Sony Announces Disc-based Digital Camcorder
Sony has announced the DCM-M1, a disc-based digital camcorder with built-in video capture and editing capabilities. The DCM-M1 records video onto a MiniDisc in MPEG-2 format, and provides instant nonlinear editing through a simple touchscreen interface on the camera’s 3.5-inch LCD screen.
Included in the DCM-M1’s editing interface is support for titling, scene transitions and special effects, as well as touch-screen paint-style graphics. Up to 20 minutes of MPEG-2 video fits onto a single MD, but at the highest resolutions, the recording time shortens to 10 minutes per disc. The DCM-M1 also works as a digital still camera, storing up to 4500 640×480 images on a MiniDisc, and as an audio recorder with a 260-minute capacity. The DCM-M1 can also play back pre-recorded MD audio discs.
Other features of the DCM-M1 include a 10:1 optical zoom (40:1 digital), accessory shoe, mike and headphone jacks, 680k-pixel CCD, Super SteadyShot image stabilization and an Ethernet port for transferring video, audio and/or stills to a computer’s hard drive. Suggested retail price: $2299.