Camcorder trends at CES 2010

[jackfalbey]

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/CE ... 37386.htm#

2010 looks to be a good year for the camcorder market. Some notable trends:

1) Backlit sensors! This should improve the low-light capability of consumer-grade camcorders quite a bit. How much? We'll have to wait for the field tests...

2) Better automatic settings in the entry-level cams and more manual control in the high-end models.

3) Sony introduces a Memory Stick/SDHC hybrid card slot! Great news for those of us with a bunch of SD/SDHC cards already.

4) WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS-enabled cams. Allows geotagging and uploading to YouTube, etc. right from the cam.

5) Dual SDHC card slots! No more down-time while swapping out a full card; this will be great for long-form events like seminars & school plays.

6) Larger, higher-resolution LCD screens for easier manual focusing.

7) The usual gradual improvements: better lenses, improved sensors, longer optical zooms, higher bitrates for AVCHD, etc.

8) Mini-DVD is extinct.

9) Most major manufacturers introduced several brand new standard-definition models.

10) SDXC cards and slots are starting to make an appearance with 32GB up to 2TB of storage and faster speeds than SDHC.

[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks for the report from the front, Jack!

It sounds like mostly good news.

[jackfalbey]

I wish it was a report from the front! I'd love to go to CES one of these days. These are just my observations compiled from all of the reporting at CNET, Engadget, and Camcorderinfo.