Smart Technology
The Best of the New Camcorders
The latest models can shoot up to 40 hours of video, and some even record in high definition. Here are four of our favorites.
By Jeff Bertolucci, Contributing Writer
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, January 2007
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Today's camcorders have the memory of an elephant and the eye of an eagle -- and they can even capture the colors of a cockatiel. But as they've grown more sophisticated, the increasing number of features and functions makes it tough to choose one from the menagerie.
One big variable confronting buyers is the type of memory. Most camcorders now use hard disks, flash-memory cards and DVDs, rather than digital tapes, to store images. The good news is that, compared with videotape, these media make it easier to transfer images to your computer and to edit them there.
You can watch your memories unfold on your TV screen; audio-video cables are included with all these models. Most camcorders also take still photos, and the newest camcorders even record in high definition.
Choosing a camcorder is like buying a car: The test drive is essential. Hold it in your hand. Is it lightweight and comfortable? Are the on/off, record/play and zoom controls at your fingertips? Is the LCD crisp and colorful, and its on-screen menus comprehensible? And if you plan to take still photos with the camcorder, is it a 5-megapixel model?
We've chosen four of our favorites, and any one is a natural selection depending on the traits that are most important to you.
Petite package
If you want small (and we mean really small for a camcorder), go with the Panasonic SDR-S150 ($1,000). The pint-size S150 is no bigger than your average point-and-shoot digital camera. That's largely because it stores video on a tiny SD memory card, which is about the size of a plump postage stamp. Despite this miniaturization, the S150 is user-friendly, with a surprisingly large 2.8-inch-wide LCD screen, easy-to-learn controls and a 10X optical zoom lens.
At just over half a pound, the S150 is a featherweight (using many camcorders makes you feel as if you're wielding a brick). Its images are exceptionally easy to transfer to a computer: Pop out the memory card and insert it into a memory-card reader, which comes with most laptops and many desktop PCs.
The drawback? Limited recording times. The 2-gigabyte card included with the S150 stores less than two hours of video in long-play mode and a measly 25 minutes using the XP (high-quality) setting. You can double the recording time by upgrading to a 4GB SDHC memory card, which costs about $220.