![]() The handsome wide-screen LCD is touch-sensitive for accessing advanced camcorder controls, and includes an additional record button (worthwhile for two-handed shooting) and zoom controls (hard to press and nearly worthless). Unlike the Panasonic, the Sony fits in your hands vertically, with the zoom control up front under your index finger and the record button under your thumb. The Sony DCR-PC1000 ($1,300) delivers all the outward design sizzle that the Panasonic lacks, with a sleek dark-gray body that would look just right in a BMW glove compartment. A zoom control that's less than smooth is my only serious complaint. There's also a hot shoe for connecting optional video lights and a built-in lens cover. And shooting is a breeze, thanks to a curved camera body that fits the hand nicely and a joystick control that keeps one-handed adjustments just a thumb-flick away. The PV-GS150 did well indoors, too (sans pogo stick, happily)-the video isn't overly grainy, and colors are dark but not washed out. The test video I shot of my niece mastering a new pogo stick is excellent, especially when it comes to color reproduction, from the spot-on flesh tones to the tricky dusty pink and aqua colors of her outfit. The Panasonic PV-GS150 ($700) looks like lots of other compact, lightweight camcorders, but beneath its Clark Kent exterior lurks some serious video firepower. ![]() Panasonic and Sony have each created three-sensor cameras as easy to handle as their single-sensor cousins. Three-sensor camcorders have been available in so-called prosumer models aimed at advanced amateurs for some time, but they've always been expensive and prohibitively bulky. ![]() There's a better way, though, used in professional-level cameras: incorporating three separate sensors, each designated for a different color, produces a more accurate video image with noticeably better color. Most camcorders use only one optical sensor, overlaid with a filter that assigns individual cells to read one of the three colors (red, green and blue) used to re-create an image. It turns out, venturing beyond the basics in camcorders yields some very worthwhile options. Of course, as an enthusiastic gadget aficionado, I'm always looking for the testosterone rush that comes with cutting-edge tech, not just the business-as-usual model. We're talking a 20x optical zoom (i.e., a real zoom lens with 20x magnification, not a digital magnification parlor trick that lets manufacturers claim nonsensical 400x zooms), a reasonable 2.4-inch LCD screen and an effective image stabilization system to minimize shaky-hands syndrome, all in a one-pound package selling for under $300 at the Circuit City Web site. One of my favorite budget-conscious recommendations, for example, is the Canon ZR100. Your basic MiniDV camcorder-one that's fine for shooting the kid's soccer game or gathering blackmail material at the office Christmas party-can be yours on sale for a thrifty $300 to $400, and you don't have to settle for stripped-down, no-name models. What's more, a reusable tape that holds up to an hour at the highest quality setting sells for less than seven bucks-such a deal! MiniDV recordings are easily transferred to a computer for editing and (with the appropriate disk drive) DVD creation. You can view your MiniDV tapes on a TV set or copy them to full-size VHS tapes, using a simple cable connection. Both the audio and video quality is noticeably superior to the old analog formats. The digital format brings clean, distortion-free recording and playback on very compact tapes (just 2.6'' x 1.9'' x 0.5''). That leaves MiniDV tapes as the format of choice, which is just fine with me. The era of VHS-C and Hi8 tapes (both analog formats) has come and gone, and Sony's Digital 8 and MicroMV tape formats never got much traction in the marketplace. Even cell phones now function as ersatz video cameras (is there anything cell phones won't do at this point?).īefore we venture onto the bleeding edge of new camcorder technology, it's worth noting that the most exciting development today might not be new technology at all, but the significant price drop for mainstream MiniDV digital camcorders. Then there's the wealth of multifunction digital cameras that also shoot video clips and store them on memory cards. At the same time, the quality-schmality-give-me-convenience camp produces recorders that shoot video with no tape at all-and with very mixed results.Ĭamcorders that record directly to DVD discs are gaining popularity, accounting for more than one in five purchases today. Makers of tape-based models are delivering dramatic video-quality improvements, including high-definition capabilities that make store-bought DVDs look low-res by comparison. Like Doctor Dolittle's two-headed pushmi-pullyu, camcorder technology is confidently moving in two directions at once.
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