Sony HDR CX305 reviews: Sony camcorder

Score 7.8/10 Read 12
customer reviews Ask an owner about this product

This camcorder is a good all rounder.

£650 at 1 retailer out of 399 retailers checked

Sony HDR CX305: Sony camcorder See full product description

Ease of use	8.1
Image quality	9.2
Battery life	8.2
Weight	8.4
Value for money	7.6
Overall rating	7.8

Some customer reviews of Sony HDR CX305

Most helpful reviews

John, Plymouth Keen amateur

Score 10.0/10

Good points:: Small.lightweight,easy to operate
Bad points:: could do with a bigger capacity battery to start with

Ease of use	8.0
Image quality	9.0
Battery life	5.0
Weight	9.0
Value for money	10.0
Overall rating	10.0

Was this review helpful? 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Confirmed purchase: 31 May 2011

John, stoke on trent. Just point and shoot

Score 1.0/10

Good points:: Reviewer left no comment
Bad points:: The battery would not fit the camcorder and there was no replacement available therefor I had a refund.

Value for money	1.0
Overall rating	1.0

Was this review helpful? 0 of 2 people found this review helpful

Confirmed purchase: 30 May 2011

anthony, maidstone Just point and shoot

Score 10.0/10

Good points:: light, compact, ease of use, great picture quality,touch screen,
Bad points:: Reviewer left no comment

Ease of use	9.0
Image quality	10.0
Battery life	8.0
Weight	9.0
Value for money	9.0
Overall rating	10.0

Was this review helpful? 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Confirmed purchase: 26 Jun 2011

Confirmed purchaser Experienced amateur

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: High quality picture and I like the way everything is ready once you've opened the lcd screen. Easy to upload video using the PMB software and software is easy to use. The image quality if you plug HDMI to HDMI is amazing. Menus are easy to use and this makes removing unwanted videos and Photos straightforward. Good solid feel to the sliding cover over the battery connection.
Bad points:: Should be slightly heavier and bigger so that it felt more stable and everything wasn't so fiddly. Cover to USB and HDMI connectors feels fragile and I suspect will break off in time. I do a look of work outside and still think a viewfinder is necessary for sunny conditions. The PMB software sometimes doesn't seem to agree with the windows software, and why do you need to know each time I use PMB? Spooky, big brother IS watching! Didn't realise I couldn't download back to the camera from PC when I bought it.
My final rant is why is it when I've used my S camera to generate a superb video which I then load onto YouTube I get told S won't let me use the audio track I've chosen? That REALLY hacks me off.

Ease of use	9.0
Image quality	10.0
Battery life	10.0
Weight	3.0
Value for money	8.0
Overall rating	9.0

Was this review helpful? 2 of 4 people found this review helpful

Confirmed purchase: 16 Jan 2011

Gordon, Bournemouth Keen amateur

Score 3.0/10

Good points:: small, light, picture quality good
Bad points:: touch screens annoying, I can download pictures from memory card but system locks up when trying to download video and unable to exit via End. I required a handycam for both video and stills with image stabiliser but this is a huge disappointment after my Sony DCR-TRV30E and far too complicated. What is the best equivalent of my last camera?

Ease of use	3.0
Image quality	7.0
Battery life	9.0
Weight	10.0
Value for money	3.0
Overall rating	3.0

Was this review helpful? 16 of 22 people found this review helpful

Confirmed purchase: 14 May 2010

Confirmed purchaser

Score 8.0/10

Good points:: easy to use, light and great image quality.
Bad points:: longer battery life

Ease of use	8.0
Image quality	9.0
Battery life	6.0
Weight	9.0
Value for money	7.0
Overall rating	8.0

Was this review helpful?

Confirmed purchase: 14 Mar 2011

Tony, Camberley, Surrey UK Keen amateur

Score 9.0/10

Good points:: Picture & sound quality
Bad points:: Cost of additional lens, wide angle etc...

Ease of use	10.0
Image quality	10.0
Battery life	9.0
Weight	9.0
Value for money	8.0
Overall rating	9.0

Was this review helpful? 1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Confirmed purchase: 13 Nov 2010

Read all 12 customer reviews

See lowest scores See highest scores

Product Features

Resolution quality	Full HD
Resolution quality can be standard definition (SD), High Defintion (HD) or Full High Definition (HD). SD camcorders will have 480 horizontal lines of resolution whereas HD camcorders can have up to 1080. The more lines of resolution you have, the sharper your video will look. Full HD refers to camcorders that record in 1920 × 1080 resolution.
3D	No

Optical zoom ratio	12
The amount by which the camera optics (lens) can bring the subject closer.
Media format	Flash
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
Connections	USB

Type of memory card	SDHC

Type of memory card	SD

Shape of camcorder	Horizontally held

Digital zoom ratio	160
Not to be confused with optical zoom, digital zoom enlarges a portion of the image thus simulating optical zoom. In doing so, some image quality is lost.
Type of image stabiliser	Optical
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
Widescreen recording	Yes
Resolution (Megapixels)	4.2

Hard disk capacity (Gigabytes)	16
Hard Disk capacity is measured in GBs which stands for Gigabytes. A gigabyte is 1000 MB or megabytes. The more GB you have the more info like photos and music you can store.
Shortest shutter speed (Fractions of a second)	1/1000
This is the fastest speed at which the camera can take a photo. Faster shutter speeds really freeze the action and are great for sports photography.
Weight (g)	320
The weight of the product in grams.
Screen size (Inches)	2.7
Screen size is measured diagonally from corner to corner.
Maximum aperture telephoto	3.4
Maximum aperture wide	1.8

Lowest focal length (Millimetres)	36.5

Highest focal length (Millimetres)	438

Type of chip	CMOS

Release date	2010-03-15
The date the product was originally made available for purchase.

Also known as: SONY HDR-CX305E, HDR-CX305

Camcorders Buying Guide

Manufacturer's Description

Experience incredible imaging performance, with up to 6.5 hours Full HD recording on 16GB internal memory and more on optional memory card. Beautifully designed with advanced optical technologies and smart features to capture beautiful, detail-packed video and stills.

Low light, no problem
Many camcorders struggle in low light, producing grainy, fuzzy images. Super sensitive Exmor R™ CMOS Sensor reduces image noise for clearer images. In conjunction with the powerful BIONZ processor you’ll get great results in low light, dim interiors or at dusk.

Walk. Zoom. Steady: Even more stable pictures
Wobbly pictures are a common problem when you’re shooting without a tripod. New Optical SteadyShot Active Mode delivers best-ever ‘3-way’ camera shake correction at all zoom settings, even when you’re walking along. In wide angle position, you’ll enjoy up to ten times improved anti-shake performance.

Pack more into every scene
Now you can make sure nobody’s left out of the picture at parties, birthdays and other special occasions. The high quality G Lens by Sony inside Handycam® now features enhanced wide angle performance, capturing up to 2x greater image area than previous models.

Catch the moment
New Golf Shot captures a high-speed burst of frames. It’s a great way to improve your swing… or freeze the details in any kind of fast-moving action.

Quicker, more accurate autofocus
AF performance is now 2x faster than previous models for rapid, pin-sharp focus – even when you’re shooting in low light.

Product		Retailer	Price	Total price	Buy now
	HDR-CX305 High Definition Camcorder	No retailer reviews yet	£650 free delivery	£650	Go In stock

Here’s a list of the questions other shoppers have asked owners of the Sony HDR CX305

Is it possible to use an external microphone with this camcorder ?
Alternatively, is the in built microphone powerful enough to pick up when there is background noise?

thanks

Chris asked on 07 Jan 2011
1. looking at the manual it appears you can use an external microphone, flash & video light.
  
  Tony replied on 07 Jan 2011
Which is better with hard disk or without hard disk camcorder ?I am little bit confused.Please help me out.

Rajesh asked on 19 Apr 2011
1. This model has an internal memory (larger the more images you can store), but you can also add for further storage a memory card that fits into the camera. I've found the internal memory has more than sufficient space.
  
  Tony replied on 20 Apr 2011
I'm not sure if the connecting cable for my HDR-CX305 was supplied or not but I would like to purchase the cable to enable me to import my photos/videos on to my Mac computer. Can you please give me the number of this USB cable. Many thanks, John

John asked on 29 Apr 2011
1. USB cable was included with my purchase, otherwise it is a standard digital camera connection to USB port on your computer.
  
  Tony replied on 30 Apr 2011
dose it have lights or flash

vali asked on 15 May 2011
1. No.
  
  Tony replied on 16 May 2011

Got a question? Get an answer from someone who actually owns the product.
We'll publish your question and the answer here to help other shoppers.

£650 at 1 retailer out of 399 retailers checked

Sony HDR CX305 reviews: Sony camcorder

People Also Viewed