Sony announced Tuesday what is claims is the worldis smallest and lightest high definition consumer camcorder at 1.5 pounds with full high definition (HD) resolution based on HDV 1080i -- about four times the resolution of standard definition video.
The HDR-HC1 (see photo below) is only Sonyis second HD camera and features a 3 Megapixel CMOS chip which records 1080 lines of interlaced HDV video, a 10x optical zoom, 120X digital zoom, a hybrid focus/zoom ring, Memory Stick Duo, and a 2.7-inch color, widescreen, liquid crystal pullout display. The display includes touchscreen technology and has a resolution of 123K pixels. The camcorder is capable of recording both HD video as well as SD 480 lines interlaced video.
The camcorder can capture still images at 2.76 megapixels with a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,440 pixels.
The HDR-HC1 includes manual audio control, a proprietary hot shoe, manual color shift, white balance shift, spot metering, spot focus and sharpness adjustment, .
The Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 camcorder will become available in July at a retail price of US$2,499.99.
