Taking pictures with your camcorder has been a rather useless feature due image sensors that substantially trailed the capabilities of dedicated CCDs and CMOS that are used in digital still cameras. That could change this fall when Sony will introduce a new camera that will use the same 14 Megapixel Exmor sensor that recently celebrated its debut in the company’s NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras. The camcorder will also enable its owners to switch the lenses allowing for much more creative and flexible video recording.
Sony interchangeable lens camcorder concept
Sony has not revealed much information about the new camcorder, but the concept shown via a YouTube video is certainly enticing. A camcorder that allows users to switch lenses just like they do with DSLR cameras. The camcorder, promised to debut this fall, will compatible with E interchangeable lenses that were developed for the NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras as well as Sony’s existing A line of lenses.
This camcorder may not make so much sense for you if you don’t have a Sony camera already or if you simply want to point and shoot your videos. For those who are looking for special effects as well as greater zoom ranges, this may be a welcome new product.
What makes this yet unnamed camcorder also special is the fact that it will include the “same Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor used in Sony’s newest digital still cameras, models NEX-5 and NEX-3,” Sony said. In those cameras, the sensor delivers a resolution of 14.2 megapixels (effective) for still images; the video capturing resolution is 1920x1080i at 17fps (AVCHD) and 1440x1080i at 12 fps (MP4).
According to Sony, the Exmor sensor is about twice as light sensitive as common image sensors and delivers low light images with substantially less noise. In the case of the NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras, Sony goes as far as claiming that they deliver DSLR image quality in a package that is half the size and half the weight. If the company can bring that technology to a camcorder, you would effectively have an enthusiast camcorder that doubles as an almost DSLR.
Whiel there was no further information available, expect the handcorder to carry a hefty price tage. Sony’s NEX-5 and NEX-3 point and shoot cameras are priced from $550 and $650, respectively – more than twice what you have to pay for a decent point and shoot camera today.
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