Update: Sony Announces HXR-NX5U Professional AVCHD Camcorder

UPDATE: January 12, 2009 – Sony announced the first member of the NXCAM family this week—the HXR-NX5U. As we wrote in our news piece below, the HXR-NX5U will record AVCHD video to regular Memory Stick Pro Duo cards and SDHC memory cards as well. Sony also announced a prosumer version of the NX5U called the HDR-AX2000. The AX2000 has similar specs to the NX5U, but it is more limited when it comes to connectivity (it has no HD-SDI terminal).

November 18, 2009 – Sony announced today a prototype model of the NXCAM—a professional camcorder that records HD video using the AVCHD compression. The NXCAM is Sony's first professional camcorder line to record video to Memory Stick PRO Duo memory cards and the first to offer AVCHD recording.

The NXCAM will utilize Sony's "G Lens" with a 20x optical zoom and it will include three 1/3-inch CMOS Sensors. As far as specs and features go, the NXCAM is essentially the same camcorder as Sony's HVR-Z5U—except in place of the tape deck are two Memory Stick card slots. An optional 128GB flash memory unit can also be used with the NXCAM, which offers up to 11 hours of AVCHD recording at 24Mbps.

Full 1920 x 1080 HD recording is available on the NXCAM with a variety of bitrate settings (24Mbps maximum). The camcorder can record using either 60i, 24p, or 30p frame rates for 1920 x 1080 recording and it also offers a 720/60p option. In addition to high definition recording with AVCHD, the Sony NXCAM can also record standard definition MPEG-2 video (at 9Mbps).

The LCD on the Sony NXCAM appears to be identical to the one featured on the consumer model, Sony HDR-XR520V, and it is positioned in the same way as the LCD on the Sony HVR-Z5U. The LCD is 3.2 inches in size and has a resolution of 921,000 pixels. The camcorder also has a 0.45-inch EVF.

Sony is planning a worldwide release for the NXCAM in early 2010. A list price has not yet been announced, but it is likely the camcorder will retail at a similar price to Sony's HVR-Z5U. When asked about any future additions to the NXCAM family, specifically a model that offers interchangeable lenses, Bob Ott, vice president of Broadcast & Professional Audio/Video products group at Sony Electronics responded, "anything is possible."