DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

Sony's New Hard Disk Drive Camcorders Simplify Video Sharing

LAS VEGAS(CES Booth #14200), Jan. 7, 2007--The escalation of sharing user-created content on the Internet has generated demand for camcorders that offer simplified recording and virtually effortless video sharing.

Sony, the U.S. market leader in the hard disk drive format, is responding to this demandwith five new HDD models for its 2007 Handycam® camcorder lineup. Pre-orders for these products will begin tomorrow at www.sonystyle.com/handycam.

"The long recording times of our hard disk drive camcorders are designed to capture life's unscripted times, beyond school plays and music recitals," said Linda Vuolo, director of marketing for camcorder products at Sony Electronics. "Because you never know where life will take you, using an camcorder that records to a hard drive means you have hours of recording capacity to capture those moments."

The DCR-SR300 model is the pinnacle of the new hard disk Handycam camcorder line with a 40GB hard drive, advanced video and audio recording features, and priced around $1,000. This model features Sony's Super SteadyShot® optical image stabilization system, designed to deliver virtually blur-free results for both digital stills and video.

The Smooth Slow recording feature increases the record rate from 60 fields per second to 240 fps for three seconds, so you can capture fast movements like a golf swing. The three-second video is played back over 12 seconds for a better look at the action. Users can also record an audio track to narrate the content of the video.

Dual-record mode also allows high-quality still photos to be shot while recording motion video at the same time. Sony's ClearVid™ CMOS Sensor makes both the Smooth Slow recording and the dual-record mode possible.

The DCR-SR300 model can capture four-megapixel still images when the camcorder is recording video and a six-megapixel image when the unit in the still image mode.

The DCR-SR200 HDD camcorder, which will be available for about $850, is equipped with a similar sensor and features both of the above mentioned recording modes. The dual-record mode of this model allows it to take two-megapixel still images while recording and four-megapixel still images when shooting photos only.

Both the DCR- SR300 andDCR-SR200 models feature high-quality audio with Dolby® Digital 5.1 channel surround sound recording and an active interface shoe that can support an optional ECM-HW1 Bluetooth® microphone for enhanced center channel sound.

They each have 40GB hard drives, offering about 28 hours of video recording in long-play mode, more than 14 hours in standard mode and about nine hours of footage in high-quality mode.

The new DCR-SR82 model, with its 60GB hard drive, is an ideal hard disk camcorder when recording time is paramount. It offers the longest recording capacity of any ofthese new Handycam models, ranging from 14 to 41 hours of video, depending on recording mode. It will be available for about $750.

Offering long-recording capacity along with other standard features,Sony's DCR-SR62 model will soon be available for $650. The recording capacity for its 30GB hard drive can range from seven to 20 hours of video recording. It also has a 2.7-inch wide (16:9) Touch Panel Swivel Screen™ LCD display and takes one-megapixel still images.

Sony's fifth new HDD camcorder, the DCR-SR42 model, offers an 40X optical zoom to capture the action up close, even if you're far away. It has a 30GB hard drive and will be available for about $600.

Hard Drive, Easy to Like

Sony's new HDD camcorders are capable of low-light video recording with the auto slow shutter functionality, providing a range of two-to-five-lux performance to guarantee brighter video in dim environments. Each model has a Memory Stick® Duo media slot to facilitate still image capture.

There is also a full line of camcorder accessories available, including lights, lenses, microphones, InfoLithium® batteries, chargers and cables.

Record and Protect

To protect hours of recorded video on the hard disk drive, Sony makes its hard drive camcorders with the HDD Smart Protection System to reduce the likelihood of data loss in the event the camera is dropped or mishandled.

The 3G sensor detects a sudden acceleration, caused by a fall, and instantly lifts the writer heads from the hard drive, preventing damage from impact. If there is a drop or fall while the camcorder is recording, the camcorder is designed to buffer the video stream until the drive is stable and operational again before writing the stored data to disk. Sony's HDD Handycam models also include physical shock absorbers to protect the hard disk drive.

Sharing Kept Simple

All of the new HDD camcorders include a Handycam® Station that can connect the camcorder to a personal computer, television set or a DVDirect® DVD recorder with the supplied USB and AV cables.

The Handycam Station features a One Touch Disc Burn button to automatically burn video to a DVD disc via a PC or without a PC when attached to a DVDirect recorder. In either case, the recorder can automatically detect the camcorder's newest content and seamlessly burn the footage to a blank DVD, eliminating the need to cue the new recordings.

The new camcorders are also packaged with DVD authoring software to edit video once downloaded to a PC.

All of them will be available online at sonystyle.com, as well as at Sony Style® retail stores and authorized dealers nationwide beginning in March.