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Introduction
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01.Design
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02.Product Tour
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03.Performance
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04.Color Performance
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05.Low Light Performance
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06.Motion Performance
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07.Sharpness Performance
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08.Sample Videos
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09.Usability
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10.Ease of Use
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11.Handling
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12.Controls
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13.Features
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14.Recording Options
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15.Hardware
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16.Other Features
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17.Sony MHS-CM1 Comparison
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18.Sanyo VPC-CG10 Comparison
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19.Flip UltraHD Comparison
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20.Conclusion
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21.Photo Gallery
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22.Specs & Ratings
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23.Comments
Sony MHS-CM5
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Sharpness PerformanceMotion Performance
Motion (6.35)
Sony definitely improved the motion performance on the MHS-CM5, thus making it one of the better ultracompact camcorders in this test. The CM5 didn’t show much artifacting in our motion test, although some was definitely noticeable (particularly in the RGB pinwheel on the left portion of the test video). The video captured by the camcorder was also decently smooth, despite the fact that the camcorder records 1080p footage using a 30p frame rate. More on how we test motion.
| Motion Comparison | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Sony MHS-CM5 | Sony MHS-CM1 | Sanyo VPC-CG10 | Pure Digital Flip UltraHD | |
| Frame Rate(s) | ||||
| 60i, 60p, 30p | 30P | 720/30p, 480/60p, 480/30p | 720/30p | |
| Artifacting | ||||
| Much less artifacting than MHS-CM1, but there was still a noticeable amount. | Major artifacting problems, particularly noticeable in RGB pinwheel. | More artifacting than the Flip, but less than the MHS-CM1. | Less artifacting than the other camcorders in this set (only slightly less than the MHS-CM5). | |
| Smoothness | ||||
| One of the smoother images captured by an ultracompact camcorder. | Footage from our motion test did not look very smooth. | Smoother than the MHS-CM1, but not quite as smooth as the MHS-CM5. | Image wasn’t very smooth—lots of judder. | |
| Trailing | ||||
| Blur and trailing was noticeable in our test video, but not any worse than the MHS-CM1. | Trailing wasn’t bad on our test video, but there was definitely some noticeable blur. | Trailing wasn’t a huge problem, but it was worse than the two Sony camcorders. | The camcorder did a good job limiting the amount of trailing in our motion test. | |
| Frequency Interference | ||||
| Some of the lines on the black and white pinwheel appeared choppy. | Some straight lines looked choppy, but not too bad for the most part. | The black and white pinwheel showed lots of frequency interference issues. | There was some noticeable judder in parts of the video, but frequency interference wasn’t a big problem. | |
| Slow Motion Mode(s) | ||||
| None | None | None | None | |
If you want smoother motion with the MHS-CM5 you can shoot using its 720/60p setting. This mode has a lot more artifacting than the 1080p record setting, however, so you should try them both out before you make a decision as to which you like better. The sample video shown below was shot with the 1080/30p setting on the MHS-CM5, and we used the highest-quality setting available on each of the comparison model videos as well.
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