Tag: "Sony Bloggie Touch"

Need Help Choosing A Pocket Camcorder!?

I found this question being asked by Morgan on Yahoo Answers where he’s on a quest to find a pocket camcorder for himself and I thought I’d give my answer here on PocketVideoCameraHD.com in case you’re interested. Following is the question that Morgan asked:

I currently have the Sony Webbie, but I am tired of the mediocre video quality. Even so, I’ve fallen in love with the rotating lens – I like being able to see where I am in the frame while vlogging. I also like to do short films. But with Christmas coming in a few months, I want to buy a new camera. I’m estimating that I’ll have a budget of at least $200.

What I REALLY want:

  • Preferably a flip camera of some sort, because I’m used to holding a Webbie.
  • Great (not just ok) HD quality that can handle action and low lighting. Image stabilization would be wonderful. A 60fps option isn’t necessary, but it’d be nice.
  • Great battery life, as well a memory card slot. I’d prefer that videos could be as long as the space left on the card.
  • A screen to see myself while recording myself… if that makes sense.
  • Quick startup and minimal time between pressing a button and the function being executed. (Shutter speed, etc.)

It should be able to stand up on its own without a tripod, and it can’t be too conspicuous. I often vlog in public and I don’t want to get any weirder looks than I do already.

I know this is a lot to ask for with a budget of Christmas cash; but I’m not going to buy something and be disappointed. I want a pocket camcorder that I can use for years to come without (m)any regrets.

Our Answer To His Quest To Find A Pocket Camcorder

Now, that’s a lot of requirements and needs that Morgan has. Not all of them can be completely fulfilled but I think that there’s two great options for him. First of all, all of the pocket camcorders will help him as they are small and convenient and hopefully will keep down the ‘weird looks’ he’s getting for vlogging in public.

Kodak and Sony Pocket Camcorders

The need for a memory card slot already takes all offerings of Flip Cameras out of this. That leaves us with Kodak and Sony pocket camcorders to look at. Based on all of his requirements we’d go with either the (see our Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Camcorder Review) or the Kodak PlayTouch Zi10 (see our Kodak PlayTouch Zi10 Pocket Camcorder Review).

I’d probably give the Kodak PlayTouch Zi10 a slight advantage here as it has some cool video recording features like Black and White and stuff that will allow to shoot some really cool videos for vlogging. Having said that, there’s also one requirement that Morgan probably hasn’t really listed but should be considered. As he’s vlogging a lot in public he might actually have to consider using a pocket camcorder that is somewhat rugged and could get wet. I somehow think it would be strange to only vlog in public when it’s nice weather…

The

Anyway, that does bring up the probably overall strongest contender for his needs. Which one is it? Well, it’s another Kodak model, the Kodak PlaySport Zx5 (see our Kodak PlaySport Zx5 HD Waterproof Pocket Camcorder Review). It has pretty much all the features of the Kodak PlayTouch Zi10 plus it’s rugged and waterproof.

Check out the pocket video cameras we mentioned in this post here:

Check out our other Pocket Camcorder Reviews and make sure you can make an informed decision before you buy a pocket camcorder for yourself or for friends and family.

You can find Morgan’s question on Yahoo Answers by clicking here.

Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera Review

Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) – An Overview

Sony Bloggie Touch Pocket Video Camera Review Image

Sony Bloggie Touch Image

The Sony Bloggie Touch Pocket Video Camera is a real treat when it comes to pocket camcorders. It’s very simple to use with it’s touch sensitive LCD display. In addition, it is also amongst the bestselling pocket video cameras at this time. The Sony Bloggie Touch is one of the few pocket camcorders that features video recording with Full HD resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080p). It also features one of the best designed and most compact cases of all pocket video cameras we reviewed so far.

Sony Bloggie Touch Pocket Video Camera – Memory and Recording Features

The Sony Bloggie Touch allows to capture 4 hours of HD video recording at 720p with 30fps on its built-in 8GB of memory. Recording at 1080p will result in around 2 hours of recording time. There is no memory expansion on this but 4 hours of HD recording seem sufficient for most vacations and trips.

The Sony Bloggie Touch allows to capture Full HD videos with 1080p. The 1080p recording mode captures video at 30 frames per second (fps). This is plenty sufficient for most recordings but you will want to use the recording at 720p with 60fps for sports or action video. The Sony Bloggie Touch Pocket Video Camera offers a 4x digital zoom which is sufficient for most occasions.

One feature we liked a lot was the high resolution when taking still pictures. You can make photos at 12, 8 or 2 mega-pixels. This makes for sharp pictures you wouldn’t expect from your little pocket video camera. One thing we would have liked to see though is a flash. The Sony Bloggie Touch does not shine when you record or take pictures in low-light conditions and a small flash would help this a lot.

Sound recording capabilities that are offered by the Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera are overall good and sufficient for pretty much all kinds of video recordings. There is no external microphone plug available on this pocket camcorder.

Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera – Image Stabilization

The latest generation of the Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera has image stabilization as one of its features. Even with shaky hands or when you’re moving while you record, you’ll be able to shoot video without disturbance and shaking. This makes it rather easy to shoot video without image blur, shaking and disturbance. The image stabilization on the Sony Bloggie Touch Pocket Video Camera is sufficient and works perfectly fine in nearly all settings and environments. As with any image stabilization, it won’t be able to compensate for really big jolts.

Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera – Connectivity And Built-In Screen

The Sony Bloggie Touch offers a built-in USB connector. You can plug it into your PC or Mac and upload your movies. The USB connector is also used to charge the built-in battery. In addition you can use the mini HDMI connector to directly connect the Sony Bloggie Touch with your HD TV to view the videos you took.

The batteries are built-in and are rechargeable. The battery can be recharged through the USB connection. As the battery cannot be replaced you want to make sure that the pocket video camera is fully charged before you go on a trip.

The built-in 3 inch LCD is not only used to review any video that you have shot but it is also the navigation element of the pocket camcorder. The navigation and use of the Sony Bloggie Touch reminds more of a modern smart phone than what you usually are used to when it comes to video camcorders.

Customer Reviews of the Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera

The Sony Bloggie Touch Pocket Video Camera received an impressive number of customer reviews on Amazon.com. For the most part these reviews rate this pocket video camera at four and five out of five stars. Below are some comments from people that purchased the Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera as they are listed on Amazon.com:

“I’ve had this camera for about a week now and have been loving it ever since. I’ve used another… (read more)”

“Well it almost seems like everything is now like an iPad! Operating this little device is definitely one touch and not multi touch… (read more)”

“I purchased this camera a few days ago and I absolutely love it. I wanted to get a pocket sized HD video camera for… (read more)”

“My use so far has shown the Bloggie Touch to be everything I hoped it would be in video and stills. I have numerous cameras including… (read more)”

“With this Bloggie, you’ll miss NOTHING. It’s instant on, stylish, and a… (read more) ”

The Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Cameras average score on Amazon.com is better than 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera – Conclusion

The outstanding features of the Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera are the 1080p recording capability, the 12 mega-pixel photo capability and the touch based navigation through the LCD display. This makes it one of the easiest to use pocket camcorders on the market. A negative in our opinion is that the battery is built-in and cannot be replaced. You will have to make sure that you bring a USB charger with you when you take this pocket video camera on a trip.

Read more about the Sony Bloggie Touch (MHS-TS20/B) Pocket Video Camera

Pocket Video Camera Reviews:

Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera ReviewZi8 Kodak Pocket Video Camera Review PlaysportKodak Pocket Video Camera ReviewSony announces Bloggie Touch pocket video cameraSony announces Bloggie Touch pocket video cameraSony Bloggie Touch MHS-TS20 8GB HD Video cameraFlip Alternatives: 5 Great Pocket Video CamerasSony Bloggie Touch Camera Price and SpecificationPocket Video Cameras: Kodak ZX1 vs Flip Mino HD (Review Comparison) — Rambling Thoughts BlogThe Kodak PlaySport (Zx5) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera – Does It Fulfill Your Current Video Needs?