Sangean Sanyo VPC-1010

Stand apart from the crowd with a unique form factor, this Sanyo AVCHD video camera is a pocket-sized video rocket shooting 1080p at 30 frames per second with 38-380mm zoom. Novel design and sharp video are equipped with functions such as Face Detection and Face Chaser which zero in on faces and places in both the focus and exposure quickly. It works surprisingly well and provides some delicious video to SD / SDHC memory format. 1010 also note that quite sharp 4-megapixel still while Ambient light is not very low. Despite all this good Sanyo may have been asleep at the wheel by not including optical image stabilization. If you can live only with digital, and then take a good view point of this camcorder.

Panasonic HDC-SD100 - Lightweight Camcorder

You used to be for some time documenting the life, but you are not only find the lightest HD camcorder. Well, this is the perfect tool for this: The Panasonic HDC-SD100 camcorder 3CMOS can shoot 1080i HD video and 2.1 megapixel Stills, all light, easily toted package.

Banking on the availability of cheap SD cards, Panasonic SD100 notes (surprise!) SD media (an 8-GB card included). As a result, the camera weighs a lot less hard disk camcorder tapes. SDS, while it is up to 32GB, this format has advantage over the hard drive: Secure Digital cards are immune to the power and can not crash - even a few drops of butter on the camera in the Grand Canyon (some cool footage that, after the restoration of destroyed).

The SD100 is the same price as the preceding, the SD5, but some lack of repair of the previous model. It has a manual focus ring, ideal for taking pictures close to your iris, or the end of the cigarette, the requiem for the Dream. Unit equipped with a remote control that functions as a TV and playback presentations - ideal for zooming from a tripod for low-budget porno family or touching the ball. Panasonic also blows surround stereo audio to 5.1 - a bit high definition audio to go with viddies.

But all is not well with the SD100. We have some concerns with the slow, clunky and a little emotional joystick video editing program. A more serious drawback in the harbor and diet: To save space, Panasonic hide some of the power, HDMI and USB port behind the battery - you must remove the battery and switch to the network to play directly on TV or transfer videos to your PC. (Of course, you can leave the SD card if you have a reader or slot.) What's more, you can not charge the battery when you run a campaign for AC. Puzzling? Yes fool? Definitely.

The resulting video is very good, but not perfect. Dark parts of the image has an effect similar to the grid, but outside the picture looks clean and strong, if not pan too fast (in the pop-up screen will remind you if you are). The camera can shoot about two hours on one charge, but you run out of space on the SD card after an hour to buy less or lower resolution. All drawbacks aside, if you want a light, strong, compact HD camcorder, the Panasonic is a sure bet. Be careful with him on a trip to the Grand Canyon.

Wired's feather light in the room. Handy remote allows you to draw away from the screen. The approach does not offer manual control found on many other cameras. Including 8-GB SD card and run up quickly.

You tired to remove the battery or switch to connect the power through USB or HDMI. A video editor is clunky thick mono. Menu control "joystick" is very sensitive. Recording time is limited by the capacity of primary school - we really can not rely on the hard drive brethren.

Sony HDR-SR12E

The compound for Sony’s fresh SR12 camcorder is simple: booty aftermost year's chart-topping SR8, add added megapixels, added gigabytes, a beyond awning and a best zoom, again top it all off with an bigger sensor and added good processor. The result? The SR8 on heat.

With a 120GB adamantine drive on lath it can shoot abounding 1920x1080i HD video at top affection for an absurd 15 hours. You'd charge thirty MiniDV tapes or 15 8GB anamnesis cards to bout it. If your home cine memories are of the band acid out aloof as it came to alarming out the candles, this is the camcorder for you.

Spoilt for choice

The baby downside is accepting to adapt bottomward 15 hours of apparent boner into article watchable. Thankfully AVCHD isn't the monster architecture it already was and bestcomputer application bales will cope, but you'll still charge a adequately hardcore PC to crisis all those frames. Already it's on your machine, Sony makes it a pain-free acquaintance to bake up to an hour's AVCHD to plain-old DVD for watching august hi-def on a PS3 or committed Blu-ray spinner.

The SR12 looks abundant and is a champ in activity too. From the solid body to the well-concealed doors that adumbrate the headphone, mic, USB, HDMI and component-out ports, it oozes quality. You additionally get a hot-shoe for adhering Sony mics and video lights and a lens cilia for blame on lens adaptors.

Intuitive controls

The controls are able-bodied laid out. Sony's touchscreen airheaded and cam ascendancy punch still booty accepting acclimated to but, already mastered, you can absolutely alpha to see the benefits. The awning is now an envy-inducing 3.2in with a additional res to match, authoritative it one of the best camcorders about for reviewing footage on the fly.

The SR12 isn't the aboriginal 'corder money can shop for but it sits able-bodied in the hand. In activity we appropriately lined up shots on the behemothic awning while acquainted with cooing acknowledgment anniversary time the face ascertain spotted a mug in attempt and drew a box annular it. Good camcorder.

Stay focussed

It may be the fresh 12x zoom or it may aloof be our poor luck, but the SR12 seems to attempt a tad added in the auto focus administration than antecedent Sony camcorders. It's not the affliction we've seen, aloof not absolutely what we've appear to apprehend from Sony.

That aside, the footage it pulls is annihilation abbreviate of fantastic. Sony’s alone in a fresh CMOS sensor and included the aforementioned Exmor and Bionz babble abridgement tech it uses on its top-line DSLRs. Video is aciculate and the colours fantastic. Ugly agenda babble is all but abandoned and alike in low-light the Sony now comes out fighting. Still photos don't absolutely alive up to the 10.2MP announcement but again stills aren't absolutely what this cam is about.

We'll accession a baby banderole too about the 5.1 beleaguer audio, which incidentally alone comes beyond as stereo if you playback anon from the camera to your TV. It doesn't absolutely bout the beleaguer we've heard from Panasonic and tends to aces up a tad too abundant of the accomplishments back the lens is at its widest, but you can consistently about-face the 5.1 off.

But these are accessory issues – the SR12 is a thoroughly able effort. To say that the account affection is acutely added good than aftermost year's SR8 is austere attestation to the assignment Sony's done. Is it the best customer camcorder of 2008? Let's aloof say it'll booty an abominable lot to exhausted it.