Choose from SD and HD camcorders

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Our friendly guide to picking the right camcorder. If you’re buying your first Handycam® – or upgrading your current camcorder – it’s worth answering a few simple questions to help understand exactly what you need.

High Definition (HD) camcorders?

Full High Definition (HD) or 1080 HD video is packed with around five times more detail – or “resolution” – than ordinary Standard Definition pictures.

There’s also HD Ready or 720p HD – which is lower resolution than Full HD, but still higher than Standard Definition.

Incredibly clear and realistic with beautiful colours, HD videos can be enjoyed on your BRAVIA® TV, Blu-ray Disc™ Player, PLAYSTATION®3, VAIO PC or any device that supports HD video playback. And don’t forget: you can watch HD images on your ordinary Standard Definition TV set, too.

Full HD video cameras typically cost a little more than Standard Definition camcorders. But you’ll see the difference with fantastic pictures that take you closer to reality.

... or Standard Definition (SD) camcorders?

Standard Definition has been the normal way of presenting television pictures for many years now. So if you’re watching terrestrial TV transmissions or films on DVD, you’re likely to be watching Standard Definition.

SD camcorders still offer a great way to capture crisp video images for enjoying on any TV set at an affordable price.

High Definition (HD)

Standard Definition (SD)

Memory Stick™ camcorders

Super-small camcorder that’s light and easy to carry. Memory Stick™ Handycam® doesn’t need any discs or tapes, so there’s less to pack for weekends away or nights out. Some models also have internal memory on board, so you can start shooting without an optional Memory Stick™.

After shooting, connect your Memory Stick™ camcorder to your HD TV via HDMI™ cable, burn footage to DVD using our DVDirect burner or just slip the tiny Memory Stick™ into your PLAYSTATION®3, VAIO computer or any other compatible product. You can always connect to any PC using the supplied USB cable as well.

The latest Memory Stick™ camcorders have a Direct Copy function so you can even transfer your movies straight to an external Hard Disk Drive without a PC, and playback on your TV direct from your Handycam®.

Internal memory capacity (HD camcorders): Up to 26hr Full HD on 64GB internal memory (Handycam® CX550V)

Internal memory capacity (SD camcorders): Up to 11hr 55min on 16GB internal memory (Handycam® SX53/73)

Hard Disk Drive (HDD camcorders)

HDD camcorders record directly onto a built-in Hard Disk Drive, which means there's no need to constantly change discs or tapes. A Hard Disk Drive camcorder is usually slightly larger than a Memory Stick™ model but offers generous recording time – up to 101 hours on a massive 240GB HDD Handycam®.

After shooting, it’s easy to transfer your footage to a PC or burn onto DVD for safekeeping and sharing. You can also connect to your HD TV via HDMI™ cable or use the Direct Copy function on the latest camcorders to transfer movies to an external Hard Disk Drive and playback straight to your TV from your Handycam®.

Longest recording hours with HDD camcorders (High Definition): Up to 101hr Full HD on 240GB HDD (Handycam® XR550V)

Longest recording hours with HDD camcorders (Standard Definition): Up to 91hr 50min on 120GB HDD (Handycam® SR78)