Sony HDR-CX550VE

Ease of Use (7.5)

Last year we bemoaned the fact that Sony got rid of its beloved "Easy" button that put the camcorder into a dedicated auto mode. On the HDR-CX550V we're happy to see this button has returned, albeit in a very different form. The dedicated auto mode on the camcorder is now called iAuto, which has an eerily similar title as Panasonic's iA mode (in fact, both modes stand for Intelligent Auto). The thing is, the iAuto mode on the CX550V has one key difference to most dedicated auto modes—it doesn't lock you out of the camcorder's menu system. You can still go into the menus and make manual changes, but if you do so iAuto mode is automatically shut off.

Sony doesn't provide the best instruction manuals with its camcorders, but the manuals are easy to read and they give you the basic information. Just don't expect to get all your questions answered by the manuals as Sony glosses over many of the camcorder's special features. The camcorder itself has a small info box in the menu system that tells you a little bit about each setting you are selecting, which is a helpful tool for beginners.

My Menu		Full menu

We've mentioned how the menu system on the HDR-CX550V can be awkward at times, but the menus sure do look slick and stylish. We found settings easy to read, particularly because of the big 3.5-inch screen that you view them on. The touch-screen system is a bit frustrating at first and the options for scrolling through menus can feel strange. You can press touch-buttons on the LCD, or you can hold and drag your finger along the left side of the screen to scroll through the menus. It isn't a terrible system, but it takes some getting used to.

One of the best features on the HDR-CX550V is its customisable "My Menu" screen. This screen is a simplified menu that only shows six menu options, and you can pick what six options are displayed here. This is great for users who want to keep things simple and have no need to sift through the vast main menu on the CX550V. It can also be useful for more experienced users who want a way to quickly access certain features that are buried in the regular menu.

Handling (7.0)

Overall, the HDR-CX550V handles fairly well for a consumer camcorder. The camcorder is a bit bulky, and its grip is a bit uncomfortable, but we found its shape and design more ergonomic than either the JVC GZ-HM1 or the Canon HF S21. The Panasonic HDC-TM700, however, felt the best in the comfort category. The Sony HDR-CX550V also has a very good hand strap, which is something we have come to expect from Sony camcorders.

The CX550V is a bit larger than its predecessor...		... but it has a much better control dial.

Another major handling aspect of the CX550V is the front-mounted control dial. This dial is nearly identical to what Sony implemented on last year's HDR-XR520V, but it is a lot better than the thin, rear-mounted dial on the HDR-CX500V. We like this dial a lot, and it is very good for making manual adjustments. Not so surprisingly, Canon and JVC have similar dials on their flagship models, while Panasonic continues to use a full-sized lens ring—all of which work very well for setting manual controls.

The 3.5-inch LCD looks fantastic, but you may need to still use the viewfinder if you encounter lots of glare.

While the control dial on the HDR-CX550V is great, it does have a few quirks. You can set what function the dial controls by pushing in and holding the button on the front of the dial for a few seconds. Once you do this, a small menu appears on the LCD and you can choose the dial to adjust the following: focus, exposure, iris, shutter speed, AE shift, or WB shift. You must rotate the dial and press the button again to pick what you want to adjust, and we found this system to be a bit awkward (you can also programme the dial in the camcorder's main menu). It's as if the dial is too sensitive when you use it to make a selection here, while it is just sensitive enough when you use it to actually adjust a setting (like when you use it to set focus). We're also somewhat surprised that shutter speed and aperture control (iris) can only be set using the control dial—these options aren't found anywhere in the camcorder's menu system.

The HDR-CX550V isn't the most comfortable camcorder to hold, but its hand strap is large and well-padded.

The fact that the HDR-CX550V has a control dial doesn't mean you can't completely avoid using the touch-screen interface on the camcorder's LCD. The touch-screen system is necessary for navigating menus and setting options other than the six features you can control with the dial. The menu system on the CX550V can actually be very difficult to navigate with the touch-screen as Sony has implemented a very strange scrolling and touch-button combination for controlling the menus. It's the same thing that Sony had on the HDR-CX500V, however, so if you've ever used that then you should know what you are in for. Another good thing is that the menu is customisable—partially, at least—which helps a lot if there's only a few settings that you ever really need to have access to.

Stabilisation (11.95)

Sony has impressed us in the past with its optical image stabilisation systems (OIS), which is what the HDR-CX550V is equipped with. The camcorder managed to do an excellent job in our testing, the results of which you can see in the two graphs below. (More on how we test stabilisation.)

Sony HDR-CX550V Stabilisation Effectiveness

81% correction at low shake (above) 77% correction at high shake (below)

Along with its regular OIS, the CX550V also has an active stabilisation mode. We're not entirely sure, but we believe this active mode uses digital stabilisation along with the OIS system in an attempt to further reduce the shakiness of the video image. In our testing, however, we found the camcorder's regular OIS worked better at reducing the shake than active mode. In active stabilisation mode, the camcorder reduced 46% of the shake in our low shake test and 72% of the shake in our high shake test (both numbers being worse than the regular OIS mode).

The Sony HDR-CX550V and the Panasonic HDC-TM700 were the top performers in our stabilisation tests, with the JVC GZ-HM1 not too far behind. The Canon HF S21 did the worst on this test, but it still put forth a respectable effort (and it has three stabilisation options).

Stabilisation Score Comparison		Compare the Sony HDR-CX550V to the Panasonic HDC-TM700
		Compare the Sony HDR-CX550V to the Canon HF S21
		Compare the Sony HDR-CX550V to the JVC GZ-HM1

Portability (6.57)

The HDR-CX550V is quite a bit larger than last year's HDR-CX500V (the camcorder it replaced). Most of this increase in size stems from the new, wide angle lens that takes up a lot more space on the camcorder. The LCD is also half an inch larger, which is a likely source of some extra bulk. Despite this increase in camcorder size, the Sony HDR-CX550V is still roughly the same size as most high-end consumer HD models—and it's quite a bit smaller and lighter than the Canon HF S21.

So, the CX550V isn't incredibly compact, but it is around the size you expect a flagship camcorder to be. It won't tire your arm out with a long day of shooting, and it should fit comfortably in a bag, pack, or large purse. The only smaller option for a high-end model is the Panasonic HDC-TM700, but it has a smaller LCD (3 inches) and it only includes 32GB of internal flash memory (as opposed to 64GB on the Sony and JVC).

	Sony HDR-CX550V	Panasonic HDC-TM700	Canon HF S21	JVC GZ-HM1
Primary Media	64GB internal flash memory	32GB internal flash memory	64GB internal flash memory	64GB internal flash memory
Secondary Media	SD/SDHC/Memory Stick PRO Duo card slot	SD/SDHC memory card	2x SD/SDHC card slots	SD/SDHC memory card
Weight	480g (with battery)	440g (with battery)	520g (with battery)	485g (with battery)
Size	66 x 74 x 143mm	66 x 69 x138mm	75 x 74 x 148mm	67 x 72 x 141mm

Battery Life (5.35)

The HDR-CX550V lasted for 107 minutes in our battery life test, which is a decent performance. If you tweak the settings on the LCD or if you use the viewfinder, you can probably get a bit more life out of the camcorder's provided battery. You could also always purchase a larger battery pack from Sony for longer-lasting performance. (More on how we test battery life.)

Battery Life Comparisons

The HDR-CX550V with its provided battery.

LCD & Viewfinder (12.04)

The HDR-CX550V has a nice, large LCD that uses a touch-screen interface. The 3.5-inch screen has a lot of space, so using the touch-screen system isn't nearly as much of a pain as it is on smaller LCDs (like the 2.7-inch screens you'll find on most mid-range models). The LCD also utilises an impressive 921,000 pixels, which means the image is displayed on the screen at a fairly high resolution. In the camcorder's display settings submenu you can make adjustments to the LCD brightness, colour, and black level.

The 3.5-inch LCD uses touch-screen technology.

Sony also includes a small electronic viewfinder (EVF) on the CX550V, which is something that was not included on last year's HDR-CX500V. The EVF isn't very comfortable to use, but that's usually the case with viewfinders featured on consumer camcorders. The viewfinder can extend out from the camcorder, but only does so by about 1/4-inch at the most. There's also a tiny dioptre adjustment dial on the right side of the viewfinder.

The viewfinder has a small dioptre adjustment dial.

	Sony HDR-CX550V	Panasonic HDC-TM700	Canon HF S21	JVC GZ-HM1
LCD Size	3.5 inches	3 inches	3.5 inches	2.8 inches
LCD Resolution	921,000 pixels	230,400 pixels	922,000 pixels	207,000 pixels
Touch-screen	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Viewfinder	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Sony HDR-CX550V Comparisons
Panasonic HDC-TM700	Canon HF S21	JVC GZ-HM1