HD comes to mini-DV
It's slightly boggling to think that whereas ten years ago you'd struggle to find a decent analogue camcorder worth its salt, with image quality more like a flick-book than something you'd see on the big screen, now mainstream manufacturers are pumping out consumer models that not only fit in a (large) pocket but record in HD and – perhaps most importantly – won't break the bank.
DV.com picked up two that are fresh to the market, Canon's HV10 and Sony's HDR-HC3, and film-guru Tim Sassoon put the pair through their paces. He found that while the 1-pound, $1,300 HV10 might not capture the best audio using the on-board microphone, its compact size and outstanding picture quality gave it a slight edge over the heavier, $100 more expensive HC3. Still, the bigger battery and variety of shooting modes and still-image options make the Sony a safe buy.