Product Comparison: Sony HDR-CX405 vs Panasonic HC-V180K

Advertiser Disclosure

This site is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and comparison features to its visitors. Please be advised that the operator of this site accepts advertising compensation from certain companies that appear on the site, and such compensation impacts the location and order in which the companies (and/or their products) are presented, and in some cases may also impact the scoring that is assigned to them. The scoring that appears on this site is determined by the site operator in its sole discretion, and should NOT be relied upon for accuracy purposes. In fact, Company/product listings on this page DO NOT imply endorsement by the site operator. Except as expressly set forth in our Terms of Use, all representations and warranties regarding the information presented on this page are disclaimed. The information which appears on this site is subject to change at any time. More info

Sony HDR-CX405 HD Video Recording Handycam Camcorder

Check Price

Best Pick

Panasonic HC-V180K Full HD Camcorder

Check Price

General Specifications

Brand

Sony

Panasonic

Model

HDR-CX405

HC-V180K

Origin

China

Malaysia

About the Product

Make it memorable with Sony Full HD/60p quality. Capture amazing footage in low light and control. Get close to the action with a 27x zoom, wide-angle Carl Zeiss lens and say goodbye to shake with Steady Shot image stabilization. It’s the perfect starter camera.

This compact, lightweight and easy-to-use handheld camcorder brings a fun, easy experience to high-resolution video capture with a 5-axis image stabilizer, super-long 50x optical zoom and up to 90x intelligent zooming. At the same time, BSI sensors assure low-light video image quality and a two-channel zoom microphone works in tandem with the zoom to ensure crisp, clear audio at any distance.

Key Specs

Sensor Resolution

9.2 MP

10 MP

Sensor Type

Exmor R® CMOS

BSI MOS

Maximum Frame Rate

60 fps

Video Resolution

1080 p

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Sony HDR-CX405 HD Video Recording Handycam Camcorder

Nice camera. I like its high quality of resolution, but be careful it is very light.
Camera that is high quality and high resolution for a wonderful price.
Love the simple instruction as well as great resolution.
I can shoot videos with the same resolution and audio using the camera on my phone. This product does not shoot in true "HD."
Not worth, resolution is not good and the storage is not good

Panasonic HC-V180K Full HD Camcorder

This model HC-v180k is beautiful. Full HD, best resolution on video is MP4 format (works better for me, according to my Video Editor), AVCHD still good quality but bigger file size.
Resolution so high, it has to be played in a Blue Ray player.
If you want to record indoors/low-light, or need the absolute best in video quality then spend the extra money to get something with a much larger sensor (not really available on any "camcorder"). Otherwise, you’ll love this!
The video quality is amazing, and if I have any complaint, it would be the size of the screen. I
BUT the video quality is very fuzzy (lots of noise) no matter what setting I try to change it to

Size & Weight

Height

2.38 in.

2.1 in.

Width

2.25 in.

2.3 in.

Depth

5.13 in.

4.6 in.

Weight

6.7 oz.

7.4 oz.

Imaging

Optical Zoom

30 x

50 x

Digital Zoom

350 x

500 x

Aperture

F/1.8 (W) - 4.0 (T)

F/1.8 (W) - 4.2 (T)

Image Stabilization

Optical

Optical & Digital

Face Detection

Yes

Low Light/High Sensitivity

Yes

Image File Format(s)

AVCHD, MP4, JPEG

What customers say about "Imaging"

Sony HDR-CX405 HD Video Recording Handycam Camcorder

Perfect camera for the price. Good quality images.
The sony camera is a great item. The quality of the images and movies is excellent.
The camcorder has a very good zoom, excelent image quality
With low light conditions image looses quality.
Camera feels sheap.... and image quality to mach...

Panasonic HC-V180K Full HD Camcorder

The zoom is amazing! I shoot most of my videos on a 1.6x crop frame Canon DSLR and there is no lens in the world that will get you 59x optical zoom
Very good image and very easy to use
It recently snowed at around 3am here in texas (rarely happens), i took the kids put with it and turned on the light, PERFECT shot and beautiful video to show the kids when they are older. I couldnt be happier! And the stability is incredible! I
Image stabilization is great. You can charge it with any USB powerbank so you can make really long videos.
This model HC-v180k is beautiful. Full HD, best resolution on video is MP4 format (works better for me, according to my Video Editor), AVCHD still good quality but bigger file size. Love Panasonic Video Camera Recording.

Display

Display Type

TFT LCD

Touch Screen

Yes

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Screen Size

2.7 in.

Touch Screen
Screen Size

What customers say about "Display"

Sony HDR-CX405 HD Video Recording Handycam Camcorder

Takes very clear video and looks great on HD screen when viewing.
Very simple to use, clear video recording. Compact and clear screen
This is a light weight video camera with a nice size LCD screen. It is very easy to setup and use. It was just what I was looking for.
The screen menu is self explanatory and very simple to use.
My only problem is that it does not seem thus far able to record while the lcd screen is open.

Panasonic HC-V180K Full HD Camcorder

It's better if the view finder. otherwise ok.
The low quality touch screen and small icons mean it often takes two tries to hit the right button and the menus are designed someone who has never actually used a camera.
The video quality is amazing, and if I have any complaint, it would be the size of the screen.
The LCD is a bit cheap and grainy, but the camera itself works great.

Features

Microphone Type

Built-in Zoom

Slow Motion Recording

HDR Mode

Action Camera

Night Recording

Yes

Wind Noise Reduction

Yes

Shock Resistant

Water Resistant

Extras

Optical SteadyShot™ with Intelligent Active Mode, Up to 26.8 mm wide-angle lens, Exceptional image quality, Highlight Movie Maker, Motion Shot Video, Built-in USB cable, Dual Video Recording, Dual Record mode

28mm Wide-Angle Lens, BSI Sensor Quality, Crisp, Clear Audio, Creative Controls, Level Shot

What customers say about "Features"

Sony HDR-CX405 HD Video Recording Handycam Camcorder

This camcorder is simple to use and has great features. Best quality videos. Also got a great deal for thanksgiving.
I like the feature of the charging cord attached to the camera.
Great camera with lots of features. Beautiful pics of Alaska.
I love all the features on the camera. Such as the filters you can film in.
Great camera for value. The features are strong and the device is easy to use.

Panasonic HC-V180K Full HD Camcorder

Advanced operating manual available on Panasonic site for download.
No, this doesn’t have a broadcast quality microphone. However, it is noticeably better than the mic on my Canon DSLR, especially in the wind.
Nightmode is very bad .. u will Get blurry videos at night. And photos are too bad even mobile pictures r better.
poorly written user manual, large proportion is for the manufacture to escape from taking responsibility

Connectivity

Wi-Fi Enabled

Yes

Microphone Input

Tripod/Monopod Mountable

Yes

Output(s)

Micro-HDMI (Type D), Composite Video Out, Bravia Sync, USB 2.0

Mini-HDMI (Type C), A/V, USB 2.0

What customers say about "Connectivity"

Sony HDR-CX405 HD Video Recording Handycam Camcorder

Great camera, easy to operate and connect to computer.
Fits well in hand and has in-built usb to connect to pc. Videos were excellent.
Easy to use. Not hard on the battery. No problems with connecting to the PC. Pleased with both video and camera features
I love this camera. Easy setup and easy to connect to tv. Even my kids are able to use it.
Video quality looks really good when connecting directly from Camera to my Samsung LED TV.

Panasonic HC-V180K Full HD Camcorder

Videos should be preset for MP4 or else the camera has to be connected through HDMI cable ( which is given along with the camera) and can be seen on HD TVs only.
I do like this. I bought it this model cause I had a HC-v250 Panasonic Wifi support.
I really wish this accepted an external mic input as most of it’s competitors do. I get that most people buying a cheap camcorder aren’t going to use an external mic, but I would!

Power

AC Adapter Compatible

Yes

Battery Model

NP-BX1 rechargable battery

Rechargeable Battery Pack

Charging Interface(s)

USB

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications