Camcorders group test

In this camcorder group test we point the lens at the movie makers that offer Hollywood gloss by shooting in super-sharp High Definition – you get crisper detail, brighter colours and often clearer sound to boot. There are two flavours of HD, 720 and 1080 resolution. The higher the number, the sharper the footage, but don’t necessarily jump straight for 1080 – these camcorders cost more and you probably won’t see any difference on HD TVs smaller than about 37-inches.

You’ll also have to decide on how you want to capture your movies. Some DVD and Blu-ray camcorders can record HD home movies straight to discs. They tend to be bulky and slow but you can slip the discs into a Blu-ray player (or PlayStation 3) to watch your films immediately.

Slighter smaller and capable of shooting hours of HD footage at a time are hard disc drive camcorders. However, these can be both fragile and power-hungry. The third variety – Flash memory camcorders – saves your movies to built-in memory or handy memory cards, and are often light, tough and portable. But if you shoot a lot, you’ll be swapping cards in and out all the time.

Aiptek PocketDV Z300HD

The SDHC-card Aiptek may be cheap but its video clips are far from cheerful. Movies look and sound as if they were shot on a cameraphone, although at the least its 2.4-inch screen is larger than that found on most mobiles. You’ll have to supply your own SDHC memory card (budget about £15 for a 4GB card) and there’s not even a HDMI connection to link up with the latest HD televisions. Worth considering if your budget is extremely limited but the Sanyo is a much better camcorder for not a lot more money.

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Go to the Aiptek PocketDV Z300HD product page >>

Canon HG10

A classy, friendly introduction to High Definition movie-making that will have you smiling as you shoot. There’s nothing here to bewilder debut directors and while more experienced cinematographers might bemoan the lack of the fiddliest of tweaks, the HG10 still has a choice of exposure and focus modes, scene settings and great low light performance. Recommended.

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Go to the Canon HG10 product page >>

Panasonic HDC-SX5

Disc camcorders are having a hard time fighting against the convenience (and low prices) of memory card and hard drive camcorders, but the SX5 is a good balance between them. It’s great to be able to lend your home movies to friends and family without getting a computer involved – although remember to record in plain old standard DVD if they don’t have a Blu-ray player. A solid choice, albeit a slightly pricey one.

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Go to the Panasonic HDC-SX5 product page >>

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000

The Sanyo’s sci-fi styling begs the question: is it a camera or camcorder? Unfortunately, the answer can’t be found in its average movies and even more average snaps. The Xacti is well priced and well specified for the price but might not give the eye-popping HD experience you’re after. Having said that, wrinkly friends and family will appreciate its smoothed out lack of detail.

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Go to the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 product page >>

Sony HDR-SR10

At first glance, the glossy, almost button-free Sony seems a lightweight option. But delve into the touch menus and there’s plenty of high-tech features on board, from face detection and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound to sharp 4MP still photos. Focus and image quality are first class, faithfully reproducing vibrant colours and the finest of details. Overall, a top notch camcorder that might only miss the top spot on your shopping list thanks to its hefty price-tag.

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Go to the Sony HDR-SR10 product page >>

PriceRunner recommended
Canon HG10

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Go to the Canon HG10 product page >>

Get chatting about the latest camcorders over at the PriceRunner forum.

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