14 DAY TRIAL // The AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition compression format) camcorders, first introduced by Sony, are rapidly flooding the HD camcorders market. With the release of their first AVCHD-HR10 DVD Camcorder, Canon is trying to catch up with Sony's and Panasonic's elongated AVCHD cameras.
The camera is the 9th AVCHD release since the summer of 2006 while editing software was only available as of last week. Sony already unveiled three DVD and three HDD camcorders, all being part of the AVCHD "family".
The HR10 is practically built on the skeleton of the Cannon HV20 HDV camcorder. It's not a super-slim camera like the Sanyo Xacti, but it's still small compared to a water-freak Bonsai tree (my latest obsession). The camcorder can capture high-resolution 3.1 megapixel still images, sports CMOS sensor, Digic DVII processor, displays Bonsai movies on a 2.7-inch LCD monitor, HDMI/component outputs, USB 2.0 and a miniSD slot for, well, storing Bonsai stills of course. Moreover, the camera boasts full HD capability, a 10x optical zoom lens, and Auto Focus. The HR10 supports both DVD-R and DVD-RW and records in the bit rates of 12Mbps, 9Mbps, 7Mbps and 5Mbps. HR10 can store only up to 27 minutes recorded in bit rates of 12Mbps.
"This AVCHD is the first video capture technology that's not media dependent", stated Joe Bogacz, Assistand Director, Product Development and Support, Video Division at Canon. "This is going to open a lot of doorways". Yeah, the same doors that Sonny opened when they launched their first AVCHD cams.
The HR10 DVD Camcorder will ship in August for the MSRP of a cent short of 1200$.
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