Just in time for Christmas, Sony will deliver a new entry-level professional HDV camcorder with a documentary-style shoulder-mount design that’s priced under $2,000. The HVR-HD1000U is being targeted at wedding video photographers, educational institutions, and freelancers.

With a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonner T* 10x optical zoom lens, the camcorder supports both HDV and DV. In DV mode, the unit can work exclusively as a DV camcorder. When needed, it can be instantly switched to HD mode. An optical image stabilizer shifts the lens vertically and horizontally to compensate for the polarized light axis in real time.

Equipped with a single 1/2.9-inch CMOS sensor, the system has several downconversion modes that output converted standard-definition signals to legacy production systems while retaining an HD master tape for future use.

The camcorder has both an LCD monitor and an electronic view finder (EVF). The LCD monitor, with a 180-degree tilt mechanism for a high or low angle positioning, is in front of the camera operator when the camcorder is shoulder-mounted. This layout enables traditional EVF monitoring, as well as LCD monitoring for the operator even while the camcorder is held on the shoulder.

A “Smooth Slow Rec” function allows the operator to perform slow-motion playback by capturing images at four times faster than the normal field rate (240 fields/second). In this mode, quad-speed images are captured for three seconds, stored in the camcorder’s built-in buffer memory, and then recorded to tape (in either the HDV, DVCAM, or DV formats) as slow-motion pictures lasting 12 seconds. When using this function, the resolution of the camera image is decreased.

A multi-function assignable lens ring is located on the lens assembly, and any one of the following functions can be assigned to the ring for easy adjustment: focus (default), zoom, brightness, shutter, auto exposure shift and white-balance shift.

For more information, visit http://www.sony.com.