Sony's Announces Tiny High-Def Camcorder

Sony Corp. has announced its smallest high-definition camcorder to date.

The HDR-CX7, which is due to go on sale in June, records 1080i high-definition video directly to a MemoryStick Pro Duo card. Until now its camcorders have relied on MiniDV tape, DVD discs or hard-disk drives to store video, but the memory card slot and associated electronic take up less space and mean a smaller, lighter camera.

Using a memory card also means that getting video into a PC is as easy as removing the card from the camera and slotting it into a card reader. The video must still be copied to the PC's hard-disk for viewing, but a software upgrade due mid-year will make it possible to watch video directly from high-speed Pro Duo- or Pro HG-type MemoryStick cards on both a PC and the PlayStation 3.

The flash memory-based recording also helps reduce power consumption and noise over other methods. But it doesn't come without disadvantages. Memory cards are quite expensive, and users will be able to store only about 30 minutes of video on a 4G-byte card in the camera's highest quality mode.

Behind the lens is a 3-megapixel image sensor, and the camera can also capture 6-megapixel still images, Sony said. Other features include a 10x optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch wide-screen, touch-sensitive LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor.

The CX7 weighs 450 grams and measures 69 millimeters by 67mm by 129mm. It will cost about US$1,200 in the U.S.

Sony will also begin selling two hard-disk drive-based HD camcorders in June. The HDR-SR7 has a 60G-byte drive and the HDR-SR5 a 40G-byte drive. The SR7 comes with the same 3-megapixel image sensor used in the CX7, while the SR5 uses a 2-megapixel sensor. In the U.S. the cameras will cost $1,400 and $1,100, respectively. Prices and launch dates for other markets have not been announced.

All three camcorders record in the AVCHD format, which was developed by Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic) and uses MPEG4 compression.

On Thursday Sony also announced an update to its Vegas 7 video editing software that adds support for AVCHD files. An upgrade for the consumer "Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition 8" software, adding AVCHD support, will be available from July, Sony said.