Sony Bloggie 3D review

Sony MHS-FS3 Pocket camcorder brings 3D shooting on a budget

3D dominance hasn't exactly happened in the home in 2011, but nobody can faulty Sony's persistence in putting 3D technology in the majority of its products – including it's compact camcorder Flip-rivalling Bloggie range.
Let's make no bones about it: Sony is bringing 3D moviemaking to the mainstream with the Bloggie 3D – a pocket camcorder that's filled with innovative technology. While Sony hasn't perfected all it sets out to do with the Bloggie 3D, it gives it an admirable goSony 3D Bloggie: Controls
Out of the box, the chassis of the Sony Bloggie 3D impressed. A touch chunkier than the Sony Bloggie Touch (its dimensions are 55x108x17.3mm), the cam is nevertheless small and light (at 120g) in the hand. The matte black of our review model was sleek and it's surprising how little room the dual f/2.8 lenses take up. The imaging power behind the lenses is a 4.5mm CMOS, which works well in both daylight and lowlight in our tests – the lowlight shooting was aided by a nice-and-bright LED light next to the lenses.

Flip the pocket cam over and you have a 2.4-inch parallax screen, which can play back both 2D and 3D. On the right of this is the record button, with the on/off switch and stills shooting button on the top of the cam, flush with the body.

Sony Bloggie 3D: Performance

Booting up takes mere seconds and immediately you can choose between shooting in 3D or 2D. The parallax LCD adds a nice bit of depth to your shots when filming in 3D, which makes it that little bit easier to frame footage – something that is essential for good 3D shots. There are some limitations when shooting in 3D, however, it can only be done when the cam is held horizontally, and things like zooming aren't allowed.

Sony Bloggie 3D: 3D video


Played back on a 3DTV (via a mini HDMI which isn't supplied) and the effect is decent. It's not as ‘in your face’ as you would expect but the 3D is used more as a depth cue. Colours could have been turned up a notch, but the sound (which is recorded to dual microphones), gives off a decent stereo effect. In all, we could get around 80 minutes of 3D footage on the internal memory – which equates to  10 minutes of 3D per gig of space.

Switch to 2D and you have the Bloggie we all know and love. Footage at 1080p/30fps is clear and our 2D and 3D stills (both taken at 5MP) also look sharp.

While we did find the mode ring around the record button annoying and the lack of touchscreen a blow, for decent 3D shooting on a budget, the Sony Bloggie 3D is more-than recommended.