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camcorders

Kodak finds its inner YouTube

Until under-thirtysomethings outgrow them, direct-to-YouTube camcorders will continue to flourish. And everyone wants a piece of the pie that was pretty much baked by Flip Video, with products like its latest Mino. Some efforts seem rather cynical and halfhearted like Samsung's recent attempt to remarket an old design into a market ruled by a different aesthetic. Others, like Kodak's just-announced Zi6, seem promising. But Kodak also misses the point in a few ways.

On one hand, there are a couple of ways in which veteran Kodak outclasses its younger competitors: 720p HD video compared with the typical 640x480-pixel … Read more

Samsung's new YouTube-friendly camcorder

Each month seems to bring a new YouTube-centric digital camcorder and July is no exception: Samsung has announced the SC-MX20, a $279.99 model that's the successor to the SC-MX10. It'll arrive in stores in August and come in blue, black, red, and white.

According to the news release, the camcorder has a 680,000-pixel CCD sensor that delivers a 720x480-pixel resolution that allows the SC-MX20 to capture video with "stunning color and clarity." That may be a slight exaggeration, but the new model does feature a Schneider lens with 34x optical zoom, a 2.7-inch … Read more

JVC adopts AVCHD, CMOS for new HD Everios

Updated 6/23/08 with information about the sensors.

In an interesting turn, JVC's newest hard-disk-based HD camcorders--the Everio GZ-HD40, GZ-HD30, and GZ-HD10--will support AVCHD in addition to its traditional MPEG-2 formats. This is a great idea, at least for the interim, since it theoretically provides you with more flexibility in your video-editing options--especially if its AVCHD files aren't supported right out of the gate--and allows it to deliver high bit rate video beyond the 24Mbps maximum for AVCHD. Plus, the camcorders include FireWire (i.Link) interfaces, which many of today's models have dropped, for dealing with … Read more

Sony intros flash-based HD camcorder

As it inevitably had to do, Sony today announced the flash-memory version of its HDR-SR11 hard-disk-based HD camcorder, replacing the older CX7. A tad smaller than the CX7 by one or two tenths of an inch in every dimension, it uses the same 12x zoom lens and 5.6-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor that drives the SR11 (and its line mates, the SR10 and SR12). Since it's smaller than the SR models, it uses the same 2.7-inch LCD as its predecessor.

Going head-to-head with Canon's HF10, the HF10 still looks like a slightly better deal based on specs … Read more

Panasonic debuts '3MOS' AVCHD camcorders

In an effort to improve upon the light sensitivity characteristics of its prosumer AVCHD camcorders, Panasonic has switched to a new three-chip MOS system dubbed "3MOS" for its newly announced HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100 models. The company claims the new sensors provide about twice the photo-sensitive area as the CCDs used by its last-generation model, the HDC-SD9. However, Panasonic did not indicate the resolution of the chips; it's likely relatively low, as most three-chip solutions tend to be. As I guessed, the chips are fairly low resolution--520,000 pixels for 16:9 video--and they're tiny, 1/6-inch … Read more

Get a JVC MiniDV camcorder for $119.99

Time was, a MiniDV camcorder would set you back $300 minimum. Now you can scoop up a JVC GR-DA30 for a measly $119.99 (plus 10 bucks or so for shipping). It's a manufacturer-recertified unit with a less-than-stellar warranty, but it's also a pretty impressive camcorder for the money.

The GR-DA30 features a 30x optical zoom (!), a sliding 2.4-inch LCD on the rear of the body (!), and a battery JVC says will give you 115 minutes of shooting time (again, !). It also promises video-noise reduction in low-light environments, though I'm skeptical about that: I've yet … Read more

This camera may outlive you in an accident

In theory, you can fix most cameras onto your helmet or bicycle by using an excessive amount of duct tape. Sure, you'll look like a mess, but your camera will look even worse if you dropped it.

A better option would be Oregon Scientific's ATC5K. Designed to capture adventurers' conquests on the most dangerous trails, the shockproof shooter can be mounted onto helmets or bicycles to record those awesome first-person perspectives on video.

Like conventional digicams, the video resolution is 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second, which is good enough to view on most displays. … Read more

Sleek 1080i HD camcorder unveiled by Sanyo

Today Sanyo announced a new member of its Xacti line, the Xacti VPC-HD1010 camcorder, a compact and lightweight (9.9 ounces with battery and SD card) full 1080i HD (1,920x1,080) camcorder. The HD1010 has a CMOS sensor that records both 1080i HD video and 4MP still images to either SDHC memory cards or the built-in 40MB internal memory. A built-in pop-up flash sits on top on the camcorder's pistol-grip design, while a 2.7-inch wide-screen LCD display pivots out from the side.

The 1080i HD video is recorded at 60 frames per second in MPEG-4 AVC/H.… Read more

Flip Video's mighty Mino

Although it was recently outed by B&H, Wednesday marks the official unveiling of Pure Digital's Flip Video Mino, the latest camcorder from one of the leaders of the low-res, straight-to-Web capture pack. Thinner and smaller than its popular sibling, the Flip Video Ultra, the Mino crams similar technology into a more compact, more attractive package that can fit into a pants pocket.

Most of the Mino is about redesign. The USB connector now flips straight up, rather than to the side, for an overall more compact footprint that should fit better in a crowded USB environment. Though … Read more