Sony to Further Expand 35mm Lineup
with New NXCAM™ HD Camcorder
Concept image of the SONY “NXCAM” camcorder under development
Photo courtesy © 2010 Sony Electronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.
Sony announced that it is developing a new type of E-mount interchangeable lens camcorder for professional use that is equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent large format CMOS sensor. This new addition to Sony’s professional NXCAM camcorder line will be available in mid 2011.
Already a key player in the 35mm digital cinematography business with the CineAlta F35 and SRW-9000PL for high-end digital cinema production, Sony has just strengthened its lineup in this category with the recent PMW-F3 announcement. In addition to this, with the new NXCAM HD camcorder currently under development, Sony looks to further strengthen its position in this segment by providing an affordable yet highly capable professional solution for many applications including independent film, music video and corporate productions seeking the cinematic look.
This NXCAM HD camcorder under development will be equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent sensor, a widely used film stock size in the film industry that is designed for capturing motion picture. According to Sony, this new sensor will have extraordinary performance in terms of picture quality and sensitivity, and is able to create rich “Bokeh” effect or beautifully defocused image that is perfect for artistic story telling in motion picture.
Thanks to the adoption of the E-mount interchangeable lens system that is identical to the Alpha “α” series NEX-5, NEX-3 and Handycam NEX-VG10 consumer cameras from Sony, the E-mount lenses will be compatible with this new professional camcorder. In addition, a very short flange back distance (the distance between lens mount surface and sensor surface) allows various Alpha “α” A-mount lenses to be mounted via a mount adaptor (model: LA-EA1). Furthermore, it is also possible to attach many other lenses using third-party mount adaptors. With such flexibility, said Sony, users will be able to experiment with various creative expressions by making use of the characteristics of different optics.
The recording format for this new HD camcorder will be AVCHD, a widely supported format by many non-liner editing software vendors and the same format as the HXR-NX5 NXCAM camcorder.
