR100, only the 80GB hard drive is replaced by 8GB of internal flash memory in the CX100.

The CX100 records at 1920×1080i on a Memory Stick Duo card. The record time is up to 340 minutes on the included 8GB stick. However, it is a better option to record to the highest quality video. This reduces the recording time to approximately 40 minutes on the 8GB memory card (or 115 minutes on a 16GB memory card). There are modes of recording that may be used to record surveillance, slow motion, etc. but users may find the 16Mbps FH mode most useful.

One of its features worth mentioning is the low-light effect. It features Sony’s 1/5-inch 2.4-megapixel Exmor ClearVid sensor. This sensor does an excellent job of noise reduction so that your low light shootings look great. It has on-chip noise reduction, which renders very good results. This Exmor imager, an award winner, is used in professional EX-series camcorders. These EX-series camcorders are used in the broadcasting industry. As a result, you get clean smooth images with less noise in low light. It sports a small and single 0.20 CMOS sensor. CMOS imagers are used in almost all cameras, from low cost to very high-end professional cameras.

Its low light performance is outstanding but at the same time, shots taken in the sun are not very pleasing. These shots tend to have a halo effect. With a few exceptions such as deep red, most of the colors look good and attractive. The image stabilization works well with the 10x optical zoom lens. The results viewed on a large screen HDTV do not look very sharp, but are not bad. The lens focuses quickly, but could use a better coating. It shows some grave lens flare from bright light coming at oblique angles.

It sports a 10x zoom lens and it is capable of capturing 2-megapixel still pictures. Regarding its appearance, the CX100 is very beautiful. However it is not very comfortable to hold the camcorder due to its flat top. It is difficult to hold it in position and still while pushing down the photo buttons and the zoom switch.  You have to hold the camcorder with both hands to shoot still pictures, one to hold the camcorder and the other to press the shutter. Because it is a small device, it has a small 2.7-inch LCD screen. This touch screen also tends to stain with fingerprints, making it difficult to view in sunlight.

The set of buttons includes playback, Power, display information, DVD burn (through a software when connected to a computer), and a full-auto easy button on the body inside the LCD. The Home, zoom, and record buttons are located on the LCD bezel. Although flat, the buttons are easy to operate. The USB and mini-HDMI connectors and Memory Stick Duo slot are in the same location, beneath the doors. You may use any Pro Duo for the camcorder. The charging connector and proprietary AV jack are both under a door on the outside of the body. You will find a switch for the built-in lens cover on the right side of the lens.

The structure of the menu system on the HDR-CX100 is a little annoying, although its touch screen is quite responsive for the most part. The menu system is structured in a way that it is difficult to remember the location of some of the functions in the menu. You have three basic capture modes to choose from under the Home menu; these include movie, photo, and Smooth Slow Record. The menu has a Manage Media option where you may choose to record either to the internal 8GB memory or to a memory card. The Settings option lets you select different functions like SteadyShot stabilization, face detection and Smile Shutter, Output settings like TV type and HDMI resolution, and selecting high definition or standard definition. The Options menu has shooting related settings that include spot meter and focus, manual focus and exposure, white balance, scene modes, and recording quality (bit rate). You must select Movie setting in one place in the Home menu, the standard or high definition option at another place in the Home menu, and movie quality in the Options menu, making the menu structure counterintuitive.

The HDR-CX100 does not incorporate many features. The wind filter and NightShot infrared mode are missing from the features list, to mention a few. When compared to Sony, the CX100 incorporates a 2-channel surround unlike Sony’s 5.1 channel surround, which is not a real big deal.

To conclude, the HDR-CX100 is a good camcorder that may not have oodles of features, but definitely has the ones that are most required. Its stand out point is its low-light performance. Sony has brought down the prices of some older models, so the choice is entirely yours. You may want to have a look at some other models form either Sony or even CX100’s competitor, the Canon Vixia HF100.

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