Sony HDR-XR520V Handycam First Impressions Camcorder Review

Being a manufacturer's top-line product, however, comes with its share of difficulties. There is a ton of competition out there and it is going to be difficult for any camcorder to hold its own at the peak. Canon's HF S10 offers a superb set of manual controls and packed in the best options from other manufacturers (like gain control and focus peaking) in an attempt to make a dominating HD device. Samsung has unveiled the HMX-H106, which contains a whopping 64GB of internal flash memory, and Panasonic is sending out the HDC-HS300 and HDC-TM300, which both feature lens rings and Panasonic's traditional wide-range set of manual controls. Still, the Sony HDR-XR520V (as well as HDR-XR500V and XR200V) is the only camcorder with built-in GPS integration, which is something that should set it apart from the crowd.

The HDR-XR520V has a lot riding on its new Exmor R sensor technology. How much work Sony truly put into improving the imager will be revealed once we get a model into our testing labs. If things have really improved as much as Sony says they have, then the HDR-XR520V should be one of the top-notch camcorders of 2009. The camcorder is expected to be available in March for about $1500.