The 2.2-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode) screen is one of the best I’ve ever seen on a digital camera or camcorder. OLED pixels self-illuminate to provide more uniform brightness than do most LCDs. OLED technology also consumes power more efficiently and can render a wider contrast range. The VPC-HD1′s screen rotates 285 degrees, allowing for convenient self-portrait, overhead, and low-angle shots.

The VPC-HD1′s onscreen menus are bright and easy to read. The settings are divided somewhat arbitrarily onto three pages: Basic, Advanced, and Options. As with the VPC-C6, when you choose an item, it automatically moves to the front of the group, which breaks the otherwise logical arrangement of the icons. In order to charge the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1′s battery, you have to park it in the bundled docking station.

The HD1 employs an ultra-clear 2.2-inch SANYO-developed OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display with 210,000 total pixels for exceptional viewability. The display flips out from the camera and rotates up to 285 degrees on axis for taking great video or still images in otherwise difficult locations. Trademark features of OLED displays are wider viewing angles, brighter picture without need for a backlight, greater contrast with richer colors, faster response speed for smooth playback of rapid movements and lower power consumption than LCD displays. When not in use, the display folds back into the side of the camera to protect the screen.

No camera is better than its lens and the HD1 features a powerful 10x optical zoom lens with a 38-380mm focal range (35mm equivalent) that keeps you close to the action. The all-glass lens has a maximum aperture of f/3.5 from wide to telephoto focal lengths. The HD1 incorporates a digital image stabilizer that compensates for distracting up-and-down or side-to-side camera movement, keeping your subject steady and easy to follow. It accurately distinguishes between unintentional camera shake and deliberate camera movement. This handy feature operates in both wide-angle and telephoto modes, giving every shot a solid, professional-looking feel.

In form as well as function the Xacti is a mixture of still and video camera. It is designed to be held one-handed like a pistol, with a large 2.2in flip-and-twist monitor screen on the side and all the controls mounted for thumb operation on the back.
It has a powerful 10x optical zoom lens, and a small pop-up flash on the top. It is powered by a large 1200mAh Lithium-ion battery that is mounted inside the handgrip under a removable panel, rather like a mobile phone.

It isn’t exactly a small device compared to a compact still camera, but it’s certainly a lot smaller than your average DV camcorder. Measuring 80 x 119 x 36mm and weighing a hefty 210g without battery or card, it’s a bit too large to be carried in a pocket, but it does come with a good quality semi-rigid carrying pouch with a belt loop.

The Sony Handycam DCR-DVD505 is a bit longer than typical compact MiniDV cameras such as Sony’s DCR-HC96–relatively small but large enough to challenge some jacket pockets. Weighing in at 1 pound, 6 ounces, it’s hefty but not so much so that you’ll have any problems holding it during extended shooting sessions. Its nondescript silver-and-gray chassis is constructed of thick plastic, which gives the camcorder a solid feel that should stand up well to everyday handling.

As is typical for Sony camcorders, the camera sports very few buttons, with most functions accessed using menus on the LCD touch screen. A programmable Quick menu makes it relatively fast and easy to get to your most commonly used settings, but the full menu is so loaded with options that it can take significant time to scroll through the available adjustments to find the one you want. Casual shooters can just press the Easy button to put the camera in fully automatic mode.

The multi-purpose “CAM CTRL” ring around the lens is certainly one of the most exciting features on this model. The HDR-HC1 had a similar feature, but offered only zoom and focus control. The new HDR-HC3 ring does not allow for zooming, but does offer additional control over exposure, automatic exposure (AE) shift, and white balance shift. Switching functions is performed by using a button and toggle switch located on the left side of the lens barrel. The exposure adjustment is, unfortunately, the same method that Sony uses for most of their camcorders – a scale with a plus sign on one end and a minus sign on the other. AE shift has a similar scale, and works in a manner similar to aperture priority. While it does not measure the aperture in F-stops, shifting the AE should function by changing the aperture size while locking the exposure, thereby allowing for depth of field control. White balance shifting uses the same plus and minus scale, moving across the Kelvin scale from cooler to warmer tones.

The featured automatic controls are largely the same as the HDR-HC1: color slow shutter, zebra patterns, and a histogram. Sony will also outfit the HC3 with Spot Focus and Spot Metering. Program modes are in line with the standard Sony set: Auto, Spotlight, Portrait, Beach and Ski, Sunset and Moon, and Landscape.

Full-bodied stereo sound with powerful bass response. Ultra-lightweight design for comfortable musical enjoyment & cool metallic look. It has superior sound reproduction & volume control built into the cable.
Just as we are seeing with music – where the progression from tape to disc, then disc to Hard Disk Drive (HDD) devices has revolutionized the way we listen to music – so HDD is now the hottest property in the world of Camcorders. The launch of the Everio C Series, in 2004, heralded a new era in the way we use our camcorders – high-quality, long-time recording and instant access into those recordings. And all using a small, removable 4GB Microdrive as the engine of the product, without the need for tapes or discs. The new Everio G Series takes that concept and moves it on to the next stage. By increasing the capacity of the HDD, this extends the length of time for which you can record. Thus, making it even-more user-friendly. Plus the G Series retains the wide connectivity that the MC Series had, meaning you can connect the camcorder up to your TV, VCR, DVD Recorder or your PC to watch, edit or archive your recordings forever. Leaving the HDD on the camcorder empty once again for your next recordings.

Design of JVC Everio GZ-MG50
Despite its massive storage capacity, the JVC Everio GZ-MG50 is extremely small. It’s short in both height and length, though it’s as wide as a typical DV camcorder. This gives it a boxy look, but it’s amazingly comfortable for one-handed shooting and easily drops into a jacket pocket. Weighing one pound with its battery installed, the Everio is light, but its thick plastic case feels solid enough to withstand typical handling in the field. The hard drive is protected by a shutdown feature that turns off the drive if it senses rapid acceleration–that is, dropping the camera.

The Everio’s smallish size precludes a lot of external controls. The exterior of the case has only three switches: a power/mode control, a zoom rocker, and the record button. Flip open the LCD to find just five more buttons and a gamepad-style menu navigation control. One nice touch is an Info button that gives one-touch access to the amount of available recording time, as well as estimated battery life. The latter statistic is particularly useful, given the Everio’s short battery life.

Camera operation is extremely simple, though the onscreen menus are somewhat confusingly organized. Setting the clock, for instance, is found in the Display menu rather than under the more intuitive Basic Settings or Camera Settings.

You’ll have to remove the GZ-MG50U from a tripod if you want to swap an SD card, but it’s not an issue when recording to the nonremovable hard drive.

The Sanyo “Xacti C5” is a stylishly thin, pocket-sized 5-megapixel digital camera and full-motion MPEG-4 video camera offering built-in digital image stabilization and a swiveling 2-inch trans-reflective LCD screen. Users can also select real-time interpolation up to 10 megapixels which allows photos to be enlarged to “bigger than life” proportions without sacrificing image fidelity.This tiny camera has a precision 5x optical zoom lens that remains internal to the camera body and features a 5-point auto focus system. Most instances of camera shake will be eliminated or greatly reduced by the digital image stabilization system. Never again will precious photo opportunities be missed, because the versatile Xacti C5 can take high-resolution digital still images while simultaneously recording video.

The C5 employs Sanyo’s proprietary digital optimization technology to remove color moirés and reduce aliasing and noise caused by dots. This technology improves the high-frequency characteristics of the image and enhances diagonal resolution for higher-quality images.

SANYO’s original algorithm uses a pixel-interpolation filter to convert the CCD’s 5.1 effective megapixels to the recorded equivalent of 10 megapixels (3680 x 2760 pixels). This filter enables clear printouts of detailed images without sacrificing image fidelity, even when printing onto A3 paper or enlarging part of an image. The Xacti C5′s slim, 23 mm-wide body comes equipped with a 5x optical zoom lens. Used in conjunction with the digital zoom, it enables up to 60x zooming capability.

Canon introduced the 2005 ZR series with the ZR100, a camcorder trying to come out of the shadow cast by the bleak performance of its ancestor, the ZR80. Unfortunately, it has inherited many of last year’s features, the most significant of which is the 1/6” CCD with 340K effective pixels. This camcorder aims to be a viable and affordable option to novice users, with ease of use coming first, but that aim is not always steady.
This model performed relatively well in bright light conditions that were equivalent to a sunny day. The ZR100 produced a fairly bright and acceptable image, for such an entry level camcorder. The image was however a little fuzzy and the colors a bit washed. In low lighting conditions, comparable to a dimly lit bedroom, the camcorder produced an image suffering from significant noise. This entry level model performed similarly to its bigger siblings, the ZR200 and ZR300. Their images are plagued with similar noise, but the colors are not as vivid. More importantly, the bright images from the ZR100 are better than last year’s dreadful results.

With a list price of just $299 and online prices even lower, the Canon ZR100 proves that digital moviemaking lies within the grasp of even the most budget-challenged buyers. Although this MiniDV camcorder lacks certain amenities–most notably photo capabilities–it shoots decent-quality video, sports a 20X optical zoom, and makes life easy for novices. Alas, it delivers the same noisy, jittery low-light performance as its pricier siblings, the ZR200 and the ZR300. If you can live with that, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by what the ZR100 offers for the money.

If you’re wondering whether it makes sense to spend an extra $100 on the next model up, it’s largely a feature-based decision. The ZR200 offers the same number of pixels, the same-size sensor, and the same optics, adding only photo capture (at a paltry 0.7 megapixel), a wireless remote, and Webcam capabilities.

The front of the ZR100 is identical to the front of the ZR200. The 20x optical zoom lens sits above the automatic adjustment sensor, with the dark sensor covering pointing down to the camcorders microphone. The microphone is positioned to be out of the way, and the entire front is pulled out from the rest of the camcorder body. As such, wandering fingers shouldn’t interfere with the recording process.

The right side is home to several handling features as well as the bottom loading tape mechanism, the port cover, and the mode dial. At the front of the Canon ZR100 users can easily access the A/V and DV ports which are discreetly hidden under the gray plastic port cover. Running horizontally from the back to the front is the large adjustable strap. The strap is well secured and is easily adjusted. Above the strap fastening point at the rear of the right side, users can access the mode dial. Play, OFF, and Camera are the three settings. Above the mode dial is the neck strap fastening point, which has forced placement of the mode dial a little lower than last year. Not a big deal, but the dial is a little more difficult to reach if you have a long thumb.

Physically identical to other models in Canon’s ZR line, the ZR100 weighs slightly more than a pound and fits comfortably in the hand. Its controls consist of the usual right-hand accoutrements (zoom rocker, mode dial, and so on) and a smattering of buttons on the left side. Most of these perform double duty depending on whether you’re in record or playback mode, but they’re clearly labeled and largely intuitive. Only one or two buttons–AE Shift/End Search, for example–necessitate opening the instruction manual.

To make moviemaking as expedient as possible, the ZR100′s controls include dedicated Focus, Night mode, and Wide-screen buttons. Pressing Focus instantly enables manual focus control, a nice feature to find in a camcorder at this price; you make adjustments with the camera’s jog dial. That dial also navigates you through the ZR100′s simple onscreen menu system. A nearby switch toggles between Easy and Program modes; the former automatically manages all image settings, while the latter enables access to the camcorder’s meager manual settings, such as selectable shutter speeds (1/60 to 1/2,000 second) and white-balance presets.