Sony NEX-VG10: a new, interchangeable-lens camcorder

Sony today filled in the details on what it calls "the world's first consumer-oriented camcorder with interchangeable lenses," the Sony NEX-VG10, $2000, which Sony first announced two months ago. The NEX-VG10 is large, with a 14-megapixel, APS-sized sensor, the same size as in Sony's new NEX, SLR-like digital cameras. It can capture 1080i resolution video in an AVCHD format and ships with an 18-200mm E series lens.

What makes the NEX-VG10 unique is that it accepts different lenses. Not just E series lenses, such as the E16mm ($250) and the E18-55mm ($300), but also Zeiss and Sony SLR lenses compatible with Sony's Alpha series SLRs. Using those lenses requires an adapter, the LA-EA1. Unlike Sony's SLRs, the NEX-VG10 has lens-based image stabilization.

With such a large sensor, I'd expect the NEX-VG10 to excel in low light situations, allowing accurate detail and color without a lot of noise. Sony says the sensor will give the NEX-VG10 the ability to shoot with a shallow depth of field previously possible only with an SLR. (The small sensors on other camcorders usually limit them to a great depth of field.) Access to a wide variety of lenses, from wide angle to telephoto and specialty lenses, should also give the NEX-VG10 a far greater range of shooting options than other consumer camcorders.

The NEX-VG10 is seen here with a Carl Zeiss SLR
lens, which one would normally use on a Sony
Alpha digital SLR.
Photo: Sony

The APS size sensor gives the NEX-VG10 a 1.5x magnification factor for stills (slightly more for video), meaning a 200mm lens will function much like a 300mm lens for stills.

Here's a quick run down of some other features on the NEX-VG10:

• It can capture 14-megapixel still shots at 7 fps, faster than many entry-level SLRs and faster and at a greater resolution than most camcorders.
• It includes an electronic viewfinder, which most consumer-level models don't have, and a swiveling 3-inch LCD.
• It has a large, quad-capsule spatial array stereo microphone with high directivity.
• It stores video on either Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duo or SD, SDHC or SDXC memory cards.

The NEX-VG10 is about twice as heavy as and much longer than the largest camcorders in our Ratings, available to subscribers. It will be available in September, and ship with Sony Vegas Movie Studio video-editing software (via a download voucher) and a two-hour battery.

Have any thoughts about this pioneering product? Weigh in below.

—Terry Sullivan

—Aaron Bailey