Sony Camcorders

At the 2010 CES, Sony unveiled 13 hard disk drive and flash memory-based camcorders with new technologies in both high-definition and standard-definition options.

“Our new camcorder lineup is one of a kind and truly offers something for everyone who wants to capture important moments,” said Andy Bubala, director of the camcorder business at Sony Electronics. “For consumers looking for compact designs along with best-in-class features, this lineup creates a new standard.”

Sony expanded its back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor to all HD models. The sensor, engineered to produce higher sensitivity and reduced image noise for better low-light performance in twilight and candlelit scenes, now employs an algorithm for 2x faster “quick AF” compared to previous Handycams.

Some of the new camcorders include a wide-angle G lens that captures an approximately 2x larger shooting area than previous models. And improvements were made to Sony’s Optical Steady Shot image stabilization with active mode by expanding the three-way shake-canceling feature across the full zoom range. This helps reduce the effects of hand shake in three directions: vertical and horizontal shake are corrected by optical image stabilization and lateral-roll shake is corrected via electronic image stabilization.

Sony also leveraged its high-speed Bionz processor to create features like golf shot and intelligent auto (iAuto). With golf shot, users can check their swing frame by frame, as the camcorder renders two seconds of motion into a sequence of 22 still images—grabbed at 240 frames per second. Results can be viewed as a slow motion video or a multiframe composite image.

The iAuto feature detects the camcorder’s surroundings and continually optimizes settings in real-time for 90 unique scenes. Several “smart” features have been expanded to more models, including face touch; users select a person to be prioritized for focus, color, exposure and Smile Shutter technology by touching a detected face on the screen and the camcorder will remember them for the entire session.

Other features include embedded GPS and geotagging; highlight playback that enables the camcorder to generate a video slideshow by adding theme transitions and music; the ability to automatically up-convert content to 60 progressive fps when connected via HDMI cable to HDTVs; and a new user interface that adds scroll search for all menu items and a customizable shortcut menu.
 
High-Definition Models for All Skill Levels
All new HD Handycams feature the Exmor R CMOS sensor, iAuto, face touch, highlight playback, 60p output and the new user interface, in addition to capturing content in full 1,920x1,080 high-def video recording at 24Mbps.

Sony showed entry-level HD camcorder options in hard drive (HDR-XR150) and flash memory (HDR-CX150 and HDR-CX110) formats. The HDR-XR150 employs a 120GB hard drive for 50 hours of HD video; the HDR-CX150 has 16GB of embedded flash memory for six hours of HD video, and the HDR-CX110 allows for customizable capacity with optional memory cards. These camcorders also feature: a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 25x optical zoom lens; 3.1MP still photo capture; Steady Shot with active mode; and a 2.7-inch LCD screen. The HDR-XR150, HDR-CX150 and HDR-CX110 are available for $700, $550 and $500, respectively, in select colors.

Sony also debuted the HDR-XR350V with a 160GB hard drive, the HDR-CX350V with 32GB of flash memory and the HDR-CX300 with 16GB of flash memory. These models have step-up features: a wide-angle G lens (29.8mm for video and 27.4mm for still images); Optical Steady Shot with active mode from wide to telephoto; golf shot; 12x optical zoom; 7MP photo capture; and embedded GPS (except HDR-CX300).

At the top of Sony’s camcorder lineup are the HDR-XR550V, with a 240GB hard drive for 101 hours of HD video, and the HDR-CX550V with 64GB of embedded flash memory for 26 hours of HD video. They feature wide-angle G lenses, 12MP photo capture, an assignable dial for manual control, a color electronic viewfinder, 3.5-inch LCDs and microphone/headphone inputs. The HDR-XR550V, HDR-CX550V, HDR-XR350V, HDR-CX350V and HDR-CX300 will be available late February for $1,400, $1,300, $1,000, $900 and $800, respectively. sony.com