Sony announced sixteen new camcorders at CES this year. The company's new cameras range from a $1500 high definition camcorder with a built-in GPS to a  $170 "Webbie" designed for easy video uploads to YouTube.

Sony showed off a total of five new traditional high defintion camcorders. All five record video in full 1920 x 1080 resolution in the AVCHD format. One of the most interesting features of the new line is the built-in GPS and geotagging found in the company's top three models which uses NAVTEQ maps to plot photos and videos on a map that can be viewed on the camcorder's LCD screen.

• HDR-XR520V: has a 240 GB HDD, Sony's new 1/3.15-inch back-illuminated Exmor-R CMOS sensor, geotagging with on-screen mapping, a 37mm G-lens, automatic backlight correction, smile shutter, and face detection. The camcorder has an accessory shoe, headphone and microphone jacks, a control dial, touch screen LCD, and will be able to take 12-megapixel pictures as a stand-alone still camera and 8.3-megapixel stills while also recording video. Available in March for an MSRP of $1500.
• HDR-XR500V: mostly identical spec-wise to the XR520, with a 120 GB hard drive. Available in March for an MSRP of $1300.
• HDR-XR200V: has a 120 GB HDD, built-in GPS and geotagging, a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T lens, smile shutter and face detection, and can take photographs at a 4-megapixel resolution. Available in March for an MSRP of $1000.
• HDR-XR100: mostly the same features as the XR200, without the built-in GPS and with only an 80 GB HDD. Available in March for an MSRP of $750.
• HDR-CX100: records video onto embedded 8 GB of flash memory, or onto a Memory Stick rather than a hard drive. Will be available in red, silver, and black in March for an MSRP of $600.

In addition to the traditional HD camcorder additions, Sony added two new "Webbie" models this year. The cameras capture MPEG-4 video and can take 5-megapixel still photos, saving everything to a Memory Stick Pro card.

• MHS-PM1: has an upright design similar to "web" camcorders, such as the Flip Mino, with a rotating swivel lens. Available in April in eggplant, orange, and silver for $170.
• MHS-CM1: designed to look like a traditional camcorder, the camera has a 5x optical zoom and video light. Available now in eggplant, orange, and silver for $200.

 

Sony announced eight new standard definition camcorders: three HDD models, two DVD-burning models, and three using flash memory. The three hard drive and three flash drive models offer direct connection with Sony's DVD Direct Express DVD player for memory archival and playback. All eight cameras have 2.7-inch touchscreen LCDs.

 

• DCR-SR87: records video onto an 80 GB HDD or Memory Stick Pro, has a 25x optical Carl Zeiss Vaio-Tessar zoom lens, 1-megapixel CDD, and a touch panel LCD. Available in February for an MSRP of $500.
• DCR-SR67: records video onto an 80 GB HDD or Memory Stick pro and has a 60x optical Carl Zeiss Vaio-Tessar zoom lens. Available in February for an MSRP of $450.
• DCR-SR47: records video onto a 60 GB HDD or Memory Stick Pro and has a 60x optical Carl Zeiss Vaio-Tessar zoom lens. Available in red, blue, and silver in February for an MSRP of $400.
• DCR-SX60: records video onto Memory Stick Pro cards, as well as to its 16 GB of embedded flash memory, and has a 60x optical Carl Zeiss Vaio-Tessar zoom lens. Available in March for an MSRP of $370.
• DCR-SX41: records video onto Memory Stick Pro cards, as well as to its 8 GB of embedded flash memory, and has a 60x optical Carl Zeiss Vaio-Tessar zoom lens. Available in March for an MSRP of $300.
• DCR-SX40: records video onto Memory Stick Pro cards, as well as to its 4 GB of embedded flash memory, and has a 60x optical Vario-Tessar lens. Available in March for an MSRP of $270.
• DCR-DVD850: records video onto a 3-inch DVD-R disc, its 16 GB of internal memory, or a Memory Stick pro Duo card, and has a 60x optical Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. Available in February for an MSRP of $430.
• DCR-DVD650: records video onto a 3-inch DVD-R disc or a Memory Stick Pro card, and has a 60x optical Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. Available in February for an MSRP of $300.