Dave, I sure can't argue about the look of those night shots or the steadiness of the OIS. But man oh man, a GPS in a camcorder has got to be the most lame 'add-on' I've ever seen in the world of video! :)

Ken: I really like the GPS function, just think about traveling and being able to tell exactly where the shot was made...

OK, was I seeing things, or was there a very distinct black "ring" around the white spots on the red mushroom top, that's NOT in any of the other test shots from that particular site (the original German site, I've got it bookmarked for reference, as it seems they have a fairly consistent test shot they use)??? Something's a bit amiss with how the Canon is handling transitions between those areas, maybe it makes things LOOK sharper, but if it's not there with any of the other camera tests, it ought not be there in the HF-S shots...

AND I don't see any test shots of the XR500/520 on that site either - simply says "not yet tested"... so I'm not sure how one can reach a conclusion comparing apples to ?

When something as glaring as those rings is seen, I'd become very nervous about the camera...

FWIW, I vehemently disagree with "noise" coming with geater dynamic range - greater latitude shouldn't be synonomous with a noisier or grainer image, though I'm afraid that too many cameras gain up and try to call it "better low light"...

I'm still waiting to see some further tests of the XR, but the low light and OIS still look better to me than the Canon... even if it turns out to be a bit soft.

>When something as glaring as those rings is seen, I'd become very nervous about the camera...

The Canon cameras come with enough picture settings to remove contrast, saturation, sharpness etc. Plus Cinemode.

Jurij, maybe it's me, but if I took shots in London on vacation, I'd know that and that would be enough. Somehow knowing to the nearest foot where the shot was made doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But that's me.

I think setting the time is more important than the place. On our trip to Australia/New Zealand last fall we were changing time zones frequently and on the first day from Canada I set the clock 12 hours out!! This meant that both the time and Day were wrong!!! Took me several days to figure it out and correct and then I did it again traveling from the East coast to the West Australia!!! I think for family videos the GPS setting of date and time will be great. Don't need to do it all the time if you don't travel. I will likely buy a XR500 to go with my SR11.

Ron Evans

Tongue in cheek noted, Ken, but I disagree. Law enforcement, real estate and frequent travelers are three primary markets that could make serious use of a GPS feature... not to mention integration into Google Maps... it's actually kinda cool, in my opinion.

You see Chris, as always, there's a market for anything and everything...even in this economy! ;)

Hmmm, so you have to tweak the camera to remove artifacts or other image issues that shouldn't be there in the first place? I've had cameras like that... HAD being the operative word.

I'm going to say maybe there was something wrong with how they shot those samples, because that "ringing" was pretty obviously a nonexistent part of the original scene (and it was evident in many other places where there was a high brightness/white spot area adjacent to a low brightness/color area, just most evident on the mushroom).

I'm just pointing out that image ACCURACY is as important as perceived image sharpness when it comes to post.

I have no doubt that the Canon has LOTS of nifty tweaks and twiddles (that Sony doesn't bother to offer, ARGH!), but sometimes when one wants to shoot not tweak, that may not be so wonderful. I admit the feature set and tweakability of the Canon is quite attractive, so much so that it makes the Sony look like the ugly stepsister!

BUT it all comes down to what image quality comes out of these new sensors and processors and firmware - and how usable it is out of the box as well as when tweaked in.

I'll go for a CLEAN (meaning as little sensor/processor/firmware induced NOISE), stable image over a jiggly noisy one, even if it sacrifices a bit of sharpness. That's where even judging stills is a rather questionable measure when "moving pictures" are what you're going to be shooting!

Dave, the Canons have always been for those that like to tweak and as a result, possibly get the best image available. The Sony is more geared to the true 'point & shoot' crowd and may not, in many instances, provide the best image possible because of this lacking of adjustability.

There's a market for both.

Hi first time poster! Got my XR500V on monday and found this forum from a like at AVS forums.
The Sony HDR-XR500V and XR520V Owners thread - Page 2 - AVS Forum

Full Unboxing Flickr Set is here at:
09-Sony HDR-XR500V Unboxing - a set on Flickr

Will be blogging my tests at:
Navesink.Net: Sony HDR-XR500VUnboxing and Testing

First test video is up at:
EAhoLaula.com - Photos by Sam Posten III - Wider IS Better!- powered by SmugMug

To see it better tho, most of you will probably want the better quality versions.
Here is the raw iMovie 08 output:
Navesink.Net: SonyHDR-XR500V-IcicleTest Film

Here's a native .MTS file, it plays like crap on my Mac Pro via VLC...
Don't kill my bandwidth please if you don't need a real MTS file =)

-Only changes I made to the out of box settings was to select full HD recording, and yes it seems to cap at 16MB.
-I'm not sure if theSteadyshot was on or not. I havent read the book yet and the menus were somewhat obtuse. I'm hping it wasnt cause it looks like it could use some stabilization.
-It was shot at Dusk
-I only have iMovie 08, which resizes all files to a max of 920 wide or something stupid like that.
-I'm a total noob with iMovie
-It was shot at dusk
-After iMovie resized it, Smugmug resized it again.

I'm looking to get Premier Pro soon for my Mac seems to be that will be my best editing option.

If anyone knows how to turn steadyshot on and off I'd be grateful, there doesnt seem to be a menu option.

Yes! Go to the HOME menu (little icon upper left), then select the icon on the bottom right that looks like a suitcase. then scroll to page 2. It's there under STEADYSHOT.

I got this camera a week ago and I am very, very happ with it.

I had HDR-TG1 but was unhappy with its low-light performace. This one is great.

Cool. Congratulations!


"First time poster" :)

I didn't see a way to scroll to page 2. Will look again tonight.

There should two arrows, one up and one down on the left side of the screen when in that menu