Article Summary:

At CES, a few manufacturers announced new HD camcorders. Sony produced two new camcorders to replace the HDR-HC3, the HDR-HC5 and HDR-HC7. Both have a higher resolution CMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss Vario lens and rated at 2 lux minimum, recording in HDV.

JVC showcased their HDD Everio GZ-HD7. The 3CCD camcorder uses the AVCHD codec, writing to a 60GB hard disk for up to 5 hours of HD recording and more at lower resolutions. Fujinon supplies the 10X optical lens and also the mounting system for the 3 1/5” CCDs.

Sanyo presented the successor for the Xacti VPC-HD1, the Xacti VPC-HD2. Boasting to be the smallest HD camcorder, the little camcorder shoots 720P Mpeg4 onto SDHC memory cards. And it can shoot 7 megapixel still pictures as well.

Stay tuned on the Wetpixel Video Gear and Technique forum as 2007 promises to be the year of HD camcorders. Discussions on the new releases, by manufacturer: [Sony] [JVC] [Sanyo]