New Sony HD camcorders stop the shakes

Stephen Withers
Friday, 27 February 2009 01:07

Opinion and Analysis

A new range of HD camcorders from Sony offers remarkable image stabilisation.

I don't follow the camcorder market closely, but as I do tinker with video I welcomed the opportunity to see Sony's latest high-definition models in action.

The degree of optical image stabilisation achieved is quite remarkable. While optical stabilisation is usually intended to damp out the effects of a slightly shaky hand, Sony has come up with something that goes far beyond that.

This was demonstrated by mounting the Handycam alongside last year's model on a sprung platform, with both cameras feeding separate displays.

The Sony presenter then walked past the table, and the vibrations from the footsteps set the platform bouncing.

Footage from the older camera would have been unusable, but the picture from the new one was about as stable as you could expect a handheld camcorder to be.

Sony claims a ten times wider camera shake correction angle, and I can easily believe that.

Please read on.