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Sony Unveils World's Smallest HD Camcorder

Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 12:00 AM - by

Sony unveiled three new AVCHD/H.264 high definition camcorders on Wednesday. The HDR-CX7 model (3 megapixels) can record nearly 3 hours of 1080i video on an 8 GB memory stick.

The camera weighs 15 ounces (0.42 kg) with the supplied battery.


Sony HDR-CX7

Two additional models utilize hard disks. The new HDR-SR7 AVCHD high-definition camcorder (3 megapixels) can record more than 22 hours of full HD 1080i video on its built-in 60 GB hard disk drive, while the HDR-SR5 model (2 megapixels) with a 40 GB hard drive can hold more than 15 hours of footage (LP modes).

The cameras feature a "HDD Smart Protection system" to safeguard against data loss, easy connection to PCs via USB, and a 2.7 inch (6.9 cm) LCD display. The cameras also incorporate a "Super SteadyShot" optical stabilization system.

"With Sony's x.v.Color(TM) technology, based on the new international xvYCC color standard, the new camcorders reproduce a much wider data range of colors than the conventional sRGB standard. When connected to a compatible* HDTV via the camcorders' HDMI outputs, home videos sparkle with vivid, natural-looking results," the announcement said.

The HDR-SR5, HDR-CX7 and HDR-SR7 models are scheduled to ship in June and are priced at an estimated US$1,100, $1,200, and $1,400 respectively.

* TMO Note: That means HDMI 1.3.

9 comments from the community.

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Rainy Day said:

member since 07 Jun 2005 with 607 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:46 am

Wonder if the battery is one of Sony’s patented flaming cells?

USB instead of FireWire in a camcorder!? Yuck!

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burrito said:

member since 07 Aug 2005 with 177 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:58 am

when will final cut be able to natively support it?

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acdc1174 said:

member since 16 Apr 2004 with 723 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:00 am

I just purchased a Canon HV-20 last week. I looked at all of the HD camcorder offerings out there wanting to get the latest and greatest technology. I liked the idea of recording to HDD or even better, flash media (hey, no moving parts is ALWAYS a good thing, especially in a handheld unit that IS going to get banged around a lot) One little the companies aren't really trumpeting on these new units is the compression that they are using when recording to HDD or flash media. Many are using proprietary formats and you have to use the bundled software with their special codec in order to edit your footage. Or like Rainy Day noticed, firewire is being abandoned for USB and HDMI. Thanks but no thanks. So, I wasn't able to get the newest technology in terms of the MEDIA I record to. The Canon HV-20 still records to mini DV tape. But I get the ability to export full 1080i video to FC or iMovie via Firewire without having to install any other software. The hot shoe on the unit is a standard size for lights, mics, and other accessories. It has USB and HDMI out also AND it gives me a 24 fps mode to recreate that "motion picture" look. So far I have been very satisfied with both video and audio performance on the unit. Did I mention no additional codecs or 3rd party software to support it?

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rickcurran said:

member since 26 Sep 2006 with 12 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:02 am

New cameras announced but Sony still don't support the AVCHD format in their own Vegas video editing software, it's funny that we expect Apple and other companies to support this format when Sony don't even do so themselves.

The reason these cameras don't support firewire is that there's no need for it as the files are simply transferred off the hard disk onto your computer. Camcorders are just catching up with digital still cameras really, there's never been any firewire support in still cameras really either. USB is a much more common standard, less chips etc to go in the camera and less cost too I would say. That's why the iPod no longer supports firewire either.

I've used the Sony HDR-SR1 and it's a great camera, it just sucks that there's no easy way to use it on a Mac!

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Small White Car said:

member since 02 Jul 2004 with 1960 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:12 am

rickcurran wrote:

The reason these cameras don't support firewire is that there's no need for it as the files are simply transferred off the hard disk onto your computer.

Yup. Firewire was made for sustained data rates and it does it very well. For playing back off a tape it's miles better than USB. That's why you even see it on DVCPRO HD decks that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

But this camera doesn't have tape. For anything using a hard drive or a flash drive there's little reason why firewire or USB would be better than the other. No reason not to use USB in this situation.

EDIT:

Hey, question for the editors! Why is this an iPod Observer story? Last time I checked, all my video cameras hook up to my Mac. I've yet to see a single product or method for hooking a video camera up to an iPod.

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deasys said:

member since 08 Apr 2003 with 296 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:53 pm

No FireWire? No thanks.

It's also incompatible with iMovie and the Final Cut series without intermediate conversion.

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j.martellaro said:

member since 07 Dec 2006 with 97 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:59 pm

Why is this an iPod Observer story?

It's cross-posted to TMO and iPO. Since it's an HD camera that can connect directly to an HDTV, and HDTV (and all things Apple TV) are chartered for iPO, it got cross-posted.

John M.

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Small White Car said:

member since 02 Jul 2004 with 1960 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:17 pm

deasys wrote:
No FireWire? No thanks.

It's also incompatible with iMovie and the Final Cut series without intermediate conversion.

This is like all those direct-to-DVD camcorders out there. Meant for imediate viewing but not editing.

Not for me, but I guess the market of people who never edit must be pretty big since those DVD-cameras sold well for years. They'll move on to this, I suppose.

j.martellaro wrote:
It's cross-posted to TMO and iPO.

I just clicked it on the TMO home page. It took me here. I see that you're right and it's ALSO over there. The cross-posting stuff is kind of confusing. Oh well.

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Bryan said:

member since 11 Jun 2001 with 7340 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:50 pm

Just a little bit of confusion on our end, folks. HD Camcorder-related articles will be branded over at TMO in the future.

Thanks for the interest in the article and the comments!

Bryan

Editor

iPO

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