Sony HDR-TG1 High Definition Handycam Camcorder

June 14th, 2009 | 58 views | Posted by admin in Cheap Camcorders

Sony HDR-TG1 4MP High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Super Steady Shot Zoom

Sony’s Handycam camcorder, HDR-TG1, delivers Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution video recording in a small, light, and slim camcorder perfect for travel or everyday recording. The stylish model incorporates a pure titanium body and Premium Hard Coating for superior resistance to even the smallest scratches, giving you the confidence to take the HDR-TG1 wherever you go.

The HDR-TG1 records to convenient Memory Stick PRO Duo media, and Sony’s ClearVid CMOS Sensor (with Exmor derived technology) and BIONZ image processor provide spectacular video and stunning 4.0 MP still images. Additionally, Sony Face Detection technology automatically finds and enhances a face, beautifully recording your videos and photos.

Sony HDR-TG1 Highlights

1920×1080 Recording Record stunning, incredibly detailed video footage in the clarity of 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution.

Face Detection for Video Footage and Digital Still Photos Made possible by the BIONZ image processing engine, Face Detection technology recognizes up to 8 faces anywhere in the frame and automatically controls focus, exposure, and color to help capture smiling faces brightly and clearly. Face Detection technology also helps make skin tones look natural without affecting other colors in the image.

2.3 Megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor (with Exmor derived technology) and BIONZ image processor Sony’s newly designed CMOS image sensor delivers bright, vivid, and spectacularly detailed 2.3 megapixel (effective) video footage, as well as 4.0 megapixel still images–all with prolonged battery life. Exmor technology captures images with high resolution and high sensitivity. In addition, the advanced Sony BIONZ image processor improves camera response time and screens out noise so the signal from each pixel is as pure as possible.

2.7-inch Wide (16:9) Hybrid Touch Panel Clear Photo LCD Plus Display (211K Pixels) The 2.7-inch Wide (16:9) LCD screen provides exceptional viewing clarity with improved resolution (211K pixels). The display rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles, as well as provides sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback. The widescreen format makes shooting in 16:9 mode and composing shots even easier.

Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization System An advanced version of Super Steadyshot Picture Stabilization from Sony controls an even higher range of shake and vibration frequencies, to achieve an even higher level of smoothness without degradation of video like some other image stabilization systems.

10x Optical/20x Digital Zoom The optical zoom helps to bring the action close up from far away. In addition, Digital Zoom Interpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zoom.

Built-in zoom microphone with 5.1ch recording Featuring Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator, the built-in zoom microphone focuses audio recording on your subjects in sync with the camera’s zoom lens, helping memories ring true with clear dialogue and crisp, discrete sounds.

PhotoTV HD Viewing with HDMI Output With direct HDMI output to your compatible HDTV screen, you can view and share photos in breathtaking clarity and detail. You can choose between standard 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio–and with select Sony BRAVIA HDTV models, your photos are automatically optimized in sharpness, gradation, and color reproduction.

Face Index Face Index makes it easier than ever to find and play back the right video scene. Using Face Detection technology, Face Index indexes your video footage according to the faces detected in each scene. When it’s time to play back video, simply search for what you want by selecting from among the detected faces displayed in the index.

USB 2.0 Interface The USB 2.0 interface provides an easy way to connect your camcorder to a PC for fast transfer of video and still images for editing.

Picture Effects Get creative when recording or playing back your videos with Sony’s Picture Effect Modes. Effects available in Camera mode: Monotone, Pastel and Sepia. Effects available in Playback mode: Monotone, Pastel and Sepia.

Scene Selection Modes Scene Selection modes make recording easy even when filming in challenging situations. Choose from Beach, Candle, Fireworks, Landscape, Portrait, Sports Lesson, Spotlight, and Sunrise and Sunset.

Multi-Language Menu Change the menu display from English to English (Simplified), Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, or Brazilian Portuguese

Sony HDR-TG1 Handycam Camcorder Review

I bought the HF10 for it’s super-fast focus when shooting my kids’ sporting events. I bought the TG1 for it’s superior portability. I’m happy to say both are awesome cameras. One big negative for the Sony camera is that 16gb of memory (Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2) costs 2.5 times as much for this camera as it does for the HF10 which uses SDHC. That’s a complete rip off but no other HD video camera fits in your pocket like this one so that’s the price you pay for portability. Battery life is another price you pay but I got every video I wanted, in great quality, from the beach this past weekend and had plenty of battery and memory to spare. If you’re going to film long events this is not the camera for you. In still camera terminology think of it as pocket point-and-shoot and not an SLR.

This is a fantastic camera but people need to have more realistic expectations of what to expect from AVCHD. It is a highly compressed format so using this camera in low-light conditions is going to produce pretty “grainy” results. In good lighting AVCHD output from this camera can produce some really great looking results in HD but don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re going to get professional HDTV quality. This is a point-and-shoot.

This is a great camera if you use a Mac but you will probably find it very frustrating if you use a PC…