Sony has launched what it claims is the world’s first camcorder able to reduce the effects of camera shake, rattle and roll from three directions.

Sony's Handycam HDR-CX520VE: perfect for pitch, roll and yaw

The flagship shooter’s “three-way shake-cancelling optical SteadyShot” technology reduces the effect of horizontal and vertical movement, and camera roll.

Sony said that the 370g shooter’s three-way anti-shake system will reduce shaking blur by a factor of ten compared with standard optical SteadyShot – as featured on the firm’s HDR-TG7VE camcorder.

The Exmor R CMOS sensor packed into the 12Mp camcorder will produce better quality content when making use of the 12x optical or 150x digital zoom, Sony claimed. The gadget’s 5.1-channel sound pick-up should also accurately capture your video’s surrounding audio background.

A touch-sensitive screen adds to the camcorder's hi-tech feel

Equipped with a 3in LCD, the camcorder takes simple face detection to a new level with a feature called Face Touch. It automatically optimises focus, colour balance, exposure and Smile Shutter when you touch your subject(s) face on the camcorder’s display, Sony said.

A GPS receiver inside the camcorder also means that content can be geo-tagged.

All footage is stored onto internal Flash memory, with two capacities available: 32GB and 64GB. A slot for Memory Stick cards is also built into the camcorder - SD memory cards aren’t supported.

Sony’s 32GB HDR-CX505VE and 64GB HDR-CX520VE camcorders will both be available next month, but prices haven’t been released. ®