On the camcorder's specification page on www.sony.co.uk it is listed as being able to shoot in 60 frames per second mode in 1080p. However, I purchased mine today, got it home, and it turns out it only shoots in PAL formats, with the framerate limited to 50 frames per second, when the page at the present time clearly states that it can shoot in 60 frames per second NTSC modes.
(I ought to add that PAL and NTSC are moot when shooting at 1080p resolution, since the only difference is the frame rate).
I have not a clue why Sony are purposefully setting their UK sold camcorders in this manner, since those who are using their camcorders to film video to be edited on their PC find it far more advantageous to work with 60 fps footage (since it is possible to transfer recorded video from 60 fps to 50 fps if needed without losing image quality, yet it is not possible to transfer video from 50 fps to 60 fps without image degration). The issue of PAL versus NTSC is moot when shooting in 1080p rather than standard definition, and the vast VAST majority of HDMI-capable televisions sold in the UK support 1080p at 60 fps, and have done for the vast majoity of the past decade. Also, the cameras are the same equivalent price as each other, so even when price is adjusted for the exchange rate they cannot say US users are paying more for being able to shoot in 60 fps modes.
As we all know, there is no difference hardware-wise between the US and UK version of the HDR-CX450 camcorder (the US version has the designation HDR-CX455), the hardware inside the two different versions of the cameras are exactly the same. As such, since it is clearly the firmware which is disabling the ability to output at 60 frames per second, can we please have a firmware update which allows the user to select 60 frames per second recording modes, and if not then why not?
