There has been some heavy speculation over at the Sony HDV Info Forums lately about a possible Sony VX2100 replacement.

The camcorder that is rumored to replace the venerable VX line is reportedly the HDR-FX7, and it is suggested that it will ship first in Europe sometime this fall (October?). One poster speculates that Sony has been sitting on the camera for a while now, and is waiting for Canon to announce pricing on their latest HDV camcorders before Sony prices the FX7.

The FX7 picture that was reportedly leaked appears to support the following speculated features:
*3 CMOS imagers (three imagers means no need for bayer pattern filter)
*HDV 1080i on MiniDV tape
*20x optical zoom
*Same LCD position as the VX2100, with a 1″ larger screen
*Larger, 62mm filter threads
*Firewire, USB, and HDMI out, but no XLR connections (
*3 custom assignable buttons, much like the FX1.
*2-position built-in ND filters, like the VX2100
*Expanded Focus button, like the FX1
*Slightly more ergonomic hand grip than VX2100 (angled forward)
*Seperate zoom and focus rings, most likely servo
*Roughly the same size/weight as the VX2100, with smoother lines.

To further feed the rumors, one of Sony’s Japanese sites reportedly lists the Sony VX2100E/J as “discontinued”. And there has been talk for some time on various forums about the FX1 line being discontinued.

In my opinion, the features suggested above are not at all a long shot, and would make sense in a VX/PD replacement. If Sony is indeed trying to woo the VX-2100 and PD-170 faithful into migrating to the HDV format, the rumored FX7 would need to sport pretty decent low light capabilities. The PD and VX lines are greatly revered by event shooters in particular for their stellar low-light performance, and a replacement would need to offer at least similar capabilities to make serious inroads into that market.

Additionally, removing the FX1 from production and adding the FX7 would be consistent with how Sony has historically structured it’s prosumer product offerings. You have the HC line at the low end, FX7 in the mid $2K price range, and the Z1U on the high end. Makes sense to me.