At Auscam we often say that we give a better idea of how good or bad a camcorder (or standard camera) is because we give them a much harder test than many. We don’t just give them what I call a “bench review” but actually take them out in the field as you would, and give them quite a hammering.

For example, I have just come back after a week in Japan (courtesy of Nikon it should be said so there is full and fair disclosure).

With me I had a Nikon D7000 with a 28~300mm lens and a Sony VG20 NEX based camcorder. I’ll cover the Nikon later – maybe  - as the trip was actually based around the new D4 and D800 and they would be more relevant.

So back to the VG20.

During the course of the trip, it was subjected to freezing cold weather, snow, wind, steaming hot hotels with humidity and a very warm JAL Boeing 777. Twice. In fact I suffered more than the VG20, coming down with slight pneumonia after landing!

I took over 4 hours of footage ranging in conditions from dark and gloomy to bright light on snow; inside restaurants, on the Bullet Train to Sendai (yes where the earthquake was) and in bright neon lit streets that Tokyo is renowned for.

I am going to leave technical details pretty much out of this as while somewhat important, this is more about the camera in usage.

Ergonomically it is just about perfect. I am naturally left eye dominant and had no problem using the viewfinder (my preference over an LCD any day). Balance was good and all the controls were easy to use and access. After using a rocker based zoom for so long, it did take a bit of getting used to having a front ring mounted control, but that is simply a habit that has to be broken. A MAJOR step over its predecessor, the VG10, is the small ridge on the right hand side of the camera body that enables you to solidly grip the VG20. It’s amazing how such a small change can make such a big difference.

One annoyance though was what one of my colleagues called “lens creep”. Simply this means that if the camera is held vertically, the zoom lens will slowly drop out so that next time you go to shoot, you are at full zoom. This can be a bit disconcerting, especially if you after trying to grab something in frame that is not going to last long!

Sure there is a lock button, but this seems it was added as an acknowledgement to the problem.

One party trick is the inclusion of a Zoom Focus button. When pressed, this temporarily zooms in the on the subject matter letting you get fine focus before starting to shoot; a damn fine addition as is the secondary record button to the front of the zoom focus button.

Of course being a NEX based camcorder, lenses can be changed. As part of the trip took in a monstrous camera show in Yokohama, we went mad adding new lenses (with adaptor mounts) and playing around. The attached photo shows freelancer Chris Nicholls (who had the advantage of speaking and reading fluent Japanese) mucking around with a lens with the delightful name of The Borg. With this beastie added (for about AUD$800 including all the necessary mounts), we could zoom in almost full frame on the full stop in a Sony sign 20 metres away! Depth of field is of course shot to bits, but for astronomers and sports shooters, this is the ducks guts. Knowing I was going to a trade show, I left my credit card behind at the hotel … More info on the Borg lenses can be seen at www.tomytec.co.jp/borg (it’s in Japanese but you’ll get the idea)

I found the VG20 a fine camcorder to use; it has all the bits and bobs I need and the killer feature is the interchangeable lens system. It’s a little big to lug around in a backpack over a three day period I have to say. I’d used something like a Sony HDRPJ50V as a second backup camera for that.

But for sports shooting which is my bag, apart from that lens creep, it’s perfect.

(Sample video to be added soon!)

Auscam Rating

Performance     9

Documentation                9

Features              9

Setup    9

Value for Money              8

We Liked: Interchangeable lens, zoom focus, balance and grip

We Disliked:       “Lens creep”

Price: $2999

Contact: Sony Australia / www.sony.com.au

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com