Reviewed on June 22, 2010Panasonic's quartet of entry-level HD camcorders--the HDC-HS60, TM60, TM55, and SD60--delivers a nice manual feature set and good performance, as well as solid video quality for their class. As long as you don't pay list price, the SD60 is a great value, and if possible, avoid paying the unnecessary price premium for the hard drive in the HS60.TAGS:Panasonic, switch, camcorder, connector, design, LCD, hard drive, video, photograph
Reviewed on May 27, 2010The flash-based Panasonic HDC-TM700 and its hard-disk sibling, the HDC-HS700, stand out for their low-light video quality and broad set of manual controls. However, while the TM700 is very attractively priced for its class, the HS700 is not, and not worth the price premium unless you absolutely need the hard disk.TAGS:Panasonic, camcorder, LCD, battery, hard drive
Reviewed on February 2, 2010The Bloggie CM5 isn't as compact as competing models from Flip Video and Kodak, but it delivers an above-average feature set and video for the money.TAGS:Sony Bloggie, camcorder, Flip Video, Sony Corp., video, LCD, setting
Reviewed on August 4, 2010At its best, the Canon Vixia HF M3x series--composed of the M300, M30, M31, and M32--delivers a very good blend of video quality, features, and performance for the money, but some people may find the touch-screen interface extremely frustrating to use and the battery life painfully short. Plus, you really need to bump up to the highest bit rate quality. Of the series, the HF M300 is the best deal.TAGS:Canon Vixia, Canon Inc., camcorder, LCD, CMOS, touch screen, battery, button, photograph, video
Reviewed on August 4, 2010At its best, the Canon Vixia HF M3x series--composed of the M300, M30, M31, and M32--delivers a very good blend of video quality, features, and performance for the money, but some people may find the touch-screen interface extremely frustrating to use and the battery life painfully short. Plus, you really need to bump up to the highest bit rate quality. Of the series, the HF M300 is the best deal.TAGS:Canon Vixia, Canon Inc., SDHC, camcorder, CMOS, LCD, touch screen, battery, button, photograph, video
Reviewed on April 19, 2009While it's more expensive than its sub-$600 competitors, the Canon Vixia HF20 and Vixia HF200 deliver a more extensive feature set for the extra money. The HF200, which lacks internal memory, is probably a better buy than the HF20, though the HF20's all-black body is a bit classier looking.TAGS:Canon Vixia, camcorder, Canon Inc., LCD, video
Reviewed on August 4, 2010At its best, the Canon Vixia HF M3x series--composed of the M300, M30, M31, and M32--delivers a very good blend of video quality, features, and performance for the money, but some people may find the touch-screen interface extremely frustrating to use and the battery life painfully short. Plus, you really need to bump up to the highest bit rate quality. Of the series, the HF M300 is the best deal.TAGS:Canon Vixia, Canon Inc., camcorder, CMOS, LCD, touch screen, battery, button, photograph, video
Reviewed on May 26, 2010The Sony Handycam HDR-CX550V fares well compared with the competition, though its video could be a bit sharper and the interface less cumbersome. Unless you absolutely need to store a lot of video on the camcorder--which I don't suggest--or if have large hands that could benefit from the extra grip that the hard drive provides, the CX550V is a better deal than its hard-disk-based sibling.TAGS:Sony Handycam, touch screen, standard, Sony Corp., camcorder, hard drive, LCD
Reviewed on May 27, 2010The flash-based Panasonic HDC-TM700 and its hard-disk sibling, the HDC-HS700, stand out for their low-light video quality and broad set of manual controls. However, while the TM700 is very attractively priced for its class, the HS700 is not, and not worth the price premium unless you absolutely need the hard disk.TAGS:Panasonic, camcorder, LCD, battery, hard drive
Reviewed on February 25, 2008An extremely minor upgrade from the HV20, the Canon Vixia HV30 remains a quality HDV camcorder with a couple of performance issues.TAGS:Canon Vixia, Canon Inc., camcorder, SD card, control, LCD, video
Reviewed on October 13, 2009Still one of the nicest models available, the second-generation Flip MinoHD offers a slightly improved design, double the memory, and an HDMI output for the same price that the original MinoHD used to cost.TAGS:Flip Video, Kodak Zi8, camcorder, Eastman Kodak Co., memory, video, LCD
Reviewed on June 22, 2010Panasonic's quartet of entry-level HD camcorders--the HDC-HS60, TM60, TM55, and SD60--delivers a nice manual feature set and good performance, as well as solid video quality for their class. As long as you don't pay list price, the SD60 is a great value, and if possible, avoid paying the unnecessary price premium for the hard drive in the HS60.TAGS:Panasonic, camcorder, connector, switch, design, LCD, hard drive, photograph, video
Reviewed on June 22, 2010Panasonic's quartet of entry-level HD camcorders--the HDC-HS60, TM60, TM55, and SD60--delivers a nice manual feature set and good performance, as well as solid video quality for their class. As long as you don't pay list price, the SD60 is a great value, and if possible, avoid paying the unnecessary price premium for the hard drive in the HS60.TAGS:Panasonic, switch, connector, camcorder, design, CMOS, LCD, hard drive, video, photograph
Reviewed on December 10, 2007Manfrotto's Modosteady Three-in-One cleverly combines a tabletop tripod, a shoulder brace, and a counterbalance stabilizer for shooting video, but most of that's moot if you've got a good optical stabilizer in your camcorder.TAGS:counterbalance, camcorder, head, LCD
Reviewed on May 25, 2010The Sony Handycam HDR-XR550V fares well compared with the competition, though its video could be a bit sharper and the interface less cumbersome. Unless you absolutely need to store a lot of video on the camcorder--which I don't suggest--or have large hands and therefore could benefit from the extra grip the hard drive provides, the cheaper and nearly identical flash-based CX550V is a better deal.TAGS:Sony Handycam, SDHC, touch screen, Sony Corp., camcorder, standard, LCD, hard drive
Reviewed on June 22, 2010Panasonic's quartet of entry-level HD camcorders--the HDC-HS60, TM60, TM55, and SD60--delivers a nice manual feature set and good performance, as well as solid video quality for their class. As long as you don't pay list price, the SD60 is a great value, and if possible, avoid paying the unnecessary price premium for the hard drive in the HS60.TAGS:Panasonic, connector, camcorder, switch, design, LCD, hard drive, video, photograph