camcorders

CNET's camera and camcorder review status report

I'm not too proud to steal a good idea, in this case Katz's most excellent CNET's HDTV review status report. I, too, get besieged by e-mails asking when we're planning to review camera x, why haven't we yet reviewed camcorder y, as well as escalatingly irritated e-mails as to why I failed to respond to a reader's previous e-mails regarding the previous two questions. And since today is Phil Ryan's last day with us, I, too, have just become a lone reviewer staring down an onrushing tide of the almost 200 new products … Read more

Mino among sharks: New Flip camcorder coming

Hot on the heels of the launch of Creative's new budget video camera, a reader tipped us off to take a look at a little item in B&H's print catalog. Newsjeff wrote: "I just got a B&H big catalog and it lists a new camcorder from Flip Video, the Mini Flip...check it out."

Well, we happen to have recently received a catalog as well, and lo and behold, there is indeed a listing for a new Flip. However, it's not called the Mini, it's called the Mino. The only … Read more

JVC camcorder spells YouTube with an 'S'

Cheap SD-based camcorders targeting fans of Web-video creation are the hot ticket now, and JVC's the latest to buy a seat on the bandwagon. Its new Everio GZ-MS100, the first in JVC's S series of flash-based camcorders spun off from the G series of hard-disk-based models, looks like a pretty standard compact budget SD-based camcorder, which JVC distinguishes by a one-button upload to YouTube.

On one hand, JVC eschews the fancy new designs favored by products such as the Flip Video Ultra or Creative Vado (watch this link for a review of the latter) to stick with the … Read more

AVCHD video: The hardware is willing, but the software is weak

Latest updates in bold.

After 20 years in the biz, I've lost count of how many times I've heard, "The software hasn't caught up with the hardware." Usually, however, it simply means you have to wait a bit before recognizing the speed benefits of your expensive 64-bit, dual-core system, or find games that show off the long-shader support in your graphics card. With camcorders, however, it means you can't use your video.

Personally, I don't consider a camcorder as mainstream if you have to search the Web and troll forums to find software … Read more

Record high-definition video with $499 Canon HV10 camcorder

I've mentioned before my love--no, lurve--for high-def camcorders. Here's your chance to grab one for just about the lowest price I've seen: Vanns.com and WilloughBys are both offering the Canon HV10 for $499 shipped. (Actually, it's $499.98 at Vanns, so budget accordingly.) These are factory-refurbished units that include a manufacturer's warranty (though neither site specifies the duration; I'd ask before ordering).

The tape-based Canon HV10 captures full 1080i video and 2.7-megapixel still photos. It's chock full of advanced features, including optical image stabilization, a 10x optical zoom, and lots of … Read more

This week in digital cameras, camcorders

It was a relatively quiet week for digital imaging coverage, but here's the wrap-up (didn't that get you all excited?):

Indecent Exposure 2: Intermittently unreliable Samsung SC-HMX10 review and image samples Video: Canon Vixia HF100 Photo samples: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H10 Photo samples: Pentax K200D Rumors: Nikon, Canon dSLRs

Sanyo camcorder takes another dip

Sanyo has seen the future, and it's apparently underwater.

The company must be finding some kind of demand for submerged videography, because it continues to come out with waterproof camcorders. The latest version, coming to the Japanese market next monthy, is a new model in its Xacti line that can record for an hour in up to 5 feet of water. That's actually the same endurance as Sanyo's previous E1 version, but the new DMX-CA8 has an 8-megapixel sensor instead of its predecessor's 6-megapixel resolution, according to Akihabara News. It also has a 5x optical zoom (… Read more

Canon intros less-expensive version of XL H1

If you've been waiting for something revolutionary to replace Canon's two-year-old XL H1 HDV model, then it's not quite time for the fireworks. Instead, the company's delivering a modestly enhanced version in conjunction with a feature-reduced, but significantly less expensive spin-off.

Like its fixed-lens, handheld counterparts, the XH A1 and XH G1, the XL H1 now splits into two personalities: the $8,999 H1S, which, like the original H1, will come replete with the HD SDI, Genlock, and SMPTE timecode support necessary for operation in a multicam environment when it ships this June, and the H1A, … Read more