Keep them coming my friend. I love this stuff. Keith

Bro, you dont have enough camcorders. You need more camcorders.

I do. Great idea. I'll get more. Man, that is pure horror film.... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p8yjl81m0dHDZXU.html

@@iancraig Yes horror, but I survived, I was lucky that day, but I just bought a Sony CX405 on Amazon and think about making an unboxing video . Gotta find a way to use it as action cam and think about holding it in my mouth, hope the 405 fits. Did you ever use a camcorder as action cam ?

Yes, but it won't fit easily in my mouth. I prefer a little camcorder for vlogging to the GoPro actually, because you can see what you're doing on the bigger screen more easily and the camcorders have apertures that can change. The GoPro is fixed so you have to be faffing with ND filters if you want to fix the shutter speed correctly. With camcorders, the aperture corrects exposure for you; and on these, even at 1/50th second shutter

They do a great Job Andre. I love rhe speed that I can be running them, which makes them ideal for fast grab shots. I’ve used that so many times when something randomnly happens. These ones are fantastic starter cameras since they do so well in ‘auto’, plus room for development when you want to begin playing with settings, where they still hold on to exposure for you, while you adjust what you want. Great for kids learning aperture/shutter control.

I had an email from a watcher who told me he wouldn’t want to be seen outside with a camcorder. Looks like image is more important than the video .....

Me too Tony. I’m 67.

@@iancraig very true, not many people use camcorders now ,maybe they will make a comeback. Have several cams old and new, Still use my Panasonic hdc-sd900 that are now becoming rare to find nowadays, its a great cam that produces very clean balanced colours and better skin tones unlike the modern action cams like dji and gopro that always tend to be too sharp and unbalanced colours although still use them myself. All depends what your trying to achieve and personal preferences but i prefer to use a camcorder

I love the ease of use with camcorders. With my ax53, I’m literally shooting in seconds withgood expose and white balance. With my M50 or ZV1, I’m very concious of having to set them up. The GoPro is always stressful because it might crash, freeze, whatever! The DJI Pockets have tiny screens so I have to make sure they’re preset before I go out with my glasses on. The Action, I use mostly in auto with a little preset at home. But even the cx405 is off in seconds.

Hi Phil. Do you mean playback on the camera? On the screen there's a playback button. Bottom left. Use the scroll button to get down there and push it in. Then scroll to the date of the videos you see there and then the individual videos will pop up and you can see them on the camera.

I like the Sony camcorders because they are so quick to set up. You just don't realise until you start using something else like the ZV1 or Canon M50. Where there are so many settings that can backfire on you. Not with camcorders. For instance, I went out with a Sony ZV1 and hadn't realised that I had accidentally shifted the ISO from auto to 6400, I think it was. The noise levels were awful. Reason being that auto is right next to the highest setting and I hadn't seen it on the small display! In that respect, camcorders just do the job well without all the fuss!

Glad it was useful. The CX405 can give great results and is really portable.

Thanks Len. I had a battle with exactly how much to show. I’m wondering about breaking it down into segments and making a mini series on them since there does seem to be interest in camcorders.

@@iancraig Ian, thanks, a mini series would be great, i would watch for sure, and many folkes like me who are seriously looking into YT video production, with zero experience, with camcorders, and video editing, on a computer.....

Nice one Hugh. I really love the ease of use with camcorders. Plus of course, massive battery life and the ability to shoot for long stretches and that zoom. Next, you’ll be into tripods with the zoom!

It is a cheap camera though, so don’t expect miracles from it! It’s ok, but basically does need plenty of light.

Thanks for the response, but three hundred quid is by no means cheap.@@iancraig

I buy lenses for more. I mean relatively, compared to other cameras. I just bought an Ace Pro and it was over £400 ….. for an action cam. No zoom lens. The cheapest camcorder I have retails at £200. Zoom lens and all! The pixelation that you speak of sounds like either low light or the result of a low bitrate. Generally, pixelation will show more on moving detail like leaves if it’s the bitrate. GoPros show this terribly and that’s what you ‘might’ be seeing because the lower end Sony camcorders only do 50mbs. My Ace Pro does something like 180 so things have moved on with bitrate and better computers handling much bigger files.

@@iancraig Thank you for the feedback 😊 This is a stop gap until I get something a bit better.

Thank you.

Hopefully, the settings will help. With cheap cameras like this though, remember that there will most likely be compromises with the lens. For a slightly sharper appearance, try adding just a touch more contrast and add a little sharpening in post if your software has it. Be careful with sharpening though because pictures might flicker with zooming or movement. Too much sharpening makes it worse.

Editing can really take your mind off the video! Sometimes, I think I can analyse the video quality too much and it becomes an obsession when editing. So much that it can be very difficult to make colour/contrast decisions!!

Thanks John. I don’t care about fashion at all! If the camera does the job, then that’s great. I love the portability and lightness of this camera. Internal mics are OK and it has an insane zoom. So if you want to go out lightweight, this is very nice. I would love to get to Australia. So far away though. I think the people are less mistrusting than Brits and a little more warm hearted.

Thank you. While they're not the ultimate in sharpness, they have a very healthy zoom. I often sharpen or actually, what is called ... Unsharpen mask'. Then the picture really crisps up. The option for audio input would be useful so you can capture ambience at the time in stereo. I'd suggest a stereo mic. Then you could add voiceover later. The Sony camcorders are great because of their simplicity tbh.

That’s really nice to know Peter. I often think I’m talking to myself on KZfaq and use it more as an experiment for myself of some sort in readiness for more important videos that I make.

@@iancraig Replying to correct myself and add some clarifications! I bought a CX450 from Argos in April 2022 - they are still available (just) but stock levels are low and patchy. Argos seem to get a couple in here and there every few weeks, so it's worth keeping your eye open and be willing to travel. I use it for filming kids sports (cricket, hockey, netball) and it's great for that use. The stabilisation is very good even on high zoom. I've fitted a cheap neutral filter to the front to keep dust and rain away from the lens and the lens cover. The ability to keep shooting with the viewfinder door shut is very useful - it helps a lot with battery life. When filming cricket I set it up on a cheap tripod, close the door and come back 2.5hrs later and it's still filming. A longer run time battery is also available from Sony and from 3rd parties, but I haven't needed it yet.

Forgot to add: you can run the camera off a power bank (it doesn't charge the battery, but acts as a power input to the camera) which means that if you want to record a full day of cricket you are only limited by your memory card size.

Thank you Calabamian. The clouds are like to be blown out if you include land or trees in the shot. The reason being that the camera ‘sees’ a dark area and so boosts the exposure. There are two things you could try. A) lower the exposure compensation by a stop or so. Personally, if I wanted cloud detail, I would expose purely for the sky. B) a more technical way is to use a semi nd filter or what is called a graduated nd filter. Top half is nd, bottom half is clear. If there is no thread on the lens, then you could hold it in place which is also nice because you can adjust up and down for where you want the nd effect to start. This method gives correctly exposed land as well as sky! Basically, the clouds get blown out due to the dynamic range being too wide for the sensor.

I was videoing a vlog up in Liverpool not so long ago Lee. The Cathedral, Albert Docks, and a Curiosity Museum, not to mention the Cavern. Lovely place.

@iancraig Yes Ian, I watched it. It was very nice to have you visit our beautiful city.

They’re handy little cameras. The only thing that I would like is the ability to use 24, 30 and 60fps in UK. Here, they’re sold as 25 and 50fps cameras only. In USA they sell as 30 and 60. I managed to find a hack for my ax53 so I can use either, but there doesn’t seem to be one for the CX range.

@@iancraig I'm not a professional filmmaker: i want only open cam and record. I ride in moto and I use a gopro6 and another cheap action cam during the journey. I bought a DJI pocket (fantastic) just to complicate my photographic live II have a little problem: the old age is coming up and i don't see clearly the display of these three device and overall I don't want to be going crazy in the menu ;). Thank you again for your explanations

At the ripe old age of nearly 70, I have the exact same problem!

Don’t know about ‘pro’, but thank you Attou.

Glad it was useful to you.

Must be somewhere in the camera setup or video settings.

I use this one, but check that the mic doesn’t fit diirectly. It’s a standard size coldshoe but difficult to manouvre the mic in there. If it is too difficult with your mic then .... www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O1PZ9HE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi. In moderate lighting, it should be ok for focusing. If you are hand holding, you’ll need stabilisation switched on. The only reason I can think of as to why it doesn’t focus well is that you may be zooming in too close perhaps? If you zoom right in, the aperture will close up a bit making the video become darker, so it will automatically raise the iso which can affect clarity if the iso is too high. For starters, set everything to auto and see what the camera gets. If you are getting a good image, then maybe set up a custom white balance and try not to zoom. Better on a tripod as well since your subject is moving about a lot.

I’ll take a look. It sounds as though the dynamic range of the camera can’t capture both sky and scenery. Not so bright in UK. Can you under expose any more?

I will try. I currently live in the uk as well, Scotland, but the footage still turns out a bit hazy when I’m outside. It’s a shame because the quality is brilliant when I adjusted the settings as you did but only when I’m inside. I also tried changing the white balance but this didn’t work.

The only thing that I can think of that will change the exposure is the shutter. Generally, I have a manual shutter, but if that isn’t working on the beach, then set it to auto. Maybe your beaches look brighter than ours? You could set ev to -1. Other than that, all I can think of is that the contrast range between sky and land is too great. Since you have a cx405, you can’t fit a filter, but a polariser could help with the sky.

I will give these tips a try, much thanks Ian. I’m considering buying the Sony ax43 next year, do you think it would be better in dealing with this exposure/brightness issue in comparison to the cx405? I have been watching videos and the quality of the ax43 does look very good but I’m just not sure if it would be worth it since it is quite pricey for me. I would really appreciate your opinion.

I don’t know whether the exposure thing would be fix because I’m not exactly sure what is going on if I’m honest. I use the ax53 a lot and it’s excellent.

I’ve never used a phone to make a video, but I’ve heard (and seen) that the IPhone works well. I’m guessing it would be 30fps on a phone as opposed to 50 or 60 on the cx450. (Depending where you are … pal or ntsc. Perhaps IPhones also do 60fps? There might be more chance for bokeh on the cx450. (Although it’s not brilliant for bokeh) For exposure, again, I’m guessing that a phone adjusts shutter and not aperture. For sound, I think the cx450 might be easier. And stabilisation. Better zoom too. Because I’ve never used a phone, I don’t really know the answer to that. My own personal preference would be the ease of use on the cx450 but my guess is that a phone could easily match or bypass in picture quality with some limitations on bokeh, zoom and stabilisation.

There is a manual focus, but I would be careful using that if actors move around. Even though this is a cheap camera, it does quite well in lower lighting conditions (like a stage) but the aperture will open up giving a shallower depth of field. So manual focus might be dodgy. I have used it in concerts and shows, and the auto focus is actually pretty good. Also because it uses a small sensor, depth of field isn't as big an issue as it is with larger cameras. Funnily enough, bigger cameras have more to go wrong in a theatre environment than these cameras in auto! I've had some pretty good results. I have found setting exposure half a stop or do down stops the darker scenes being too grey looking and it helps to avoid blowouts on highlighted areas from spots. It's very easy to over expose theatre stuff due to often stark lighting effects.

There is no ISO control on the CX camcorders. It’s not until you get to the ax series that there is a minimal control where you can limit the ‘gain’. I found this a nuisance as well because you have to set the lights as bright as you can in order to get a low ISO. Also set the shutter so it forces it down.

@@iancraig Thank you - the tip on setting the shutter to indirectly force down the ISO is what I was looking for. And I'll throw as much light as I can at the subject.

At 50fps, I use a 100 degree shutter…. 1/50th. On very slow movement, you can get away with 1/25th at 25fps.

Thank you Trainman. Going through difficult time with my health at the moment, so taking it easy with videos at the moment. So you won’t get ‘bombed’ with notifications!!

@@iancraig Wishing you a speedy recovery

There is no way to attach a mic unfortunately. The cheapest that does that in the range is the cx450.

There is. You can buy a white or grey card online to hold in front of the lens to get true white or grey from Amazon.

I use the highest settings all of the time, David. In the UK, 50FPS. It helps to get smoother movement which you will want in order to capture a fast moving ball. Many videographers use 30FPS in US or 25 in UK in order to get a ‘film’ look. It’s also a little easier on your computer for editing, but I actually don’t enjoy watching pans ‘judder’ and prefer a smoother look tbh. Sports are very often filmed at a high frame rate in order to get smoother movement.

Thank you Maff

You can either use aperture priority or shutter priority. If you use aperture, then the shutter adjusts and if you use shutter the aperture adjusts. Fix the white balance and don't use auto. Coloured lights will throw the white balance all over the place. Try setting exposure (if you can on the 625) half to one stop low, or if you have to, set everything except white balance to auto and under expose a little. Theatre shots are hard to deal with because you get sudden extremes and really, a fully manual camera would probably work better. However, I have managed some good theatre shots on yhe cx camcorders, but the quality really comes down to quality of lighting in the theatre in all honesty.

I take the card out of the camera and there is a slot on my computer to read it. Otherwise a card reader. It’s faster than going out from camera.

Thank you for the help Ian. 🙏🏻

Filming a show with a camcorder is quite an ask, depending on lighting. If the show is brightly lit, the camcorder will be fine, but in low light they might struggle. If you are using 50 or 60 frames per second, consider using a 360 degree shutter. That means, use the same shutter speed as the frames per second in order to get as much light in as possible. 360 shutter is what I use most of the time! So at 60 fps, use 1/60th shutter. At 30fps, use 1/30th. 30fps will let more light in. Don’t go any lower than the frames per second. I would suggest auto white balance, unless you can see something white that’s lit on stage. Then take a white balance from that object. Zoom into it and use custom white blalance. Try daylight as well. Fixed white balance is better than auto in case they use coloured gels. For sound, stereo would be nice. A stereo mic. If you aren’t filming the overture, then take a level from the band when they start up and go slightly lower in case of explosions. I did some outdoor shows in Florida on a Sony camcorder and they were brilliant. Lots of light means good picture. For serious stuff, I use a mirrorless camera with a lens that opens up to F1.4 so let’s a lot of light in. Camcorders won’t give you this.

They’re step up rings to act as a hood.

Thank you Aravazhi. The AX43 is a nice camcorder, but capturing stars is an extreme low light situation. This means that camera will automatically go into a high iso setting, which isn’t ideal. Using just the camera, I would turn digital zoom off and use 4k. If you want a higher frame rate, the it has to be 1080p but that will half the light. It might be an idea to try a 360 degree shutter…. Set to 25fps and fix the shutter at 1/25th. Or even, try slower if the camera doesn’t move! It has to be on a tripod. I wouldn’t switch on the low light boost setting if the camera has one. That is just going to raise iso. If the image looks dark, I wouldn’t worry because the relative whiteness of the stars/planets will be a lot brighter, relatively speaking. I have a feeling that the camera will try to raise the black sky to grey, so you could try getting a white piece of paper, shine a light onto it and put it in picture, just into one corner. Move it further in and out and watch the screen. As you get more white showing, the screen will darken (which might well improve the picture quality) and in post, cut slightly into the picture to remove the white corner. If you video in 4k, you can then render into 1080p in order to make things a little better looking perhaps at the end. The biggest problem is that the camera will try to raise black to grey, or white down to grey. So having a black sky will mean that the camera will try to over expose. That’s where the white paper truck fools the camera to make the image darker. Another useful thing will be to turn the exposure compensation right down. This might lessen the ‘grey’ effect. I don’t know whether there is a telescope attachment available but that would help. If you have a telescope, try putting the lens up against the eyepiece …. In post, darken the image. Let the black sky drop into the pits and watch the stars. Get them to a good brightness if you can. Getting the black sky totally ‘blacked out’ will hide image noise. These camcorders aren’t designed for such extreme photography, but the things I mention might help. Cheers Ian

@@iancraig Thanks Ian , Appreciate your detailed response

I don’t live-stream, but normally the menu isn’t there when you are videoing. The shortcuts are though. I don’t think you can get rid of them.

Thanks Jon. I use them all for different things. Sometimes even taking 3 angles at the same time to jump between! Our SingRainbows series was made using three cameras at once and syncing the audio separately with all of them. May make some mini vids on individual settings.

Thank you Alan. They are nice little cameras. The cx405 is a mini bargain with its stabilised lens. Internal sound is ok and with a bit of post work, it scrubs up! One thing I sometimes find is that the auto exposure sometimes sets the level a bit high so I try to always go under. Thank you for subscribing!

@@iancraig if I get stuck and need more help,I will definitely get back to you😀. I hope it's good enough for what I want to use it for. I am a complete beginner so it will be a lot of trial and error for me. Thanks for the reply and keep up the good work.

Candlelight indoors for such a small sensor is asking a lot. You are bound to be in the realms of very high noise levels. I would suggest a 100 degree shutter so that the frame rate is the same as the shutter. That means if you are using 50fps then set the shutter to 1/50th. Alternative, fix the aperture as wide as it goes. I suspect both ways will work out the same. Try underexposing so that the details that you want to see are there but other stuff is just blacked out. Or use a small light to boost levels It really is asking a lot of a cheap camcorder with such a tiny sensor to work in low light. I'll take a look at mine.

Hi again. I had a go because it’s dark here now and lit a candle. I played around with settings, but unfortunately, I can’t see any way of working with just candlelight. The problem is that the camera has only auto ISO and can’t be fixed, so there is no way of avoiding noise. I tried setting the shutter even lower than the frame rate. Still very noisy. So the only way to do this is to use miniature lights on the subject and either put an orange type gel over the light or set the white balance to daylight and let the candle ‘colour’ the picture. If you want the candle to do this, then you need quite a low level light, just to try and lower the iso in the camera. Another way is to use a light that has special effects on it. I have a light that emulates candlelight and even flickers but unfortuately, I don’t think that the camcorders can work down there at such low levels of light. I think I would use an orange type of light just to make the scene ‘look’ candle lit. I can do it on my Canon camera, but that has an extremely fast lens that can work in low light, but not the Sony. I’m afraid that it needs lighting.

@@iancraig thanks so much for trying it out. I appreciate the effort. I suppose I’ll need to take a different approach to get a candlelit effect. Perhaps I can make adjustments in post.

Yes, post work would be needed. The camera will also try to overexpose in dark conditions, so believe it or not, you may have to take it down. In post, you could try darkening the shadows only to ‘hide’ noise. If your editing package does this, it would increase the contrast so light bits stay light, but dark grey bits are blacked out. I’ll see what I can find out, but really, the camera hasn’t got a fast enough lens or a sensor that’s big enough to do that.

I’ve found an answer, but not great for anywhere public! I used a very small light. (I used a Litra) Set it on its lowest setting and pointed it at the ceiling. While focused on the candle light and surrounding bits, I moved th light around until the Litra light and the candlelight balanced with each other. The camera lowered its ISO a bit (I think) but the picture was way more acceptable. So the answer is a very low level light.

I’ve never tried the ax700 Gary. However, just looking at it, I think it would probably do a pretty good job. Although it goes to 4K, still no 50 or 60 fps which surprises me at that price level. I’m also not sure if it’s locked into PAL or NTCS, with no easy way to switch. I use the AX53 which is a UK version, locked into PAL but I am able to switch to NTSC via a software hack on my computer. I have a feeling that the ax700 might be the same.

4k or HD is difficult to answer because you’re videoing football. HD gives you 60 or 50 fps whereas 4k has more pixels but just 30fps so not as smooth. For sport, you might be better with HD at 50 or 60fps.

@@iancraig thank you for replaying and helping me.

It might be in the setup when you first turn the camera on after you bought it. You can’t just switch between them once it’s set up. So you could try a camera reset and set it for 60Hz rather than 50.

@@iancraig ok thanks for that i will try it .thanks again

Thanks Syn. Now I’m wondering what you’re thinking about shelling out on. You have to remember that the cx405 is a real budget option but you can get a good result from it. Many people think a camera will make good videos, but it’s not just that. It’s knowing how to get the best from them and forming a well shaped video. With the cx405, another thing that makes the video zing is a separate audio recorder to get good sound. It’s a good practise to get into actually for most video cameras. I have another cx video coming soon.

@@iancraig For some reason I lost half my comment haha. Thanks for such a detailed response despite that! KZfaq is acting really weird for me. I meant to say or I could buy an AX53, which has a much higher upfront cost but I can see myself using it for a longer time than I would the CX405.

Since you have experience with both, my main question is: if I shoot at 1080p on the CX405 and the AX53 at the exact same settings, is there a noticeable difference in the picture quality?

And I've subscribed, looking forward to your future videos!

Thank you Syn. The AX53 is quite substantially better. It is a much bigger camera but the lens is sharper and there is quite a bit more control over exposure. I have 4 cx/ax cameras.... Cx405 for carting around in my pocket. Cx450 for carting around with a lavalier for better sound. Cx625 for portable stuff with shotgun mics Ax53 for best quality and still retaining some portability. Not to mention a Pocket, Pocket 2, Action, two GoPros and a Canon M50 with 4 lenses!

Cx405 doesn’t do slow motion. You can video at 60fps though and slow footage by 50% giving 30 fps.

@@iancraig Thanks.

I would use 50 or 60 fps on ‘auto’ because you’re probably moving the camera fast, and all over the place while tracking the ball. For night shooting with floods, you might need to change the white balance away from auto but if it stays consistent over the whole pitch, I’d leave it on auto. There’s not really that much you can alter on a cx405.

@@iancraig Thanks. I appreciate your response and tips

The cx405 doesn’t have a thread to fit a filter onto. The lens is the standard lens it is sold with. It can’t be changed.

It’s just about useable. I have often done it.

I think it’s in the menu system. ‘Smile sensitivity’. I’m not sure if it can be fully turned off, but the sensitivity can be changed so it might be there. BTW, I’m a retired oboist. I see you’re a flautist!

@@iancraig Yes, that's great! I hope you still play. I bought these camera to video record our concerts. Thank you!

Low frame rate. 25fps. In post, give the video a slight brownish yellow cast and add film grain and even occasional scratches. There’s normally an effect in the editing programme.

That will be difficult to capture because it's very low lighting. Try with stars and moon first before going. I would try being off manual because auto exposure will try to over expose a black sky. Auto will always try to get a mid grey, but with auto you'll get a proper black by underexposing in comparison to auto.

@@iancraig Thanks Ian. Recognise that this is a very simple camera with regards to option, but you have given us some starting points for experimentation.

The cam has manual shutter speed & exposure settings

Thank you. It also uses auto white balance I think. The picture settings don’t seem to lock the colour balance which is a problem if there are coloured gels used on stage!

That’s what I use mine for. It’s hard to not get a reasonable picture with it in all honesty and if you want to in post, footage can be improved with some sharpening and tweaking. I often pick mine up on the way out and drop it in my pocket ready to use!

I would say much the same as the others. I set shutter at 1/50th and let the aperture deal with brightness. Sometimes it pays to slightly underexpose to avoid burned out areas. When walking around, I move the shutter to 1/100th sec. 50fps. If there is little movement, don’t worry so much about shutter speed.

I don’t usually use filters, but when I do, it’s normally a polariser for better colour saturation in sunny conditions or a variable ND filter to keep the shutter speed down

@@iancraig Thanks Ian

You’re welcome.

In low light, I think they're all on a level with each other. Thing is that they do have tiny sensors so for good low light footage, something with a wide lens and larger sensor would be better. With the cx range, you'd be hard pushed to see any difference.

so the CX625 would shoot better in low light, having larger lenses, G sensor, compared to the CX450

I guess it would, but to be honest, I never particularly noticed. Probably just a slight difference. I avoid using camcorders in low light.

Hi Albert. Are you using a slow shutter speed? Or is everything set at auto? I’d suggest fully auto exposure first to look at the zebras. Off the top of my head, I think there may be two levels of zebra: one at 70% (to monitor skin tone) and another at 100%. I use 100. Then you see the truly blow out areas. At 70%, anything above that will show zebras. I’m not at home to check mine to see whether the ax53 allows you to set the level where zebras show. I might be confusing it with the ZV-1 though. If blacks are showing zebras, then it is really overexposed. Are you sure that the camera is on auto? I think it might be better for you to reset everything back to default and stay fully auto. If the picture is correct, then there is something wrong in one of the settings for sure. Just had a thought ..... check spot meter is off. If that has been set previously for a dark area, then everything else will be overexposed.

@@iancraig Thanks so much Ian, I will run through all this when I get home. And yes, the AX53 does have zebra 70 and 100. I was using 70 to test settings.

Ok, Albert. 70% is used for skin tone. It will make anything over 70% will go into zebra. But if blacks are showing zebras, something is definitely wrong. Over exposure could be caused by the spot meter. It’s difficult to over expose to be honest because the ax53 doesn’t have a fully manual mode. Quite a lot of my settings are shown on this video so take a look. Where I am showing the viewing screen.

@@iancraig Thanks Ian. I put all settings on auto, selected 100 zebra and now there’s just a bit of stripes on white things in background.

That sounds about right, Albert. If the blown out bits are big or important, then use the AE shift. If not, leave it at that. The contrast range is a bit wide in spite of using a diffuser. I generally slightly underexpose. If I see a lot of zebras, I lower the exposure, but then it is also quite important to check how deep anything black is. You don’t want to lose detail at the other end. If you keep getting zebras with indoor lighting, it might need more diffusion or it’s a bit too bright.

I don’t do a white balance for every shot tbh. I might do one and stay with it until I see something drastically changes on the screen. If you keep taking white balances, you’d probably miss shots. Very often, when I’m outside, I just set the camera to ‘sunny’. If really variable, ‘auto’ does a pretty good job on Sonys. I then correct it in post if it looks ‘off’. By not using ‘auto’ and fixing white balance, it can stop the camera changing the white balance while you’re actually shooting! The white card just needs to cover the majority of the frame and make sure the light source is reflected from it.

@@iancraig Thank you for the reply. Great help.

The cx405 uses a usb connection vía a built in wire with a female plug. So unfortunately, no mic input. We can’t get the cx380 in the UK. I have no idea why!

You do have a point, Mark. The manual zoom allows you to control the speed of it while filming and loses mechanical noise. You can do this on the ax53 I think. The ring on the front is assignable to different tasks. Including focusing. These are all really cheap cameras though.

I don’t think you can Eddie. For some reason, Sony see it as a special effect.

@@iancraig I thought so as well. Thanks for the answer back. I still love the camera.

What is bluer? I think you mean blur? Bokeh? This is not so easy with camcorders. Set the exposure to aperture priority and open the aperture as far as it will go. This will speed up the shutter speed so an nd filter is useful on the lens to make sure movement looks smooth. Or else, just use it on static or slow moving subjects.

@@iancraig yes hero I mean blur sorry 😢 it was a mistake,I mean how to use soney hd handycam to blur your background while shooting your KZfaq video

@@iancraig I get you hero 🦸‍♂️ thanks 🙏 a lot, much love 💕

I’m sorry, I have never streamed with it. Someone might come in and help though.

To be honest Krisztian, the CX range all ‘look’ pretty similar. The main differences are really what they offer in terms of mic and a few semi-manual control things. The ax series are the biggest step up. They are also sharper I think. One that is often overlooked is the ax43 I think it is. Just one step below the 53. All of them are great for long video events. I can use them to video shows and just leave them fixed, running in different places while I run and gun with something else. None of the CX range are exceptionally sharp but they can be improved in post. However you can’t do that while streaming. I’d say that they are adequate, but I think I’ve been spoilt with my Canon cameras and so perhaps expect a bit too much from the really cheap CX range.

@@iancraig Thanks, Ian. Guess what. The man who had the AX53 for sale and changed his mind changed his mind once again and re-listed the camera on Marketplace. And it is mine now :) It is still under warranty, absolutely spotless, and I got it for the new price of the CX405 or thereabout. The camera is amazing, especially for this price. Still a lot to experiment though.

What a brilliant price. I REALLY like the ax53. Even with its semi auto way of working, it just does a great job. You have a bargain, Krisztian.

@@iancraig Yep, I basically wanted a camcorder for two things: being able to shoot without the time constraint and the zoom that goes from wide to very much telephoto with optical.imagine stabilisation. What would such a flexible lens cost for a DSLR or mirrorless? :) So far I am very happy with the image quality and sharpness, colours are not bad either. Menu system could be better as well as screen and EVF in sunny weather. Having a mic input as well as the capability of headphone monitoring while recording (even if it has some latency) makes it very versatile for making KZfaq videos and the like. For the cca £200 I paid, I think it was an absolute bargain. I will shoot some test footage over the weekend to see how it really fares against other cameras. I am particularly curious how it competes with the DJI Osmo Pocket which has about the same sensor size on a gimbal :)

In bright sunlight, the display can be turned up pretty bright, but to save battery life as well, I use the viewfinder. With regards to lenses, they can be a terrible price! A fixed Sigma 16mm is well over £300 although it opens up to F1.4 but to be honest, that really wide aperture can make focus quite difficult at times. When I first got the ax53, that ‘clunk’ you get on switch on always worried me. I think it’s the lens assembly setting up. It also moves around when the camera is off like a gimbal that’s not locked!!

I don’t remember what that stylus was. I bought a big bag of them from Amazon at the time. Dead cheap. Oh …. Found them …… www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F882S6V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

OK, thanks Barrie. Mine went to the UK link, but the model is different. Maybe mine has now been taken off the market. This is where mine went ... www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-Lightweight-Element-Traveler-MKELES5BK-BH/dp/B01N079WTU/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Manfrotto+tripod+lightweight&qid=1618951059&sr=8-3

I love the ax53. So easy to use and great picture quality.

Menu. Image Quality/Size. Frame rate. 50p. Next. Then whatever bit rate you want/is offered. That’s it. I would suggest going to the Sony Site to see if there is a manual there for download.

Up to the cx625, the differences in quality are quite small really. It’s more to do with features. The ax53 is excellent but not cheap. The problem with camcorders is the small sensor. They don’t do that well in low light. To be honest, I do wonder whether the Osmo Action 4 might be better for you. It has a wide angle lens and is better in low light due to its larger sensor. Much easier to carry around as well. It also has slow mo. Or do it yourself by using a high frame rate and slowing it down in your computer.

@@iancraig do you know what, I've just been looking at the dji action cameras. Was also looking at the gopro's as well, but they seem to have some issues with the newer stuff. I think you have solidified my next direction. 👍🙏

I get fantastic results from mine. If you look at my recent videos from Sandbanks (Just vlogs) they were all done on the Action. I was taking test footage down there for a shop video in different lighting conditions, so there are a lot of examples there. Sound is a lavalier directly into the camera.

@@iancraig I'm hearing good things about the action. I really appreciate your help. 👍

What I do is turn the screen around and close it so that the screen faces outwards, not inwards. Then it works. If the screen faces inwards, the camera turns off.

The settings I showed aren’t really specific to any camera and are pretty generic. The Sony menu systems are also pretty similar throughout the range. Basically, 25 or 50fps. 50 if you are running around makes for a smoother video. In both cases, I use 1/50th second shutter. If I am running around a lot, with a lot of juddering, I raise the shutter to help stabilisation work, but actually, the stabilisation isn’t bad if you’re steady at 1/50th. You then get the same motion blur. I generally underexposed by 0.5 of a stop. In really bright weather, 1 stop. If you are in USA, the 1/30 or 1/60 with 1/60th shutter for motion blur. (Actually, I tend to use 1/50th at 30fps) The cx405 doesn’t have that much to adjust. It’s mostly designed for auto. White balance works the same way, and if I can, I set it myself as I showed on the video. Auto is ok though, but it dies veer towards blue sometimes I think so if I use auto, I take blue down a fraction. Try not to go mad zooming in and out! The zoom is massive and it can get very wearing to watch. I turn off digital zoom and only use optical.

@@iancraig thanks. I set my camera to xavc s hd, 1080p, 60p and shutter speed at 1/125. I set it to 125 because I read online that the shutter speed should be double the fps. what do you think of my settings?

I use 60fps at 1/60th shutter. Gives similar motion blur to slower frame rates but is smoother at 60fps. To be honest, shutter isn’t quite as noticeable at 60fps so it’s not that critical at 1/120th or 1/60th. When running around maybe a bit faster but for times when I’m holding the camera still, I go back to 1/60th. The 180 shutter rule is more critical for 24 and 25fps. Or if you are producing slow motion from 60fps where you want it to match with slow frame rates. Try 1/60th and video something moving in front of the camera. The slower shutter can give a fraction more motion blur which is a bit nicer. Some people are more aware of it than others. Gerald explains a lot here kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i7aAhsd019fHdoU.htmlsi=CQ-zJkrAlq7frVzE

When you get good light and keep the camera still. Let movement move rather than wave the camera around, you can get great results.

@@iancraig Hello there. I have the same CX240E. I get nice results in daylight but when i want to record inside the house with not so bright lights at night (just the normal lights of the room, ) i get "noisy" , "blury" results. Any advice on settings for that pls so i can have a better result on medium lights inside the house? I have activated the low light setting but doesnt seem to help much. I was wondering if i need to buy a better camera. Thank you in advance. PS: I dont have much of expireance in camcorders settings.

Hi. These aren’t great low light cameras. For all cameras, low light is a challenge. You could try halving the frame rate to 25 or 30fps indoors which gives you an extra stop. If you are rendering at 50 or 60FPS, then your software will just double up frames. Also adjust shutter to 360 degrees so 1/25th at 25FPS or 1/30 at 30FPS. Or just raise lighting. I have brighter bulbs that I sometimes put in a couple of standard lamps in my front room. Sometimes just a little bit helps.

@@iancraig Thank you very much for your help Sir, i really appreciate it. I will try your suggestions since i think i have all in auto . Greetings from Greece.

@@iancraig resolve studio with optical flow at 60fps comes out very well, have now sold the camera, dji action cam 1 does a much better job, but good fun experimenting to get good footage out of these cheap cameras and surprisingly get good results

The 450 is the first with a filter thread. However, you could consider sticking a filter conversion thread to the front. The 180 shutter rule really only applies if you are going to slow the footage down so if you are using 50fps and want to have the frame rate at 25, then the 100th shutter speed slows down to 1/50th by slowing the video. I use 1/50th at 50fos because I like the real smoothness of 50 but keep the motion blur exactly the same as you would have at 25fps. What causes the motion blur isn't the number of frames per second. It's the shutter speed in spite of what some videographers think. It is assumed that 180 degree shutter is a rule. It's not. So I retain motion blur while keeping a smoother look to my videos. One guy told me that he hated the smoothness of one of my videos. In fact, I shot it at 25 fps so obviously, he couldn't see it! If your subject doesn't move much, then don't worry about shutter speed. IMO, a lot of nonsense is spread around and is automatically taken as 'correct'. This isn't the case. Very often, when hand holding, I do use 1/100th sec in order to reduce camera shake. 1/50th is better on a tripod but not handheld. The combination of motion blur and hand shake is awful. Many videographers don't see the handshake and think it's motion blur! For mostly still shots, I use any shutter speed. The faster it is, the sharper the shot. If you just have scenery in the background, then motion blur doesn't come into it but the pictures become dead sharp with no camera shake. Now, loads of 'experts' will tell me how wrong I am ...... 😀

@@iancraig Thanks so much for the explanation on 180 rule. Makes perfect sense now. How about AE settings. Does the 450 support that too? If so, sounds like that may be the model for me.

They all have automatic exposure, although I do find that it pays to use AE but if the camera supports it, underexpose by 1/2 to 1 stop most of the time outdoors. That helps to avoid burned out areas. AE appears in the menu so whatever AE sets, the camera will go slightly under.

@@iancraig Sorry. I guess I wasn't clear with my question about AE. Please bear with me ;-) I understand that they all support Auto Exposure, but you mentioned in the video that you do set exposure composition to reduce the Auto Exposure say by -0.5 stops. You mentioned however that not all of the Sony's referenced (405, 450, and 625) provide the ability to do that. I assume that the cheaper CX405 does not. Does the CX450 allow you to manually select to underexpose the auto setting by a certain amount, or must we go up one level to the CX625 to have that feature?

Ah .... that’s a good point! What you want to know about is what Sony call, ‘AE Shift’. That doesn’t appear until you get to the cx625. However, all of them can be set to ‘manual’ if something looks overblown. It’s not as convenient because you need to watch every shot, whereas ‘AE Shift’ underexposes every ‘AE’ shot automatically. As you go up the models, you get more control of exposure, but it can be done on the cx405 as long as you check highlights on every shot, where with the cx625, it does it for you. With virtually every video camera, I find that it is helpful to slightly underexpose (expose for the highlights) and adjust contrast later. That way, you don’t get burned out white patches. I think really, AE is designed for people who want results with no editing. It’s a kind of compromise which gives a good ‘average’ picture, often sacrificing highlights. If you want to get the most out of them, adjusting exposure (normally down) helps to get a little more out of them.

It is possible, but honestly, a few batteries in your pocket are all you need. Camcorders go on for much longer than a DSLR. I think 90 minutes each so three batteries would give 4.5 hours.

Hi Alan. I use Sandisk extreme. As far as cards go, I would stick with a well known brand and as fast a card as possible. Ie: not cheap cards. Some cheap cards advertise a certain storage capability and actually, it’s a blatant lie!! The Sony isn’t over fussy about the card. Certainly not like a GoPro anyway, but go for a good one.

@@iancraig ok thank you. And thanks for the very quick reply. Keep up the good work and stay safe.

@@iancraig sorry to bother you again. Would the SanDisk extreme pro fit the cx 405? Once again thanks in advance Alan.

Any micro SD card will fit.

Hi. The image size is for photos only. For video you can only use 16 x 9. I think that people really need to know that this is a low-end camcorder and so won’t offer the kinds of things you might see on big cameras, etc. It’s made for 16 x 9 videos in HD only. The photo option is there but isn’t really one I use.

@@iancraig thanks for your quick reply, appreciate it. Do you have a recommendation for a budget camcorder suitable for shooting 4:3? Looking to get something but price is an issue

I don’t know of any camcorders that shoot 4:3. The only thing I can think of is to cut the edges in post. Projects would need to be set up in 4:3 when you import footage and cut the footage so that it fits!

@@iancraig okay thank you!

@@iancraig sorry one last question: if I set the photo mode to 4:3, does it show the limits on the screen? Thinking of taking tape or pen and marking the limits, so can keep the subject in the frame when filming 16:9. Then editing down to 4:3 afterwards

No. The 290 has no input listed for a mic.

@@iancraig ok thaw is wishful thinking a old camcorder had around for years now I will just have to make it work lol

The cheapest with mic input is the cx450 but not sure that it’s still around.

Hi David. Well done ..... you bit the bullet and paid for the better camera. With regards to leads, it’s a micro usb to the computer usb. Personally, I take the card out and use a usb 3 card transfer plug. It’s a normal usb 3 plug with an inbuilt slot for the card. That’s a lot quicker and moving the card keeps the pins clean on the camera. (At least that’s what I tell myself.) I then delete the clips from the card in one go rather than re format on the camera. Again, it’s quicker. (Especially at 4k) As far as a mic goes, you might need a hot shoe extender to fit onto the camera first before attaching the mic. The extender just fits onto the Sony and lifts the mic for easy access. I use a Deity d4 mini which is better value (imo) on the Sony or the Sennheiser mke400 which is a much more expensive option. The D4 also has an input for a lavalier so you pick up people in front of you well, but also your own voice beautifully. For home videos where I’m not moving around, I use much posher mics with a recorder. Another nice mic is the Deity D3 and D3 pro. Works well with the Sony. I’d get the best mic you can because the soundtrack is there with the picture forever and bad pickup can ruin films.

@@iancraig That's really good advice. Sojme ideas for me to follow and look at there. Thanks, so much. :)

@@iancraig We are using the mic now and it's great. If we were to get a lavalier, would you recommend the Deity V.Lav Pre-Polarized Lavalier Lapel Microphone? Although that seems to have a 5m lead. I'm not sure if there is a reasonably priced one (uner £100) that is remote and works together with the D4 mini. Many thanks for your thoughts so far and I have subscribed to the channel.

Thanks for subscribing Dave. I mostly deal with mics though. I only made the camcorder videos to answer people that know I use the Sony’s quite often! With regards to a lavalier, I use a Little Clippy which is an unusual one but very low noise and sounds great. It’s a bit larger than most lavaliers but that’s possibly where its excellent sound comes from. Noise levels are way down at -80dB which is excellent for a lav. On top of that, it’s cheap. If you are UK based, dead easy to get, but if you are USA then you would have to wait for it to artive from UK. They are sold and made by Micbooster.com Other than that, I use Rode lavs, but I have found noise levels significantly higher than my Little Clippy. The D4 mini is a bargain. The Little Clippy works well with it. In fact, I used that combo today for a mini vlog type thing with my wife, (on an Osmo Action) which I will probably be posting soon.

@@iancraig great thanks. I've had a look. Is it called "Little Clippy" as I could not find one called that? Is it a wired one? I don't mind one of those, but my wife says a wireless one would be better.

Trovo AVCHD problematico con alcuni editor. Li rallenta, quindi uso sempre MP4. Le differenze di qualità sono minime.

@@iancraig ok grazie mille

You know, I’m not sure. You start and stop with a record button. I’ll have a look.

@@iancraig from what I can tell Samsung is the only manufacturer that had it on video cameras.

No, Sony’s don’t pause.

Hi Dave. I have only used one which I don’t think will fit to me honest. I just have a ton of lightweight tripods that I lug around. This is the one I have, but as you say, it works with DSLRs. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/btR0mZyQzJfHhIU.html or a manual one …. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d9qKdLSTyrnVhH0.html

@@iancraig Ian thanks, I wish to use the Sony 405 just like you show in the linked DSLR video. ButI think the back of the camcorder will snag the gimbal.

The manual one would fit but not as quick to set up.

I love all the Sony camcorders for different reasons.

I like looking at the different models and seeing what features they have.

Me too. I use the minimum necessary for what I'm videoing, so sometimes, I'll go out with a cx405 and other times an ax53. Just depends on size, sound and quality that I want.

It’ll work but it depends what you’re doing it for. I watch my footage on a 55 inch tv. For anything serious I use a Canon mirrorless camera with a decent lens. For films you really need a separate recorder because the sound on these probably won’t be good enough.

The cx405 isn’t up to the standard of the ax53 and is just noisier I’m afraid. It’s cheap, so expecting a £200 camcorder to match one costing three times the price is a big ask. The only answer is pile in a load of light!

@@iancraig Thanks for that. I was shocked at how small and light it was, and also like the USB powering as it will be sitting on top of my computer - no need for another bulky AC mains transformer. Just seeing you hold the AX53 after the CX-405 really shows the size difference. The CX-405 is truly a pocket camera. Only had it one day, so hope to warm to it despite the picture noise. My camera before the AX53, was the XR500V, which again was a mid-range. The only other niggle I have is not being able to switch it off easily with the HDMI plugged in. The power-save 1 minute auto-off is also disabled when the HDMI is plugged in for some reason.