This is an entry level camcorder which has an internal hard drive for storing the videos. The highlights here are the big storage capacity, small size and the megazoom lens. You get all this at $400. The interface is user friendly and you won’t have to invest much time to learn the controls. There menu system seems to be endless and the camcorder doesn’t have a lot of shooting options. Just like most camcorders in this class, the video quality is pretty mediocre and the inferior quality will be apparent when you watch the clips on a large HDTV. I will recommend you this camcorder if you don’t care much about video quality and want device which fits the pocket easily. Most entry level users will love the easy to use interface. Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 comes with a 120 GB hard drive and  [...]

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Priced at $279.99 this minicamcorder is definitely in the expensive side for its category. There are some bells and whistles attached in order to justify the price tag. For instance, the screen is now three inch big and has a touch screen interface. The screen slides up at an angle. With this, you can place the device on your desk and enjoy the content on it hands free. Apart from the screen, the storage capacity is also doubled as compared to its predecessors. You get a spacious 16 GB internal memory for storing your videos. Shooting and sharing of videos is pretty much the same and aside from the two aforementioned features, this device is pretty much the same. I am not saying that the big screen isn’t good. It is just the overall experience of this device isn’t worthy of the big price  [...]

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Pocket camcorders are selling like hot cakes and Creative has decided to join the bandwagon. It is making new models which costs less that what competiton is offering and also give the same features. We got the Creative Labs Vado HD 3rd Gen in our labs for review which has 720p HD resolution, HDMI jack, 4 gigs of internal memory and all this is packed in to a stylish, compact case which weighs just 3.3 ounces. The cost is $179 which is the same as Kodak Zi8 but cheaper than second-generation Flip Video MinoHD. For the Kodak device, you will have to buy a separate card because there is no internal memory. Color choices for Vado are red, blue(cyan), black, purple and white. Creative Labs Vado HD 3rd Gen looks attractive but doesn’t feel that durable as compared to the Zi8 which is heavier  [...]

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Sony hasn’t been that good in the mini camcorder market and it is primarily because Flip is doing so well in that category and there is no room for competition there. Its camcorders have a vertical design and are in the price range of $150-$250. We saw NSC-GC1 Net-sharing cam a few years ago, it didn’t do too well and now Sony has rechristened the pocket camcorder series to ‘Bloggie’. The design is pistol grip style which is reminiscent of old days and it still popular with manufacturers like Aiptek and Sanyo. Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 is redesigned from its predecessor but the feature set is essentially the same. It has 2.5 inch swiveling screen, 1080p mode for capturing videos and 5x optical zoom. The camcorder is powered by lithium ion rechargeable battery that it removable. Apart  [...]

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We got three camcorders in our review center, SDR-T50, S50 and H85. This review applies to all of them as the models are same apart from the storage options. S50 has no internal memory but takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards. The T50 and H85 can store all those memory cards too but the former also has 4 gigs of internal memory and the latter has an 80 gig hard drive. We were surprised to see that size doesn’t change much even with the presence of hard drive. All three are very compact and feature 70x optical zoom lens and an enhanced optical zoom of 78x. This enhanced zoom uses the extra pixels on the CCD sensor to increase magnification which is different than a digital zoom that degrades quality. This is a very long zoom range and it also has very good optical image stabilization but you are  [...]

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Panasonic SDR-T50 looks like a tiny telescope which captures SD video as well! The optical image stabilization is very good (but you still want to use a tripod) and with the 70x zoom lens you will have no problems getting close to the subject. There are full manual controls, 4 GB internal flash based internal memory for storage and you can put in more through SHXC, SDHC or SD memory cards. The video quality of Panasonic SDR-T50 is just OK but that is not unexpected from a SD camcorder. Video clips in low light are poor because of the heavy noise. There are no jacks for external headphones or mic. Panasonic SDR-T50 is an inexpensive camcorder and has an easy to use interface for capturing SD video along with the megazoom lens. If you are expecting good quality SD video, then you will be disappointed.  [...]

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It is been six months since we have had a camcorder from Sony and now they give us HDR-CX500V, HDR-XR520V and HDR-XR500V which come with enhancement over its predecessors. The control layout and interface haven’t been improved much but you probably won’t care much about it because of the high quality video and stellar performance that it offers in a compact design. The two units have different memory sizes but apart from that, they are the same. CX520V has 64GB and CX500V has 32GB of memory. Capablities of these models are the same as their hard disk based counterparts but Sony gives you EVF along with headphone and microphone jacks. Design: Sony HDR-CX500V comes with a large lens which is both necessary and excellent. The big lens doesn’t disturb the geometry of the device,  [...]

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Samsung may not be as popular as JVC, Panasonic, Sony or Canon when it comes to camcorders, but it is trying hard to stand out amongst the competitors. Samsung HMX-R10 HD is one such good example. It is reasonably priced, the body is compact but the 1080p videos don’t look as good as videos in other resolutions. On the bright side, there are plenty of shooting options and special efforts have been taken by Samsung to make this camcorder easy on your hands. Samsung HMX-R10 HD will serve you as a good point and shoot camcorder. The video quality is better than standard pocket minicamcorders but it is not as good as prosumer ones. We are a bit skeptical of the design of the camcorder, we think you should try it before you buy it to check if you are comfortable with the design while holding the  [...]

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