June 18 -- Sony Broadcast and Professional Co. has cut the cost of its XC-ES series of high-performance, black and white machine vision video cameras by 20 percent, the company announced. Tailored specifically for machine vision, industrial and microscopy applications, these compact analog cameras measure just 29 x 29 x 32 mm and weigh 30 g, enabling them to be used in very tight places and for some remote camera head applications. The XC-ES cameras are housed in one-piece shells that provide high shock and vibration tolerance. "Offering the XC-ES at a lower price brings high-performance, compact, rugged camera modules to a much wider range of users, and that's ultimately what we're about," said Jim Sandy, vice president of visual imaging products at Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Co. "We want to accelerate pervasive use of these units by offering the right combination of features and performance at a cost users can afford. We firmly believe the XC-ES series will develop into the new standard for machine vision applications."