Visual Impact has made an early investment in the new XDcam EX camcorders launched last week by Sony.

The broadcast equipment dealer has placed an initial order for 100 PMW-EX1Rs and 18 PMW-350s.

The new shooters will be added to the company’s sales inventory.

Visual Impact sales director Tim Sparrock said: “These products offer customers great value for money and an easy transition from SD to HD, which is important in this current climate.”

The camcorders were launched at the SATIS exhibition in Paris last week.

Both have the same HD imaging performance as the rest of the XDcam EX range but also include standard definition DVcam recording for the first time.

The PMW-EX1R is the successor to the PMW-EX1, Sony’s first professional memory-based camcorder.

It has an HDMI output, a higher-resolution viewfinder and one-push Auto Iris.