You know who you are. You're not shooting home videos, you shoot art. Thus, the two newest Handycam's from Sony are so you. Quite a bit more advanced than the camcorder your neighbor uses to shoot his kid's recitals, but not quite up there with George Lucas' collection.
These new HDV Handycams, the HDR-FX1000 and the HVR-Z5J HD, have 24p scanning and the HVR-Z5U can record on either DVCAM or an optional CompactFlash adapter. They can record 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, though that gets downconverted to 1,440 x 1,080 when you record directly to miniDV. Both cameras use three of Sony's ClearVid 1/3-inch CMOS sensor chips.
What's the difference between the two units?
The HDR-FX1000 will retail for $3,200, and the HVR-Z5U will go for $5,000.
“Professionals need features like balanced audio, XLR inputs, timecode and more,” said Bob Ott,
vice president of professional audio and video products at Sony
Electronics. “They also need access to technical resources to help them
with issues like integrating with non-linear editing systems. This is
where a professional solution like the HVR-Z5U is an appropriate
choice.”
Click the link for the full press release with tons more details. These are exciting new products that put professional quality into the hands of everyday cinematographers. —Leslie Shapiro
