2 new Aussie reviews of VG20

[John Vincent]

Two new reviews have recently showed up on the tubes:

CNET Australia:
Sony NEX-VG20 Review - Camcorders

Someone named "Blunty":
Sony NEX-VG20 – DSLR video Killer?|Blunty.tv

CNET gave it 8.5 out of 10 and Blunty was very positive as well. Obviously the reviews were not aimed at pros, but still some nice information there.

[Dave Mercer]

Many thanks for posting the reviews. They certainly are positive. I'm still surprised there isn't more interest in this camera.

I'd certainly like to see more professional evaluations ....

[John Vincent]

Totally agree - not sure if pros don't review b/c it's labeled "Handycam," or if mainstream reviewers skip b/c of the high (for a normal consumer) price tag.

Sony certainly has done little to promote the camera - perhaps b/c the pro division got some advertised features killed - but it's been out for months now regardless.

It's a weird bird for sure - not quite pro, def more cam then an average user needs.

A film student's impressions:
Shooting with a Sony VG-20 | Multimythic Media

[John Vincent]

A lawyer's review:
2012 Review of Sony NEX VG20 | The Lawyers’ Video Studio

[Charlie Steiner]

the lawyer's review has many factual errors, especially about settings. he didn't spend enough time figuring it out. this says something about the sony manual which is very poorly written but does not excuse his mistakes. I do not recommend the article to someone who has not tried out the camera him or herself...

[Chris Barcellos]

The Lawyers review was indeed a bit disturbing. Thats coming from someone who is also a lawyer. The use of this camera of a studio camera really doesn't make a lot of sense in the first place. For the purposes of his audience simple or advanced small chip cameras are the answer and will have all the features need to make attorney commercial. And if intent is to shoot accident scenes, injuries, days in the life, etc., the shallow dept of field cameras would not serve legal purposes well.

[John Vincent]

The one thing that struck me as "That must being wrong" was this quote:

"For some inexplicable reason, the camera does not allow you to shoot at the highest quality 24 MPS setting while using a class 10 SDHC memory card. "

That's not correct... is it? First I heard of not being able to use class 10 cards. Can anyone confirm - or more likely - deny this?

His review also does what some of the "normal consumer" reviews do, which is only shoot with the kit lens and therefore ascribing any faults with that to the camera.

[Chris Barcellos]

John:

I am using some cheap class 6 cards without issue.

I do have some cheaper class 10 cards, and will try using tonight, can't believe I haven't actually stuck them in the camera to test.

[Tony Neal]

It is wrong.

I've just proved it by recording in 50p at 28 and 50i at 24 on a Verbatim 32GB class 10 card.

I don't recognize my VG20 from this review - not fair or accurate.

And don't get me started on the 'shallow depth of field' thing ...

[John Vincent]

A very in-depth review from India:
Google Translate

[Bill Koehler]

Originally Posted by John Vincent

Totally agree - not sure if pros don't review b/c it's labeled "Handycam," or if mainstream reviewers skip b/c of the high (for a normal consumer) price tag.

Or given the features that got left out of the VG-20 vs. the NEX-5N/7, are many people looking at those cameras, which are far more heavily marketed as well, as possible alternatives? I know I am.

[John Vincent]

I agree - if they hadn't crippled the VG20, I would have certainly bought it by now. But they did. But b/c there are still so few S35 sized interchangable cameras for $5,000 or under available, I have kept an eye on it.

But at this point, I probably just wait to NAB. There's just so many issues with the 20, insane rolling shutter and lack of full manual control being the key offenders.