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Camcorders have come a long way since the early
days of blinding arm pain and massive plastic bundles. Henry Northmore Checks out the latest gear
on offer.
ou know the old routine:
(‘hristmas is traditionally a
time l‘or capturing memories. 01' to drop as many hints as you can to get your hands on one ol‘ the latest gadgets. But beyond the clichés and orgy of consumerism that is (‘hristmas l)ay. camcorders have gone through massive changes in the last year or so. With DVD and digital reordering coming to the fore. it is lar easier l‘or budding Spielbergs to load moving pictures straight onto their computers l'or editing and other forms ol‘ digital manipulation.
These days. ol‘ course. we’ve got movies coming out ol’ every orilice. Digital stills cameras have options for capturing some deliciously l'lickering lo-res l‘ilms. and the newer of these. such as the live megapixel Sony DCS-W15. allows for tip to 9() minutes ol‘ l‘ootage which you can download onto your computer. liven il‘ there‘s a touch ol’ the Super 8 about the results it gives. you certainly wouldn‘t buy a camera like this l’or its movie option. Likewise. there‘s a new breed of mobile phones like the SonyEricsson K750i which offers not only a two megapixel camera. but a moving picture option. But for anyone who is serious about the possibilities of digital images. these are merely toys: fun and games l'or taking mementos at a gig or on the beach. The real action. even at the lower end of the price spectrum. is in real camcorders. And they are in a dil‘l'erent league entirely.
When it comes to the bona l'ide camcorder. Sony is one ol‘ the leaders of the pack with its Ilandycam series. lts (4) DCR- DVD7E (RRP £599) is a thing ol‘ beauty. l‘itting into the palm ol‘ your hand. its sleek spherical design contains all manner ol’ gorgeous technical goodies in a shiny black casing. With a touchscreen menu. video and photo mode. l()x optical
/oom and l2().\‘ digital zoom as well as digital el‘l‘ects. it is perhaps one ol‘ the most convenient and
stylish camcorders yet in terms of
ease of use. even il‘ the picture quality isn't at prol‘essional levels. Sony's (2) DCR-DVD403E is the first three megapixel l)Vl) Ilandycam (RRP £899) with true l():9 widescreen mode and 5.l channel surround sound recording and inlrared NightShot so you can lilm in the dark. This is perfect for serious l‘ilming. especially when you take into account the ('arl Xeiss lens. And l‘or true high delinition. don’t overlook the (3) Sony HDR- HC‘I (RRP £1499) with gorgeous playback and one ol‘ the crispest images yet for an affordable lll) camcorder. l’nsurprisingly. gadget maga/ine '13 gave it a (iold Award and hill marks in a recent test.
Sanyo knows small is beautil'ul and its tiny pocket Xacti E6 (RRP £250) is a compact still and moving image camera with a smart pistol grip design. With a six megapixel (‘('l) and 3x optical worn. it can also capture "l‘V quality" lilm at 30 frames per second. (‘apturcd in Quick'l‘ime. these are easily downloaded onto your computer or Mac. And because each film is a series of separate stills photos. shots can easily he “fled direct from the camera as single images. The Samsung Miniket VP-M11O (RRl’ £470) dil'l’erentiates itsell’ from the rest ol‘ the pack by adding an MP} player to the party as well as stills camera. audio recorder and digital storage. all in its tiny little lrame and KM of memory.
JV(”s liyerio range is surely one of the best on the market. Using the world‘s smallest MPEG-2 cotlec chip li)!‘ its hard disk. it captures photo quality images and DVD quality lilm. No wonder the (1) GI- MCSOO (RRP £999 approx) picked up a 'Best Product‘ award from the liuropean Imaging and Sound Association. Directly linking to
Carl my.)
l-I DV
If) Dix: 2005 5 Jan 2006 THE LIST ‘I 15