I had a chance to see the new Sony Camcorder – PMW500, here at Rule Boston Camera, recently. It is full size 3×2/3″ CCD (not CMOS) camcorder recording on the SxS cards (2 slots) using XDCAM HD 4:2:2, 50Mb/s codec. The pick up section is identical to the high-end PDW F800 — it can record in XDCAM (UDF) and XDCAM EX (FAT) modes and file formats. The software available now – XDCAM Clip Browser EX and XDCAM Transfer Tool work with the files, but Sony promises a new XDCAM Browser, incorporating functionality of both, into one application. The camera looks and feels good. It bridges the XDCAM (Disc) and XDCAM EX (SxS card) worlds, and promises high quality for SxS recording. It will probably appeal to EX1R/3 users asking for better quality picture. For XDCAM-on-disc recording users, it is a cheaper alternative, but they have to embrace the world of proper data back up and file management. The LCD screen is very good quality, power consumption is 29W, which is not bad either. Recording times are long depending on the SxS card size. The price puts it above PMW350 and under PDW700/F800. Zbigniew Twarog, Chief Engineer