camcorders

This week in cameras

Sony's newest SLR, the Alpha DSLR-A700, is this week's big news, but it's hardly alone. Also up this week is a look at Corel's new Paint Shop Pro update, a guide to the CNET Labs camcorder testing process, and more. Sony's Alpha for amateurs Corel freshens Paint Shop Pro X2 Inside CNET labs: How we test camcorders JVC's vertically challenging camcorder Casio ultrazoom snaps 60 shots per second

Inside CNET Labs: How we test camcorders

Here at CNET Labs, we are always working to improve upon our testing methodologies. We have recently implemented several new tests for camcorders that allow us to even more thoroughly evaluate a camcorder's image quality and make more objective comparisons of similar models. A camcorder's performance and features are important, but most would agree that image quality is a camcorder's most important attribute.

We have expanded our testing regiment with three new image-quality tests: a sharpness test, a color accuracy test and a signal-to-noise test. The first step in these new tests is to capture footage of … Read more

JVC's vertically challenging camcorder

Had enough of IFA yet? Not us. We're excited about JVC's offering from the tech show in Berlin. Say "guten tag" to a new MiniDV camcorder, the GR-DA20.

It's quite a wide beast, the reason becoming apparent when you turn it around. The 61mm (2.4-inch) LCD screen doesn't flip out of the side, like on just about every other camcorder ever. Oh no. JVC has thrown out the rulebook and gone crazy with a wacky vertical-sliding screen.

The advantage of this unique arrangement is that you are looking straight at your subject, so … Read more

Sony's shoulder-mounted HD model for the cash-strapped pro

It may look a little scary to someone who's never held anything bigger than an HC7, but Sony's new HVR-HD1000U shares more in common with that model than the rest of its higher-end brethren. It uses the same single 3-megapixel, 1/2.9-inch ClearVid CMOS sensor and records 1080i HDV video. Even its price, slated to be $1,900 when it ships in December, fits right into the affluent consumer market segment. If that seems a bit steep, remember that its step-up sibling, the 3-chip HVR-V1U, will run you a minimum of $3,500.

Though it's unclear … Read more

VholdR wearable camcorder

The VholdR looks like something out of a James Bond movie. Details are a little sketchy on this wearable camcorder but it looks high tech, and here's what we do know.

At 4.8 oz and just under 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, this little guy packs some serious tech. It films at 640 x 480 at 30 fps in mpeg 4 format. It has a microSD slot for additional memory and a USB 2.0 output to get your movies onto your PC. It comes with a rechargeable lithium battery that claims to have two hours … Read more

A camcorder for the thrifty genius

Genius is a word that gets used all too often these days. We're not sure the dinky little Genius G-Shot DV1210 is exactly Einsteinian, but it's still a cute little camcorder with some neat design touches. It measures 125mm long and 50mm broad, and is pretty light. The shape is bogstandard, with a fold-out 61mm (2.4-inch) swivelly screen.

Video is recorded to SD card in MPEG-4 at 640x480 or 320x240-pixel resolution. Still images are also available with a 5-megapixel sensor, but the major sacrifice to cost-cutting is the absence of optical zoom. You'll just have to … Read more

DXG's new budget do-it-all camera

DXG just announced the latest member of its pocket camera family. The DXG-572V can shoot 5-megapixel still images, or record VGA (640 x 480) video at 30 frames per second. While it doesn't have nearly as many settings as your typical digital camera, the 572V does let you change white balance settings, so your incandescent-lit shots don't come out all yellowed. It also features a voice-recorder mode, for taking down voice notes.

Unfortunately, do-everything devices like the DXG-572V tend to end up being jacks of some trades, masters of none. With just a 5-megapixel sensor, a tiny 2-inch … Read more

Hitachi's first Blu-ray camcorders

Hitachi jumped to the front of the Blu-ray camcorder race this morning, announcing two camcorders that can record video at up to 1920x1080-pixel resolution on 8-centimeter Blu-ray discs. Both models, the DZ-BD7H and the DZ-BD70, include 5.3-megapixel CMOS sensors developed by AltaSens of Thousand Oaks, California. When recording video, the camcorders will use up to 2.07 megapixels (or 1920x1080), but will use up to 4.32-megapixels when capturing 4:3 still images. Both models will also sport 10X optical zoom lenses, 2.7-inch LCDs, and will be able to fit about one hour of 1920x1080 footage, or two … Read more

Panasonic's dynamic camcorder duo for fall '07

With the HDC-SD1 barely out of diapers--it was only released in February--and the ink on my review barely dry, Panasonic already plans to ship its replacement in September. Given some of the issues I had with the SD1 I won't be sorry to see it go, but it's not clear that the SD5 addresses some of the problems.

On one hand, it's smaller--always a plus--and Panasonic adds an upsweep toward the back of the unit to improve its grippability over the tube-shaped SD1. I got a chance to shoot with the SD5 at the press briefing, and … Read more