Canon unveils HR10: its first AVCHD camcorder

Granted, Sony and Panasonic got into the AVCHD game quite some time ago, but you won't catch us griping about more competition. The relatively small HR10 sports a CMOS sensor, Digic DVII processor, optical image stabilization, a 2.7-inch LCD monitor, HDMI / component outputs, USB 2.0, and a miniSD slot for saving 3.1-megapixel stills. Additionally, the unit touts Full HD capability, a 10x optical zoom lens, and instant AF, and users can record directly to three-inch DVD-R / DVD-RW discs in a variety of bitrates. Notably, the DVD camcorder won't come bundled with any sort of video editing software, but it will be hitting store shelves for those still interested this August for $1,199.

[Via CamcorderInfo]

[matt @ May 7th 2007 9:50AM]

three inch, right?

[Nando @ May 7th 2007 10:01AM]

That's what your girlfriend said, Matt... :snap!:

Just playing, man!

Neat. Is there some video footage of it so we can check out its quality?

[Lex @ May 7th 2007 11:12AM]

What the heck is a "1/2.7-inch CMOS sensor"?

[JTM @ May 7th 2007 5:22PM]

With CCD's and CMOS sensors, the convention has been to measure them as fractions with 1 as the numerator. 1/2.7 inch would be slightly larger than 1/3 inch and slightly smaller than 1/2 inch. You can convert it to a number if the fraction confuses you (like it does me). 1/2.7-inch is .37 inch.

[DerekPowell @ May 7th 2007 2:07PM]

A complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor sensor that's 1/2.7 of an inch?

just a hunch

[Rick Lyon @ May 7th 2007 5:13PM]

Curiously. THese need Sony's BRD players to watch? Or you hook the camera up to the TV? Just wondering how this works without a next gen BRD player in 5 years from now if BRD doesn't work out? Do macs even play the smaller discs?

[tekdroid @ May 7th 2007 6:29PM]

Rick, no you don't need Blu-Ray or HD-DVD (it wouldn't make sense for someone to buy a cam and require any of those to actually play the movies). Think of it as a regular video camera: self-contained.

AVCHD is simply a higher-definition format (that can't be edited cost/time-effectively, IMO). See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD

I prefer to record in standard definition, myself - with sane editing speeds.

[Rick Lyon @ May 7th 2007 6:39PM]

Ah, you know, I think I was confusing the burned disc on your computer is playable on BRD players/HD DVD players (depending on editing app I guess). So basically, it's self contained, so you can't burn dvds and send them out to everyone, unless they are down rezzed? Or, you can buy a few hundred dollar burner and burn BRD type discs that may not last a few years before being replaced by another format.

As much as I love HDTV, and would love to record my kids in HD and watch it on my HDTV, I'm just nervous about getting stuck with a limited device.