Hitting stores shelves in a few weeks will be a pair of new Sony camcorders that can record high-definition video onto DVDs and hard disk drives. Unless a competitor beats them to market, they will be the first to feature such functionality.

The ability to record still images at a fairly decent 4.0 megapixels will be popular with those who love extra functionality. The growing popularity of high-definition DVD will no doubt drive sales of these camcorders as well.

The DVD model is scheduled to be ready for purchase on September 10 in Japan, with a price tag of about 170,000 yen. (That’s US$1,450.) Overseas launches will follow soon after.

Those wanting the HDD model will have to wait another month for the Japanese launch and probably another week or so after that for releases elsewhere. Pricing is not yet available.