Sony HDR-CX105: Hands-on accidentally stalking a tech celebrity

The model that caught our eye at Sony's FOI stand this week was the HDR-CX105, a slender flash camcorder. Its face detection helped us spot a certain gadget celeb...

Richard Trenholm

Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.

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Richard Trenholm

Feb. 25, 2009 8:05 a.m. PT

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It wasnt just cameras at the Focus on Imaging show this week: Sony also showed off its camcorder line-up. The model that caught our eye was the Sony HDR-CX105, a slender flash model. We know the face detection works, because it helped us spot a certain tech celebrity...

The CX105 shoots 1,920x1,080i high-definition video, recorded in the AVCHD format. The 8GB onboard memory holds 3 hours of HD, with extra storage offered on Memory Stick.

With its 4-megapixel CMOS sensor and 10x optical zoom, the CX105 can capture stills even when video is filming. Sony offers perhaps the only interesting twist on smile detection, with the option to snap a photo when a smile is spotted even when shooting video.

Click through our photos for more, including a glimpse at how the face detection brought our attention to an old friend of the CNET UK Podcast.

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For a 76mm (3-inch) touchscreen camcorder, the Sony CX105 doesn't half have a lot of buttons...

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The sample model was pointing at a nearby chap's crotch, so your humble camcorder correspondent picked it up for a less groin-heavy shot, only for face detection to pick out the nearby chap: none other than Gadget Show presenter and one-time Crave podcast alumnus Jon Bentley!