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Sony Handycam HDR-CX105E video review

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The Sony HDR-CX105E doesn't have the gobsmacking excitement of the HDR-TG3. It's not quite so small and although light, its form factor will mean it doesn't slip so easily into the pocket, unless you're wearing Barbour. But it does offer even better image quality, and will hardly be a pain to pop in your bag. The icing on the cake is that, unlike many of the camcorders we've seen this year, this one doesn't arrive at a noticeably higher price than previous models. In fact, for under £440, it's good value even by 2008 standards. It may not have many or any features for the enthusiast, but if all you're after is an easily portable camcorder that shoots high quality HD video, the CX105E fits the bill very nicely indeed.

Overall

9/10

By James Morris
Reviewed 30 May 2009
Updated 16 December 2011

Price as reviewed

£438.00

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Video Review
User Reviews
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Reviewed by James Morris
30 May 2009

Read the full Sony Handycam HDR-CX105E review

Awards

Sony Handycam HDR-CX105E details

Value: 10/10
Image Quality: 9/10
Features: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

Price as reviewed

£438.00

Manufacturer

Sony

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KB

5:38 PM on 30 May, 2009

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Hmm... no external mic socket... That omission really pushes a cam into the toy category. I don't know how you can recommend a cam at that pricepoint without that - its a must have if you're ever going to seek decent sound, which is more important for watchability than decent image.

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Geoff Richards

10:39 AM on 31 May, 2009

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It's horses for courses, KB. This cam is clearly aimed at the Point & Shoot brigade, and performs that function very well.

For more advanced users like you & me, we want features like accessory shoes and external mic sockets (nevermind the manual image controls missing from the CX105E). And that's fine too - we just have to scratch together a few hundred more and get a Canon HF100, or a few hundred more than that for a Panasonic HDC-TM300. Then treat ourselves to a new shotgun mic, a wide-angle lens attachment...

You can see why the Point & Shoot user will just hand over £500 and be done with it, while the spending never really ends of us enthusiasts :)

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James Morris

1:04 PM on 31 May, 2009

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@K B Just to reinforce what Geoff said, if you're just looking to take a camcorder on holiday, you really won't want to bother with extra microphones - or extra anything really, even a tripod. I make video for a living and even I don't take any of these things for my holiday moviemaking. You can really ruin your family's pleasure by messing around with gadgets when you're all supposed to be having fun. The CX105E is one of the best options currently out there for this purpose - light and small, but shoots great video.

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KB

7:27 PM on 31 May, 2009

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Point taken that if you know for sure you'll never want better sound than the onboard mic will give you. But if you're maybe buying this as your first cam... then decide to get more serious... well you've then got a cam that can produce maybe great HD video... but you'll have to go right out and buy another. All for the sake of not having a mic socket! If its a £100 cam then fair enough - but ditching the mic socket in a £450 cam... for what? Gets big minus points from me. I'd recommend someone buy something that will give them that option in the future, even if they don't think they'll want it right now. Plenty of alternatives at the same price point.

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James Morris

7:36 PM on 31 May, 2009

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@K B I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Yes, there are plenty of alternatives with sound inputs, but actually not that many at this price point which can match the CX105E's video quality. Now that Panasonic's HDC-SD9 is becoming hard to find, there really aren't any I can think of for less than £500.

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Mauro

6:52 PM on 4 June, 2009

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Hi James, I am going to buy my first digital camcorder and I am very attracted by the Sanyo HD2000. After reading you review I put also the cx105e on the list, and I really can't decide between these two.

The Sanyo is 1080p, while the CX105 is 1080i.

The sony has an optical image stabilizer, while the sanyo digital one does not work very well, according to users comments.

The sanyo has a mic-in port and it uses standard SDHC cards, while sony uses the more expensive MS format.

I also cannot find a cx105 sample video at maximum resolution, so I cannot compare the image quality (colors, contrast, sharpness, noise under low-light etc.).

I'd also like to know something about the effective battery life.

What do you think?

Please help me! :-)

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edzio

2:26 AM on 9 July, 2009

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Could somebody tell me whether it'd be possible to put different lenses on this camera? Such as an 'opteka fisheye' lens? I'm a total newbie to camcorders, but would love to get some nice footage when I go away to Rome and want to be able to play around with a fisheye on some of the sights. Any help would be most appreciated, thank you :)

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AndersLund

3:31 PM on 17 August, 2009

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I just wanted to point out that Sony has been replacing the automatic lens cover with a manual on a lot of their new models, even higher priced ones. The reason? Reliyability. I have had 4 Sony camcorders with auto lens covers and ALL of them ended up having to go to repairs due to worn down parts. The little engine that flips it up and down can't withstand the amount of usage it receives. I personally welcome the manual, since it does not use up battery power, and it's more reliable. Not to mention it reduces the cost. It's just a small pointless thing to have really.

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Kalos Geros

12:00 AM on 20 September, 2009

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just came accross this review...being a 1080i camcorder the CX105 doesn't really need all of the 2 mil pixels of 1080p...interlaced fields of 1080i video are 1920x540 which is actually just a tiny bit more than 1 mil pixels...so 1,17 mil pixel is enough to catter for both 720p and 1080i...no pixels are really lost or interpolated...

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