I’m going to break this to you straight away. The Sony Handycam CX520 starts at around £1000. That’s for the 32GB SSD model. If you want the 64GB version, you’d better be prepared to part with another £200 or so.

When I saw this thing on paper, I couldn’t quite see what all the fuss was about but as soon as I got the thing in my hand it was obvious I was playing with a top quality HD camcorder.

What impressed me most about this machine is that the 3-way image stabilisation actually works staggeringly well. You can shake the thing pretty vigorously and the picture barely wobbles. The quality of the optics also sound pretty spectacular and it’s got all the touches you’d want like GPS and touchscreen too. A little surprised that it only records interlaced images before upgrading them though.

One wonders how much more you’d have to pay for professional video cameras, if any at all, but ignore that thought and you’ll be really pleased with this one. Looking forward to a full review.

SonyStyle