How To Charge A Bloggie Camera

The Sony Bloggie Live HD seems like a concluding-ditch effort to keep the minicamcorder category relevant as smartphones and point-and-shoots and other pocket-size video devices squeeze them out of the market.

The Live's big claw: built-in Wi-Fi that let's you live stream video to Qik.com for others to watch while simultaneously recording in full Hard disk to the device. The Wi-Fi can also be used to directly connect to your smartphone and so y'all can view, transfer, and upload clips and photos using your phone'south data service. Yous tin also use it to upload to sites similar Facebook and YouTube as well equally Sony's newest cloud service, PlayMemories Online.

The wireless capabilities are definitely cool (though not without issues), so if all that sounds skillful and you lot're afterward amend than "expert enough" video results from a shoot-and-share video camera, yous'll want to keep reading.

Key specs	Sony Bloggie Live HD
Toll (MSRP)	$249.99
Dimensions (HWD)	4.5 ten 2.three x 0.six inches
Weight (with battery and media)	four.8 ounces
Storage capacity, blazon	8GB internal wink memory
Resolution, sensor size, type	12.8 megapixel, ane/2.v-inch CMOS
LCD size, resolution	three-inch touch-screen LCD, 230K dots
Lens	Fixed focal length, f2.8 37mm (35mm equivalent)
File format (video, sound)	H.264 video, stereo AAC audio (.MP4)
Resolution (highest)	1,920x1,080 pixels at 30fps (15Mbps; progressive)
Image stabilization type	Electronic
Battery blazon, rated life	Congenital-in lithium ion rechargeable, 80 minutes
Software	PlayMemories Abode (Windows); PlayMemories Uploader (Mac)

The video quality from the Bloggie Live can be very skillful as long as y'all and your bailiwick aren't moving much. When shooting at 1080p, video is reasonably sharp and detailed without looking crunchy. Color and exposure are good every bit well. However, that's when viewed at smaller sizes on a computer screen. Blown upward on a larger HDTV, the video is less impressive. Also, it doesn't handle motility--of the subject or of the device--very well at 1080p, creating a lot of judder. That's unfortunately typical of this type of video camera, though. Maximum recording fourth dimension in full Hd is 75 minutes, by the way, with clip lengths limited to 2GB or 29 minutes (which is typical, too).

The Bloggie Live does have a 720/60p setting, which smooths things out some if you're shooting action or doing a lot of panning left and right, but it's at the cost of sharpness and fine detail. Once more, information technology's fine at minor sizes, but not adept on a large HDTV. The depression-low-cal video is noisy and grainy with readily visible artifacts. I've seen much worse, though, so all in all the Bloggie Live does OK indoors and in darker atmospheric condition. In that location is an LED lamp next to the lens that volition brighten close subjects some, but don't look it to low-cal a full scene.

Photo quality is pretty adept as long equally you accept plenty of low-cal. Shooting is completely automatic; just printing the shutter release on peak and you're done. If you lot press the release while recording video, it will capture a photo at whatever resolution you lot're recording at, roughly 2 megapixels at 1080p or 0.9 megapixel at 720p. (Note: You lot can't capture photos while live streaming.)

The Live does have autofocus and an auto macro style for both video and photos, simply it'south a blessing and a curse. You tin shoot something equally close equally 4 inches from the lens out to infinity. But depending on your movement or your subject's, your video might pulse in and out of focus. The AF isn't all that fast, either, and it'south even slower in low-low-cal weather condition. Also, if you're shooting in consummate silence, you volition hear a faint ticking sound picked upward past the stereo microphone while it'southward trying to focus.

I know this sounds like a lot more bad than good, but fifty-fifty with all these issues, the video is even so better than yous'll become from your average--or even above average--smartphone. At least right now.

Features	Sony Bloggie Live
Inputs/Outputs	None/Mini-HDMI, USB
White balance	Car
Scene modes	None
Focus	Auto (4 inches to infinity)
Color effects	None
Lens cover (auto or manual)	None

As for the Wi-Fi functionality, information technology's cool, just it largely depends on where and how you plan to use it. The live streaming requires a strong and reliable wireless connection, and, at least in the case of my review camera, as few other wireless signals as possible.

I tried several times to connect and stream using three public hot spots in New York City (in that location'due south a built-in minibrowser for like-minded to terms of service) and virtually equally shortly as I would connect, information technology would driblet the signal. And and then pick it up once again. And then drop information technology. This likewise happened in CNET's New York role where there are more than a dozen networks I can connect to from my desk. I would connect to a network and I could exist standing correct next to the router and the connection would driblet out. However, in my abode, where there's just i wireless network, it locked on and stayed connected.

One time you lot starting time alive streaming, there's a slight delay of a few seconds and, over again, equally long equally you have a solid connectedness, the video plays smoothly. People viewing at Qik.com can go out comments that appear in real time on the Live'south screen. The video is streamed and stored on Qik, only the Live simultaneously captures Hard disk video to the device.

The wireless can too be used to create an ad hoc network between the Live and an Android or iOS device. Once connected, you can see all of the photos and videos on the Alive and transfer them off to your smartphone or tablet. Video is sent at 480x270-pixel resolution, once more making for quick transfers and like shooting fish in a barrel uploading.

You also get the pick to tag movies and photos for uploading to Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, Flickr, and DailyMotion, as well as Sony's newest cloud service, PlayMemories Online.

And so once more, the Wi-Fi is the main attraction with this model, then if you lot don't want that, there are really no other reasons to purchase the Live. The video is good, but in this case you're paying a premium for wireless functions, and the rest of this Bloggie'due south features are pretty standard on minicamcorders.

The software that comes with the Bloggie Live is like shooting fish in a barrel to employ, but that could be considering it doesn't do much.

Sony's inverse the name of its organizing and sharing software that comes with the Alive to PlayMemories to continue with the launch of its cloud service. It's attractive and unproblematic, merely you can't do much with it other than organize, share, and trim video clips. Information technology does those things well plenty, but in comparison to what y'all go on Kodak or Samsung minicamcorders, the offering is weak. The software is Windows only (the device'south file formats are supported past iPhoto), but a Mac uploader for Sony's PlayMemories Online service will exist available in jump 2012, when the service is available.

As for design, the Bloggie Live looks quite squeamish, but functionally could be better. The casing is brushed metal and there'southward nothing on the front except for the lens and an LED lamp. On the back are the 3-inch touch-screen LCD and a record button. The device is held horizontally for shooting wide-screen video, then you can use the whole screen for framing your shots. The Bloggie Alive does have an autorotation sensor, though, which means if y'all turn the device vertically so goes your video. Basically y'all'll get a long, sparse portrait video instead of a wide-screen video. That is, if you lot turn it before you start recording. Turn information technology once you've pressed record and you end up with video on its side, as if you tilted your head.

Property the minicamcorder horizontally puts a ability button and shutter release for photos under your right index finger. The buttons are flush with the body, so if you're not looking or paying attention, you could accidentally power off the Live instead of taking a moving-picture show. Not a large problem if you're shooting photos, but a bit of an issue if you try to capture a still while recording video.

At the lesser or right side of the video camera is a popular-out USB connector for transferring files to and from a computer as well every bit charging the battery. Next to information technology is a threaded tripod receptacle, which is poor placement because the device has to be positioned horizontally to capture broad-screen video. It should actually be on the bottom/left side with the Mini-HDMI port, but that would ruin the pattern.

Ane last thing: the battery is built in, so you can't easily bandy it out when it dies, and a full charge takes more 3 hours via USB to a reckoner; using a wall adapter cuts that in half. Using the Wi-Fi will understandably eat into battery life, which is something to keep in heed if you're considering this for streaming long events.

Conclusion
Considering the way the minicamcorder market is going, this quite possibly could be the kickoff and final Bloggie Live. It'southward not a bad product; it does what it's designed to do and does it pretty well, especially for $250. Then again, for that cost you lot have to really want to be able to record Hard disk drive video while simultaneously live streaming a low-res version. Everything else that information technology does tin be done with a pocket camera for the same or less money, and y'all can go better features like a zoom lens, optical image stabilization, and faster performance.

Find out more near how nosotros examination camcorders.

Score Breakdown

Design 7 Features 8 Performance vii Image quality 7

Source: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/sony-bloggie-live-hd-camera-silver-review/

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