Sony HDR-FX7 - Expert Reviews

Award: Recommended!

Review summary: Here's a camcorder that should interest the serious video-maker on a limited budget.

Verdict: The HDR-FX7E is a beast of a camcorder, and its price will be well beyond most people's budgets. However, if you're serious about your videomaking it could make a wise investment. Note that the price for this camcorder varies widely depending on the vendo

Review summary: Evolved from the VX series of cameras, the FX7 has a rich heritage

Pros: Refined and simple to pick up and use, Slow motion feature

Cons: Poor menu, Disappointing 1/4in CCD

Verdict: Three Assign buttons here also double as MemoryStick play, index and delete controls. Gain, shutter speed, white balance and menu changes are all initiated by pressing the relevant push button at the rear of the camera and then altered using the push-butt

Review summary: The Sony VX1000 was among the first 'prosumer' camcorders to be employed professionally. Sony followed it with the VX2000 series. The secret to success was a handheld camera that, although expensive in consumer terms, cost peanuts to professional outfits

Pros: Refined and simple to pick up and use, Slow motion feature

Cons: Poor menu, Disappointing 1/4in CCD

Verdict: The FX7 offers impressive HDV recording, a good quality built-in lens and a raft of manual facilities. However, professional users hoping for a worthy successor to the VX series need to wait a while longer. The FX7 is good, just not great

Pros: Exceptional image quality, Plenty of modes and functions, Professional components and design

Cons: Daunting for first-time users, Mediocre stills mode, Prohibitive asking price.

Verdict: If you're an indie filmmaker with a medium-sized budget on your hands, you could do a lot worse than this consumer/professional hybrid camera.