Every once in a while a camcorder turns up and I go “wow”. Let’s face it, there are very few “bad” models made, but among the brands (Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC particularly), most are variations on a basic theme in one form or another.

The Sony NEX VG20 breaks the mould.

For starters, it is an interchangeable lens camcorder capable of taking Sony E Mount lenses as well as A mount beasts (with an adaptor) and sometime soon even F mounts via a 3^rd party add on.

Next, it will shoot 16 megapixel stills in either JPEG or RAW and of course HD at full 1920 * 1080 in AVCHD at both 25p and 50p frame rates. This well and truly trumps its predecessor the VG10. There is a remote control supplied, and a party trick is the ability to store footage directly to an external hard drive.

Audio is full 5.1 surround / stereo and sports audio level control.

Sony has thought through the ergonomics of the VG 20 beautifully.

Everything falls neatly to hand and there are some nice touches such as a second record button toward the front of the body of the camera and, also front mounted, an assignable control dial.

The flip out LCD is a beauty with three inches of viewing area, and although I have my own personal reservations regarding touch screens, does a very nice job at what it is designed to do complete with a 270 degree swivel and new “Tru-Black” technology. Again, thinking things through, if the VG20 is connected to an external monitor (via say HDMI), you can opt to keep the LCD running if you wish. The LCD is quite viewable even in bright direct sunlight.

Storage is to Memory Stick Pro Duo, Pro Duo HG, SD, SDHC or SDHCX memory cards.

Finally, the supplied lens is a cracker being the Sony SEL 18200 telephoto with Optical Steady Shot with 11x optical zoom.

The RRP of the NEX VG20 is $2999 and in that you also get all cables (sans HDMI – why?), large eye cup, wind screen for the mic and a battery cover.

Go and have a play; be prepared to come home with one!

Vendor: Sony Australia www.sony.com.au

We liked

Brilliantly featured, ergonomic excellence, value for money, image quality, supplied lens

We disliked

No HDMI cable supplied

Auscam Scoreboard

Performance                     9/10

Documentation                 7/10

Features                          9/10

Setup                              9 /10

Value for Money               8/10

Help Functions.                 8/10

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com