Sony Unveils Five Big New HD Camcorders: HDR-XR520, HDR-XR500, HDR-XR200, HDR-XR100, and HDR-CX100

Sony News Coverage

Sony High Definition Camcorders

Sony Standard Definition HDD Camcorders

Sony Standard Definition Flash Memory Camcoders

Sony Standard Definition DVD  Camcorders

Sony "Webbie HD" MP4 Camcorders

Sony 2008 Camcorders Returning for 2009

Sony HDR-XR520

Complete Sony HDR-XR520 Photo Gallery

January 7, 2009 – Today at CES, Sony announced five new high definition camcorders—four in the hard disk drive (HDD) category and one in the flash memory category. The four new HDD camcorders are the HDR-XR520, the HDR-XR500, the HDR-XR200, and the HDR-XR100. Sony's new high definition flash camcorder will be the HDR-CX100. All five new models will record in full 1920 x 1080 in the AVCHD format.

The star of Sony's lineup is the new 1/3.15-inch back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensor, which Sony is featuring in its top two models, the HDR-XR500 and HDR-XR520. The new sensor design moves the photodiode from beneath the circuitry wires to above; presumably less interference will mean improved sensitivity, particularly in low light conditions. Camcorders with the new sensor will also be capable of capturing 12-megapixel still photos.

The top consumer camcorders from Sony will see several other improvements as well. The six-blade aperture G-lens from Sony's prosumer line will make its way to the top consumer models, as well as Sony's new built-in GPS and geo-tagging feature. Some of the high def camcorders will also benefit from other technological upgrades, like a new automatic backlight correction, improved optical stabilization, and new Smile Shutter and Face Detection. Several of the new Sony camcorders will also feature new highlight playback and power-on by LCD.

The HDR-XR520 replaces the HDR-SR12 (Review, Specs, $1417.66) as Sony's top-of-the-line high definition, hard disc drive camcorder. The XR520 features the new 1/3.15-inch back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensor. The internal HDD offers twice the capacity of last year's top model, with 240GB of space for up to 92 hours of video. The XR520 will also feature the 37mm G-lens with six-blade aperture, GPS geo-tagging, and improvements to the optical image stabilization, backlight correction, smile shutter, and face detection. In addition to capturing 12-megapixel photos in still camera mode, the XR520 will allow dual recording with 8.3-megapixel stills. Like last year's HDR-SR12, the HDR-XR520 will offer plenty of extras for more experienced videographers, including microphone and headphone jacks, accessory shoe, viewfinder, cam control dial, and a 3.2-inch, 921,000-pixel touch screen LCD.

Sony’s other top-of-the-line high definition HDD camcorder, the HDR-XR500, is identical to the XR520 with a single exception: the HDD capacity is 120GB rather than 240GB.

Sony HDR-XR500

Complete Sony HDR-XR500 Photo Gallery

Replacing the popular HDR-SR10 (Specs, $999.95) from last year is the HDR-XR200. The XR200 will not be receiving Sony's new Exmor-R CMOS sensor or the 6-blade G-lens aperture; it will instead carry over much of the same optics and processing from the SR10. The XR200 will, however, feature the built-in GPS and geo-tagging of Sony's top two models and will benefit from the technological improvements to optical image stabilization, smile shutter, and face detection. Still image capture on the XR200 is limited to 4-megapixels (the same as last year's SR10) and the lens is the same 15x optical Carl Zeiss zoom lens. As with the SR10, there is no cam control dial for making manual picture adjustments; all manual control is performed through the 2.7-inch, 211,00-pixel touch screen LCD. There is, however, one major upgrade from the SR10: capacity has been increased to 120GB.

Sony HDR-XR200

Complete Sony HDR-XR200 Photo Gallery

Expanding their high def HDD lineup, Sony has added a fourth contender, the HDR-XR100. This camcorder will be a slimmed down version of the XR200, with similar optics and processing, but fewer features. The XR100 will carry the improvements in optical image stabilization, shutter smile, and face detection, but will no come withthe built-in GPS for geo-tagging. As with the XR200, there is no viewfinder or cam control dial. The XR100 will also feature a smaller 10x optical zoom lens. Though the 80GB HDD is smaller than Sony's other HDD models, it is still larger than most of the camcorders from 2008.

Sony HDR-XR100

Complete Sony HDR-XR100 Photo Gallery

Rounding out the lineup of new high definition camcorders is the HDR-CX100, a new flash memory camcorder from Sony. The HDR-CX100 is nearly identical to the HDR-XR100, only the 80GB hard drive will be replaced with embedded flash memory. The CX100 is also the only high definition model to offer Sony's new array of color options; the camcorder will be available in red, black, or silver.

Sony HDR-CX100

Complete Sony HDR-CX100 Photo Gallery

These five new models will round out Sony's high def AVCHD lineup with three models being continued from 2008: the HDR-CX12 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $809.99), HDR-TG1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $698.77), and HDR-HC9 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $849.00) (two MemoryStick camcorders and a MiniDV camcorder). That makes for a total of eight high definition, AVCHD camcorders from Sony in 2009—a new high that certainly heralds the growing adoption of high definition videography.

With five new camcorders, consumers will have a range of price options as well: the HDR-XR520 is expected to retail for $1499, the HDR-XR500 for $1299, the HDR-XR200 for $999, the HDR-XR100 for $749, and the HDR-CX100 for $599. The mid-range HDR-XR200 will be leading Sony's lineup with an expected arrival next month, while the other four high definition models are scheduled to hit retailers in March.