Sony Handycam HDR-XR520VE

Still Features (10.38)

Sony bills the HDR-XR520VE as having 12-megapixel still image capability, but that is not exactly accurate. While it is true the camcorder can capture 4000 x 3000 still photos, the XR520's gross pixel count is only 6.6-megapixels—which means everything that exceeds that resolution is interpolated. The 6.2-megapixel size setting is really the highest resolution option for still photos on the camcorder. The 12-megapixel and 9-megapixel settings offer a larger-sized picture, but the same amount of pixels are going into the image, so the sharpness won't increase. For a full list of the camcorder's still image resolution options, see the table below.

The HDR-XR520VE has a small mode button on the right side of the camcorder that switches between photo and video modes. The shutter button on the top of the camcorder (just behind the zoom toggle) allows you to take still photos. Most of the manual controls that are available while shooting video also function while taking still photos. Spot focus and spot meter are still an option, as are adjustments to exposure, focus, WB shift, and AE shift. Image stabilisation can be turned on and off, although the active mode is not available for still photos. A 10-second self-timer can also be activated in photo mode.

Tucked next to the lens on the front of the camcorder is a small flash that can be set to auto, on, and off. The flash is equipped with a red-eye reduction feature that can be turned on or off, plus the intensity of the flash can be set to normal, high, or low. You can also use the nightshot light for still photography, by turning it on in the Photo Settings menu.

The HDR-XR520 has a dual record feature that allows the capture of still photos simultaneously to the recording of videos. While actively recording, you can hold down the shutter button to snap a photo. Still images obtained using this method are automatically set to a resolution of 3840 x 2160 and a 16:9 aspect ratio. During playback, still images can be digitally magnified up to 5x by using the zoom toggle. You can also use the camcorder's smile shutter feature to automatically capture still images whenever a smile is detected during video recording. Or, you can go back into already recorded footage and capture low resolution stills in retrospect.

The Photo Settings submenu		The Photo Playback menu

Still Colour (10.94)

The Sony HDR-XR520VE rendered colours very accurately in our still colour testing. In fact, the camcorder's colour error of 3.2 and saturation level of 91.66% are slightly better than its scores in our video colour test. This is a strong showing for the Sony HDR-XR520VE and it speaks highly of its ability as a hybrid video/photo device. (More on how we test still colour.)

The still photography colour error map: the length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular colour.

In our still photo comparison below, the Sony HDR-XR520VE looks very good. All the camcorders in this set take decent still photos, each producing fairly accurate colours and strong image sharpness. With these new, high-end HD camcorders that are loaded with effective pixels, camcorders are beginning to approach the same image quality you'd get from a dedicated still camera. Of course, a good digital camera will still be able to run circles around these camcorders as far as overall still image performance is concerned, but this is a promising showing for video/photo hybrids.

Sony HDR-XR520VE Still Colour Comparisons
Sony HDR-XR520VE	Canon HF S100
Panasonic HDC-HS300	Sanyo VPC-HD2000

Still Noise (2.15)

We measured roughly 1.0725% noise in our still noise test with the HDR-XR520VE. This is a bit higher than we'd like to see from an HD camcorder, especially one that has such good colour accuracy and sharpness in its photos. Both the Panasonic HDC-HS300 (0.79% noise) and the Sanyo VPC-HD2000 (0.77% noise) measured lower noise levels in their still image testing. The Canon HF S100 was slightly higher than the HDR-XR520VE, averaging 1.15% noise. (More on how we test still noise.)

Still Sharpness (6.97)

The Sony HDR-XR520VE did very well in our still sharpness test. The camcorder measured a horizontal sharpness of 1961 lw/ph (line widths per picture height) with 8% undersharpening and a vertical resolution of 1680 lw/ph with 13.6% undersharpening. These are very good scores, and they are only exceeded by camcorders with higher effective pixel counts—like the Canon HF S100, which can take 8-megapixel still images. (More on how we test still sharpness.)