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Sony announced at PMA 2008 the new full HD PMW-EX3, the direct descendant of the PMW-EX1. If you check out its form factor and that of the new XL H1S and XL H1A Canons, you will immediately find plenty of similarities and will immediately understand how much Canon has influenced the prosumer segment.

However, Sony made its new handheld as mean as possible with a lot of neat features:

• Native 1920×1080p resolution.
• 24p availability for cinema-like feel.
• 3 x 1/2 inch CMOS sensors.
• XDCAM HD EX recording.
• Interchangeable lens.
• Uncompressed HD-SDI output.
• USB and Firewire connectivity.
• Dual SxS flash card storage.
• Support for external 60GB hard-disc storage.

In fact, the Sony PMW-EX3 is what I was hoping for the Canon XL H1S to be. There is of course Sony’s own SxS cards that are repeating the Memory Stick story, but otherwise there is hardly anything missing. The $13,000 tag is indeed stiff but you get native full HD resolution and modern storage options. The ProVideo Coalition link below leads to lots of pictures from the show to keep you camcorder-happy.

Link 1: Engadget

Link 2: ProVideo Coalition

Link 3: NAB Broadcast Newsroom