Sony HDR-CX160 High-Definition Handycam Camcorder (Black) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

After an extensively research over the internet I bought this Sony HDR CX160 camera in Miami on March 16, and after six months of continuous use I can only say that I am extremely satisfied with the product. It is really small and light, easy to carry around. I bought a Sony Handycam bag and it is really huge for this little camera, which was really convenient because I can carry an extra battery, one 16GB SDHC card, a tiny tripod, cleaning clothing and a shoulder strap. Do not be mistaken: the Sony HDR CX-160 is little, but extremely powerful for the price.Be careful to use always the hand strap so you can prevent it from falling off. I almost died of distress last week when it slipped from my fingers but luckily I managed to attenuate the fall with my left foot, it bounced and landed nicely on the carpet floor, not a single scratch.I shoot all my videos on PS mode (60p @ 28Mbps), I like to record my memories on the best quality possible, the future generations of the family will be grateful and remember me with respect for this decision. The picture quality is stunning and the glorious full HD 1920x1080p looks fantastic on my LCD TV.The touchscreen is prone to be covered by smudges, I use it to shoot the daily growing of my children and my greasy paws do not help to keep it clean at all.The USB cable is nice but is too short, you can only use it with a portable computer or a tablet, placing the camera next to it, with a desktop you have to use the extension cord otherwise the camera would be hanging.The active steadyshot is pretty cool, it can really minimize the effects of hand shaking and trembling individuals.The slow motion shot is amazing, athough of inferior quality compared to PS mode. I had the opportunity of shooting a parade in Bogota, a clumsy clown on stilts got distracted watching some lady on the crowd, tripped and fell spectacularly, I got it all on film and it is a laughing matter for our enjoyment. I can not share the video out of respect with the clown.I gave this impressive camera five stars, it gives a high value for your money, has many advanced features compared to other brands below the same tag price. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I'm not a big tech kind of person. Don't need fancy electronics. Don't know about pixels/MB vs KB etc. I just want something that gets the job done and I get a video out of it that I can watch and enjoy. So...Bought this camera to record a once in a lifetime trip for my kids to Disneyworld. Would have liked to gotten it sooner, to have enough time to learn better how to use it. But it wasn't too hard and we got some great video of their first (and probably only) time at Disneyworld. Perks: Really good picture. Zooms very far and still has a good picture. Does get pretty shaky when zoomed because I can't hold my hand still. But considering that I was walking, pushing a stroller and video taping with one hand all at the same time and I got video that you can watch and not throw up--I think image stability is really very good. Low light video was surprisingly good. It caught voices pretty well considering the dull roar of background noise that is the backbone of Disneyworld. It was small enough to fit in my tiny purse and I really never got tired of holding it. Battery time: never ran out during whole days of video taping (although, not continuous.) Each night we dumped the video and charged the battery and never had a problem.The biggest downside: the startup time to record. My advice is to always keep the camera on and open if you think there might be a quick opportunity to catch action. Otherwise, you can miss stuff while the camera is starting up. However, I have a good 3 minute shot of my knee when I didn't realize the camera was still on, so you have to really pay attention if you do that!As for software, since my DH is a Mac geek, we didn't even try to use the software that comes with the camera. We used IDVD and are able to get great looking, well edited movies.Overall opinion: really good camera to get really good video you can watch and enjoy.

I shoot Youtube hair videos and needed a camera that showed great pictures in HD. This is it. It takes a little getting used to but overall it's easy to use, the footage comes out great and the sound is awesome also. I haven't tested this camera outside as most of my videos are DIY's and are shot in the bathroom lighting, so I can't advise on outside noise. It does give great hair texture shots though and is mostly touch screen operated. This camera also does automatic focus on it's own without making the stutter noise or blurring out the picture, so I really like that feature. Also I'm not sure how much memory this camera actually has, but I haven't installed a memory card yet and so far I was able to shoot four 7 min videos! And it still hasn't shown the delete for memory error yet. Now that's a plus in it self for me! I also find it easy to upload to my mac book by going directly to imovie and importing. My camera came refurbished but looked like new with charger, USB connect, and red and yellow cable connect cords. Hope this info was helpful to someone.