Sony Bloggie CM5 review

While the CM5's audio recording seems better than average, you don't get a mic input that would allow you to add an optional stereo mic, as you can with the Kodak Zi8.

The real benefit to shooting 1080p video comes when scaling it up on your computer screen or high-definition TV (via the HDMI out). While this HD material doesn't measure up to the video you'd capture with a fully-fledged HD camcorder, shooting in 1080p does allow you to play films at larger sizes and retain a reasonable amount of detail and sharpness. The same is true for 720p, to a degree.

The only downside is that the file sizes are very large when shooting in 1080p, so it helps to have a high-capacity memory card. Sony says that, with an 8GB card, you'll get about 1 hour and 20 minutes of video shooting at 30fps 1080p, 2 hours and 40 minutes at 60fps 720p, 4 hours at 30fps 720p, and 8 hours at 30fps VGA.

As noted, the CM5 uses a removable, rechargeable li-ion battery, which Sony says delivers up to 105 minutes of recording time before needing a recharge. For more shooting flexibility, you can purchase additional batteries.

Share and share alike
One of the key selling points of Flip camcorders is how easy it is to get videos off the device and distribute them. Sony's made some improvements in this area, but we still feel pretty negative about the included Picture Motion Browser Portable 5.0 software. A basic version of the software in embedded on the device and runs once you plug the CM5 into your Mac or Windows machine (there's a short, guided configuration). A slightly more full-featured, Windows-only version comes on a CD and adds the ability to trim clips and extract still frames. Both versions allow for one-touch uploads to YouTube, DailyMotion and Picasa, among other sites, as long as you've stored your username and password for each service. You can also email clips to friends and family.

The software isn't compatible with Windows 7 Starter, 64-bit Windows 7 or Mac OS X, although, as always, you can drag and drop the files and edit them using another package, like iMovie. But you'll probably get confused when you plug the camcorder into your system to drag some files over. Because the CM5 has internal memory and virtually two card slots, it mounts three different drives onto your system, forcing you to click through each one looking for your files. This isn't a deal-breaker, but it's not terribly user-friendly.

It's also annoying that you've got to keep the LCD flipped out to turn the camcorder on while connected to your computer. It's not a huge deal if you use an extension cable and keep the camcorder on a desk, but, with the camcorder directly plugged in and hanging out of the USB port, it looks like an accident waiting to happen.

All in all, the whole sharing process is much more user-friendly with Flip camcorders. For Sony to get to the next level in the pocket-camera arena, it needs to spend time actually watching people use these devices.

Conclusion
The Bloggie CM5 is the first Sony mini-camcorder we feel comfortable recommending at this price point. It does have its shortcomings, and it isn't as compact as something like the Flip Video MinoHD, Kodak Zi8 or Creative Vado HD. But its video quality is superior in some ways to that offered by those models. The 5x optical zoom and close-focus capability also come in handy, and having a removable battery and memory is important to some buyers.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet