Sony’s HD Camcorders Rock the High Def, One Solid State, Two with a Hard Disk

Sony announced three HDTV camcorders that are smaller, lighter and more efficient than their predecessors. Top of the heap is Sony’s first flash-based HD camcorder, the HDR-CX7 (pictured above) that Sony calls “the smallest and lightest AVCHD HD camcorder” on the market. It’s so small because it’s all solid-state, recording 30 minutes of its best quality 1080i video onto a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo. Its $1200 price is slightly better than Panasonic’s SDHC camcorders, which were the originators of this AVCHD format. Cool—Sony beating up on Panny at its own game.

Sony also rolled out its SR5 ($1294) and SR7 ($1696) 1080i camcorders, and both have a 2.7″ widescreen LCD and a 10x optical zoom. The SR5 can record five hours of 1080i HD AVCHD video on its 40GB internal hard disk. The SR7 takes it up a notch with image stabilization, a slightly larger 1/2.9″CMOS sensor that can snag 6.1 megapixel stills and a 60GB disk that can store 14 hours of 1080i goodness. Sony says all these cameras will be shipping in June, 2007. – Charlie White