Yes, I do think this will be the year that hi-def video recording becomes mainstream for advanced amateurs and independent videomakers. Sony just announced a small palm-sized HDV camcorder with a retail price around $1700, the HDR-HC3E. It’s a single CMOS chip cam, like the HDR-HC1 I blogged about on Monday, only the new one is smaller and lighter.
I’m not typically a fan of small and light camcorders because they’re hard to keep steady when hand-held, and are generally more fragile. But they’re great for shooting street footage at protests and actions. Also, because small camcorders don’t look “professional,” they are less likely to call attention to themselves or make people nervous.
I might be more likely to go with a small palm-sized HDV cam than a larger one as a backup, simply because it’ll take up less room in a kit bag and be less of a pain to schlep around. So, depending on how well it reviews, I might consider this new one over the HDR-HC1.
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