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These High Definition camcorders are packed with helpful and useful features like Smile Shutter, Face Detection, Built in GPS, Optical Stabilisation and the ability to capture images at 12 megapixels. The difference between the two camcorders is the HDD capacity. The XR520 has 240 gigs and the XR500 has 120 gigs.

The XR500 and the XR520 both make use of 1/3.15-inch back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensor for ultimate performance in poor light. We played with the camera around our outdoor fireplace at night and the results were really good with minimal noise and clear images. The 8dB increase in sensitivity results in a declared 50% reduction of noise and graininess on the video. This feature functioned really well.

Both the Sony XR500 and the Sony XR520 record at 1920×1080 in AVCHD format.

Sony’s Super Steady Shot image stabilisation makes a big difference to your videos. We have all seen some armature looking videos and the thing that stands out the most is a shaky hand and unstable recording with the image jumping left right and centre.

Steady Shot definitely counters this with grace and reduces image blur when there is instability in the recording.

The 3.2 inch wide Xtra Fine LCD (with 920,000 odd K) is a touch screen monitor. I was really grateful to find that when they say ‘touch screen’ they don’t mean ‘oops I brushed my finger over it and changed three random settings without meaning to’. You have to apply a certain amount of pressure to press the option you want.

Smile Shutter is a great feature that can be set to detect anything from a cheeky little grin to an all out cheek popping Cheshire Cat smile. Once the camera detects that the face your have prioritised is smiling – it will pop itself from standby mode to record. The camera’s also have facial recognition software to ensure the best lighting and contrast for skin tones whenever faces are on scene.

Clever little machines: Both of these camcorders have their very own built in GPS! With the use of Navteq software all of your video clips will be geo-tagged and the time and date stamps are automatically updated to match the current time zone.

You are able to select a frame from your video to convert to an image and both models have a rather nifty little feature called the Highlight Playback function which uses the footage you have taken and creates a highlight reel, adding some background music and making use of automated transition. I thought it was quite a clever idea. This feature has no impact on your original footage and won’t trim or change it in any way.

The main competitor of the XR500 and XR520 are the Sony CX500 and CX520. These cameras are so similar in the making, that I just wanted to take a moment to point out what is different between them:

In comparison to the Sony CX500 and the Sony CX520:

Deciding which model you would prefer to purchase all depends on what you are going to be using it for. Lets look at the pros and cons of the CX series first: The camera is smaller and lighter. There is no view finder, and to be honest, if you are just playing around with family and fun footage, you don’t use a viewfinder, but the lack of a view finder would be a personal choice pro or con.

The controls are mostly operated via the touch screen panel, this definitely makes for easy operation, but if you are hard on your equipment, this could mean that the camera would run the risk of a shorter life span (ie if you damage the LCD you will struggle to operate the camera with no controls!)

The footage is stored via flash memory instead of hard drive. Taking away that light vibration during operation while the hard drive spins. There is less internal memory (64gigs vs 240 gigs OR 32gigs VS 120gigs) …it is up to you to ask yourself…will I ever USE 120 gigs of recording space?

Now let’s look at the XR: an incredible amount of storage space and if you are the kind of person who can make use of it, it is a very big plus. Buttons rather than touch screen control, takes away the glam factor, but perhaps durable in the long run. A view finder. If you are going to be making use of the memory then you will need extended battery life and the view finder will definitely help you achieve that.

Both of the series discussed, Sony CX500 and CX520 as well as Sony XR500 and XR520 have equally good low light video recording capability.
Both series record in Dolby Digital 5.1 allowing you the same experience during playback at home that you would have while recording.

Both series use the same battery (InfoLITHIUM® with AccuPower™ Meter System (NP-FH60)) but the XR has higher power consumption than the CX. The XR520 for example, uses 4.4 watts per measure while the CX520 uses 3.6 watts.