Sony’s line of Handycam camcorders hark back to the days where optical discs and abundant flash memory were not even available to the masses, and these Handycams can be said to be huge and unwieldy, but that’s the price to pay if you want to preserve your favorite memories in video format. Well, thanks to the advancement of technology over the years, video recorders have become smaller and smaller and yet are more capable than their predecessors. All those factors have resulted in Sony releasing its new HDR-CX520V and HDR-CX500V Handycam camcorders that are more than able to capture full 1,920 x 1,080 high-definition video and up to 12-megapixel stills, storing those on a 64GB or 32GB internal flash memory (depending on the model, of course), which more or less translates to around 25 hours of HD video in LP mode.

Both the HDR-CX520V and HDR-CX500V camcorders will feature 60p output, where your content are automatically converted to 60 progressive frames per second when connected to a compatible high-definition television (obviously, Sony will tell you to use their Bravia line). In addition, avid video enthusiasts will find the Optical SteadyShot with Active Mode feature useful as it comes with a moveable lens element to shift with greater range of motion during camera shake. Along with that you get 3-Way Shake Canceling that will help reduce hand shake in three directions, and these include both vertical and horizontal shake that relies on optical image stabilization while the third uses electronic image stabilization to facilitate corrections for lateral-roll shake.

Inside you will find Sony’s powerful BIONZ imaging processor that boasts a Face Touch function, letting users choose the person’s face to be prioritized by the camcorder when shooting a sea of people. Perfect for loverboys who want to impress their girl who is posing in a crowd. Apart from that, with new technology that can down-convert from AVCHD to MPEG2, Sony does away with the need for a computer, making it a snap to create simple DVDs using the optional DVDirect Express (VRD-P1) DVD writer. Expect to pick up the HDR-CX500V and HDR-CX520V sometime this September for approximately $1,100 and $1,300, respectively.

Press Release