Sony Mobile HD Snap Camera MHS-PM1

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/camcorders/0,39029967,49302828,00.htm

Reviewed 30 June 2009

Reviewed by David Carnoy

Sony's first entry into the mini-camcorder arena was 2007's NSC-GC1. That model didn't fare too well in our review, but Sony seems to have learned its lesson, as evidenced by its Mobile HD Snap Camera MHS-PM1 budget camcorder. Available for about £190, the MHS-PM1 follows in the footsteps of models like the Flip Video MinoHD, with a vertical, almost mobile-phone-like, design.

Design
It may not be quite as small as its Flip Video and Creative competitors, but it's compact, measuring 56mm by 102mm by 23mm, and lightweight, at 119g with its battery. It's attractively styled and easily fits into a pocket. Currently, it comes in three colours: purple, orange and silver.

Most notably, the MHS-PM1 records H.264 compressed high-definition video using MPEG-4 encoding in a 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second, as well as the more typical 720p and space-saving VGA resolutions. As we say about all these mini camcorders: while they may be billed as HD models, they really can't be compared with true HD camcorders that cost substantially more. Numerous factors go into creating an image. Most important of these is a good lens -- not just a 5-megapixel CMOS sensor capable of capturing an image at a certain resolution.

The MHS-PM1's other key feature is its swivelling, fixed focal-length lens. It provides shooting flexibility, letting you, for example, record yourself at the same time as you're admiring yourself in the sharp 46mm (1.8-inch) LCD. Another benefit is that, when swivelled shut, the lens is protected and, when you swivel the lens open, the camcorder turns on.

The swivelling lens means you can record yourself at the same time as you're looking at the LCD screen

The MHS-PM1 comes with 12MB of internal memory -- effectively nothing -- so you'll have to pay for a Memory Stick Pro Duo card, too. For HD video, you'll want at least a 2GB card, and preferably a 4GB card, which can hold slightly more than 2 hours of video in 720p mode or about 1 hour and 15 minutes in 1080p mode. The length of a clip is limited to 25 minutes, regardless. The camcorder lets you know exactly how much recording time you have left in each mode, which is a pleasing touch.

A removable lithium-ion rechargeable battery powers this model. You can't, however, charge the battery in the camcorder -- it requires the bundled battery charger. Similarly, there's no integrated flip-out USB connector, which means you have to use a cable. Also, the MHS-PM1 lacks the HDMI connector found on some competing models.

Sony has endeavoured to make the MHS-PM1 simple to use, and, thanks to relatively well-labelled and well-placed buttons, it's mostly succeeded. But, when it comes to these types of camcorders, there are degrees of simplicity, and the MHS-PM1 leans towards the more complicated end of the spectrum. Part of the reason is that it includes a few extra features that some competitors omit. For instance, you get a self-timer and four scene modes (sports, landscape, low light and backlight), as well as an auto mode.

The real issue with the interface is that there are two buttons on the side that activate menu options, and a button on the front that appears to be a 'return' button. You have to actually read the documentation to discover that it's for Sony's proprietary Sharemark image tagging, used only by the bundled Picture Motion Browser software. You'll figure things out after some trial and error, but the whole set-up is rather quirky and could have been better thought-out.

Performance
If the video quality were outstanding, we'd be willing to overlook those small interface gripes, but it's just okay. We viewed the video and photos on both a computer and an HD television, via the bundled component cable. You can blow up images and video and they'll maintain a reasonable degree of sharpness (although we use the word generously here). As with all mini camcorders, you have to hold the unit very steady to get rock-solid video, or attach it to a tripod via the threaded mount on the bottom.

Overall, images are slightly soft compared with the video produced from competing models. The MHS-PM1 also doesn't adjust exposure or compensate for backlighting quickly enough, and the indoor white balance under various lights is visibly off the mark. We recommend you don't drop below the highest-quality video setting. On a more positive note, the sound is good, provided there's no wind, and the unit's small speaker plays with ample volume.

Still images are also okay. They're a small step up from what you'd get from a phone camera, but there's pronounced shutter lag. As you might expect, images are rather soft and noisy in low-light conditions.

Unlike the MinoHD, the camcorder's software -- the same one-size-fits-none product that ships with all of Sony's camcorders -- isn't bundled into the camera -- it comes on a separate CD. It's overly complex for this product and does annoying things such as persistently attempting to analyse and assimilate all the media files on your hard disk for its face- and smile-detection filtering and 'movie tracer', which lets you 'play back videos tracing the movement of your camera while you were recording the video'. Simple tasks like trimming video don't support an undo function. It does, however, support basic media organisation, with filtering and tagging, and video uploading is pretty simple once you figure out where to find it in the menus ('YouTube' isn't even a search term in the online manual).

The MHS-PM1 is compatible with Macs and PCs, although the Picture Motion Browser software only works with Windows PCs. If you have a Mac (or Windows PC for that matter), you can simply drag the video and still image files off the memory card and copy them to a folder on the desktop. Then you can upload them to sites such as YouTube, if you want.

Conclusion
Sony's Mobile HD Snap Camera MHS-PM1 has some good things going for it: an attractive design, expandable memory, a swivelling lens, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. But, despite offering 1080p, 30fps video capture, the quality falls short of that of competing models and you may find the annoying software and need for a Memory Stick Pro Duo to be drawbacks. It's not a bad mini camcorder -- it's just not a great one.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet