Today Sony officially announced its NEX-3 and NEX-5 interchangeable lens compacts (which is exciting enough), but at the launch in Sydney they also mentioned that engineers in Japan are currently working on an interchangeable lens Handycam. They even had a concept model on display.
While there were very few firm details, they did say the Handycam would feature the new E-mount lens system used by the NEX-3 and NEX-5, and would record FullHD AVCHD video.
The concept model is unlikely to look anything like the finished product, but the idea of interchangeable lenses for a dedicated video camera is interesting. It will likely end up as a real niche product, but for budding filmmakers wanting to experiment with high quality optics without the cost, it could make a lot of sense.
It will be interesting to see what the finished product looks like, in any case…