Customer Ratings & Reviews

I was apprehensive about buying such a small camera for my needs. There is an amazing amount of technology packed in here. The picture is clear, the zoom is incredible, and the sound is of great quality. We use it for recording stage performances by various family members and have not been disappointed. Easy to record and easy to transfer to the desktop for making DVDs.

It's simple to use. Light weight and compact and great picture quality

This camera is actually way smaller & extremely light-weight than I expected. It's to the point it's ridiculously small, yet as an experienced various consumer cameras, to some pro cameras user, this one is still awesome. I think women will love it as it likely will conveniently slip into a purse, complete w/a built-in physical lens shutter-cap, so great for a roving reporter doing their own pick-up & insert shots. Sony always does marvelous things when it comes to lenses. Even when I purposely switch off digital zoom (as that usually degrades the pic./video, & despite the model claims to have a circuitry which somewhat fixes that), the optical zoom is impressive to me. There are several record modes. I like the one dual mode where it keeps the highest video quality at full HD, even audio at PCM so no compression, & simultaneously records a lower resolution file at 1280x720, which even looks great to me. That means there's no waiting for your PC software to compress a video because some social media won't take it (other than to trim its duration). It's very helpful & convenient to even take MP snapshots while rolling video record! It's auto settings are very helpful too, & you can take the focus into a manual mode if you want control over that for one. I say, match this with a camera stabilizer rig (it does have a standard tripod hole mount) & you'll be recording like a pro! Oh, & Sony tends to have nicer sounding built-in mics. on their cams., like this one, where I lean on using its stereo sound over other cams. in a multi-cam. shoot & edit. I think the only main drawback is a lack of a remote control, even had it been an optional (wasn't able to track one down so far). Another slight negative, is there is no view finder. Did you notice? Many likely miss that/don't look for it, but even w/a swing-out display panel, such panel usually consumes batt. power on location. Although newer CMOS cams. (vs. CCD) tend to run the cam. cooler w/less power consumption, I'm sure this cam. would've maintained longer running power had you had a dual opt. of both panel & viewfinder, while using the viewfinder mostly. Come to think of it, though affects your movement-safety visibility, a viewfinder would aid in outdoor bright sunny days. Well, I can go on, but what do you expect from a consumer model cam. that wants to have some pro like features & results, but maintain a low-budget price range? I'd still buy another one for a multi-cam. shoot setting.

Very nice camcorder. Easy to use. good video. Battery is pretty good.

I bought this as a gift for my husband. It is lightweight, simple to use, and he loves it. I made the purchase so we can record home videos of our children's special moments: birthdays, recitals, etc. seems like a great amateur camcorder. Works great for my intended purpose, but I might not recommend for someone needing a more serious filmmaking device.

Excellent product for costs. Battery life is long lasting. Easy to point and shoot. Good quality picture and video with a great optical zoom.

This little video camera has been around for YEARS and while it doesn’t have latest and greatest specs, it makes very clear and sharp video recordings and has awesome stabilization. To get anything significantly better would cost hundreds. This is a great casual use camera with great zoom, close focusing and clear picture. I guess that’s why it’s been around for so long. That’s very unusual with consumer electronics but if something is this good, it’s worth it.

I bought this open box for my wife for mother's day. I have all sorts of nice dslr gear that can also take video, but she wanted something she could use, throw in her purse and not worry about it. It excels in being very very simple to use, and has the lens cover built in so you can just throw it in a bag by itself and it should be just fine. Image quality is ok, don't expect anything that'll blow your mind, but for the price, it gets the job done. Optical stabilization is great, sound is ok, video quality is totally useable. Low light is pretty bad, so look elsewhere if you're gonna be shooting in low light a lot. If you don't want to spend a ton of money on a simple camcorder, and just want something that you open the screen and shoot, this should do the trick for you.

Bought two of these cameras for my daughters, who both became new parents in the same week last year. The camera is light and small enough to fit in a purse or diaper bag. They are easy to use and can be switched on in a second to catch everything new milestone of my grandbabies! The videos are clear and bright and my daughters love their cameras.

I use this for flying videos. It is compact and the zoom is great. The battery life has been good. It has stayed on continuously for two hours. Slight light over exposure on bright sunny day, but only a few cameras and filter can take care of that. I wish it had a external mic input though.

I purchased this camera when my baby was born. It's great camera for family outings, sports events, outdoors, around the house, etc. If you're looking for a camera intended for purposes such as those, this is perfect for you. It's incredibly light and will fit in your pocket so you'll be able to capture every moment. The battery lasts for a long time on a charge. The only negative is that in low light areas it can be grainy (even using SDXC), however, this is not a concern for me.

Good little camera. It would be nice if you didn’t need to use a separate SONY app to output the footage, but you do. The software is quite functional if not a bit clunky. Manual/instrux are so-so, as usual with SONY. Some icons are not intuitive, but once you get used the menu navigation via the thumb pointer on the monitor door, you’ll find your way around well. Image quality is very SONY, i. e., fairly well balanced right out the box with solid blacks and good skin tones. Exposure can be adjusted overall, as can other video and audio settings, so you do have a degree of control that I find very useful. The glass is what you’d expect or better, and the cam has optical image stabilization, making the full zoom range useful, even when handheld. I wanted a decent video cam for my band and general fun, in addition to my other toys. I knew what I’d get/forgo for the price and cared more about video than audio, since anything band-related will be recorded and mixed separately. I am happy with the mini-HDMI out (or is it micro-?) There is NO digital audio I/O. You can output to SD video with audio via a multichannel-cable. Why? Charging the battery internally bugs me for a reason I can’t identify, but I think I like the integrated USB cable. SONY is almost always the best choice when for consumer video cameras, but compare. SONY has a ‘look’ that suits what I do, and other cameras have theirs. I should mention I’m a 40yr video veteran experienced in all aspects of production.

Great little camera. Lightweight. Easy to use. Great video quality.

Love how light it is and very easy to handle. Takes very clear pictures and has a nice amount of memory.

Purchased this to record some family trips and just everyday things. Our daughter is nearing two years old and want to capture as much as possible as she's learning something new everyday it seems. Ease of use is great and is very lightweight. Quality of the video is spot on as well.

I got this video camera as a replacement of another Sony (a 3D HDR-TD10). Honestly, I first questioned the quality due to its price and size, but after of a couple of weeks using it, I am a fan of the CX405! I also got a large Mini memory card that fits 10 hrs of recording and an extra battery (it has the space to keep both batteries in the body, so one less thing to carry around). I mostly use it to record my kids soccer games and when we go on vacations, it has worked like a charm. This camera is so easy to use, easy to transfer video to my Mac (I use iMovie to edit) and it's so light and small, you can carry it with no problem. The only thing missing is a touchscreen, but I already got used to the little joystick to get into the menu. I hope you love it as much as we do.

LIGHTWEIGHT, EASY TO OPERATE , AND GOOD VIDEO QUALITY... WIFI CONNECTIVITY WITH SMARTPHONE IS FUN AND ADDS CONVENIENCE. SOUND QUALITY LEAVES A LITTLE TO BE DESIRED BUT WOULD GIVE 5 STARS WITH A BETTER MICROPHONE OR THE ABILITY TO USE AN EXTERNAL MICROPHONE.

My 12 year old bought this with her own money to make YouTube videos - it’s a very fair price for the product. She loves that she can make videos of herself easily for her YouTube videos. Camera is very easy to use and have had no issues with it. Very light weight

Great recorder and even allows you to take pictures. Use to have the Sony Cybershot and that had a better camera. This one is still good, but it takes a little longer to snap a pic. I like that it is small and is easy to carry around.

I bought this for my 11 year old because he is a huge film buff and wants to record his own videos. This is light weight for him to hold and easy to use. The picture is clear and overall a great product