Sony Announces DCR-IP220, World's First 2 MegaPixel Camcorder, Also Announces DCR-IP55, Plus an EZ Editor for MicroMV

by News Editor
Published on Aug 5, 2002 12:00 AM



Sony has announced the DCR-IP220 in the US, which it announced earlier last week in Japan. Sony has also brought the DCR-IP55 over to the US, which has been available in Japan and Europe since March. Both camcorders are MircoMV. The DCR-IP220 includes a 2.1 Mega Pixel CCD, the first camcorder to have a 2 Mega Pixel CCD. The DCR-IP55 includes a fold down hand grip.

While the IP220 includes a 2.1 Mega Pixel CCD, the IP55 has a 1 Mega Pixel CCD. Both camcorders have a 10x optical, 200x digital zoom. The two new MicroMV camcorders include Night Shot, which the first two MicroMV camcorders (the IP5 and IP7BT) did not have. The MicroMV cassettes are 70% smaller than standard MiniDV tapes, although they can only record 60 minutes of video and when you first transfer MicroMV video from the camcorder to the computer, it is in a proprietarty format that only Sony software can work with.

Both camcorders include a 2.5 in. touch screen LCD. Both camcorders include Network Hanycam features that allow you to email, surf the web and post pictures and video to an online album. It sounds as though the feature is pretty much the same as it was on the IP7BT, except with one major upgrade, and I'll quote the Sony press release: "The DCR-IP220 is the first Network Handycam camcorder to provide connectivity through the America Online (AOL) service and will allow AOL members to enjoy all of the networking features with the exception of receiving e-mail messages." This is a really great addition.

The DCR-IP220 includes a zoom ring for controlling the zoom. The ring was included most likely because of the camcorder's small size. I was very angry about the zoom ring when the IP220 was announced in Japan, I'm unsure of whether or not the IP220 has a zoom ring or a focus ring.

The IP220 can take stills up to 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution. The LCD screen on the IP220 is located on the back. The camcorder includes a pop-up flash and is really small. In the japanese product images it was pictured to fit in the palm of your hand.

Sony has also announced a EZ Editor package for MicroMV. Previouslly the company had announced such packages for MiniDV and Digital8 camcorders. Doing so now doubles the number of programs you can edit MicroMV footage with - certainly an improvement. The kit will sell for $100. The camcorders should be available in October 2002, with the IP220 selling for about $2000, and the IP55 selling for about $1,500.