The Sony HXR-MC2000E Shoulder Mount AVCHD PAL Camcorder features a 1/4" Exmor R CMOS sensor and a Sony G Lens with a fast f/1.8-3.4 aperture and a 12x zoom ratio. The HXR-MC2000E can record HD 1080i or 720p video on 64GB of internal memory or via the media card slot, which accepts Memory Stick PRO or SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards. The AVCHD compression format uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec, and variable bit rate modes allow users to prioritize image quality or file size according to their needs.

A user configurable manual lens ring can be assigned to adjust a range of settings, like focus, iris, white balance, and exposure controls. The lens's Optical SteadyShot function is supplemented by Sony's 3-Way Shake-Canceling technology, which adds electronic roll stability. The ergonomically designed handle contains a record button and zoom control. There are also cold shoes on the front and rear of the handle.

The HXR-MC2000E can also record SD video in the MPEG-2 format, which is the same compression codec as standard DVD video discs. If your project will end up on DVD, then using this format can save you production time and maintain the original image quality. When the camcorder is connected to the optional DVDirect Express DVD writer (sold separately) via a USB cable, a single press of the One Touch Disk button is all it takes to burn video footage directly onto a DVD, without using a PC.