Audio Video News

How many times have you messed up a photo by shooting just before or after your kid flashes her pearly whites? Want to make sure you never miss a priceless moment? Sony's new HDR-CX12 flash-based camcorder has been upgraded to help you take the best shots possible. The HDR-CX12 includes face-recognition and Smile Shutter technology. What does that mean?

This is quite clever. If the Smile Shutter is activated in video mode, the camera will automatically take a photo when the subject smiles, while still capturing video. Cool, huh?  The HDR-CX12 can prioritize adults and children, so it will capture the smile of your intended subject. It can even capture a smile from the standby mode. Forget about wasting hours trying to get baby's first smile captured - just set up the HDR-CX12 and start having fun!

The specs on the HD camera are impressive. Full 1920 x 1080 HD video and 10-megapixel photos are stored on Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo and any Memory Stick PRO Duo media cards. (A 4GB Memory Stick card is included.) It has image stabilization and a Carl Zeiss 12x optical zoom lens. The screen is a 2.7-inch LCD with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound recording with a built-in zoom microphone. The size makes it easy to carry around: 2.8-inches x 5.3-inches x 2.8-inches.

Pre-orders can be placed today at Sony Style or you can wait until it hits the stores in August.  Price will be about $900.

No need to say "Cheese." The Sony HDR-CX12 knows when they're smiling. -Leslie Shapiro

Full press release here