Sony Upgrades Its Flagship Handycams: The HDR-XR550V and HDR-CX550V

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January 6, 2010 –  Today, Sony announced its 2010 flagship Handycams: the flash memory HDR-CX550V and its hard drive sister model, the HDR-XR550V. These two camcorders offer many of the new features that Sony introduced in 2009: a new 6-blade G lens, refurbished menu system, back-illuminated Exmor R sensor, and active stabilization mode. These 2010 models also have some brand new features, including an exciting new card slot that is compatible with both Memory Stick PRO Duo and traditional SD/SDHC memory cards.

The HDR-XR550V represents the more significant upgrade, with many features that last year's XR500V lacked. Experienced videophiles will particularly appreciate the addition of an electronic viewfinder and manual shutter speed control (adjustable via the excellent cam control dial)—both new this year. The XR550V will also gain all the features that were available only on the flash memory CX500V last year. That includes the refurbished menu system (including customizable 'My Menu'), active stabilization mode, and Golf Shot.

The HDR-CX550V Handycam represents the more compact and more affordable of Sony's new flagship camcorders. It has the same basic processing and components of last year's CX500V, but with several significant upgrades. Like the XR550V, the CX550V will include an electronic viewfinder as well as providing manual shutter speed control. It will also offer a non-native 60p output option and in-camera standard definition downconversion. The latter is an especially welcome addition, giving users the ability to record and archive their footage in the highest quality, then export and edit with the smaller, more manageable MPEG-2 files.

Perhaps the most exciting new arrival for these two camcorders is the new memory card slot: a single slot that will be compatible with both Memory Stick PRO Duo cards and traditional SD/SDHC cards. This new slot will be featured on Sony's entire Handycam lineup this year, giving users unprecedented flexibility in sticking with Sony's proprietary memory format or opting for the more univeral SD/SDHC cards.

Both new models will carry over the familiar cam control dial for making precise manual focus adjustments. The slimmer CX550V will utilize the same front-mounted dial that appears on the XR550V, which is a welcomed improvement over the side-mounted dial on last year's CX500V. This year, both models will allow you to use the dial to adjust focus, shutter spead, exposure, and iris/gain. Also returning this year are the NightShot and Low Lux recording modes, white balance shift, 10x optical zoom, Face Index, and GPS.

The HDR-XR550V and HDR-CX550V will record high definition 1920 x 1080 videos using the AVCHD compression method. Both camcorders will record to at a maximum bitrate of 24Mbps. The XR550V records primarily to a 240GB built-in hard disc drive, while the CX550V features 64GB of internal flash memory. Both models will ship this spring.