HD camcorder reviews

HD camcorder reviews

As the high definition age comes upon us, we are all begining to jump on the band wagon by purchasing HDTV's, blu-ray players and high definition video cameras. problem with buying HD camcorders is the fact that there are so many makes and models that are quality buys and have similar features. When multiple things have similar features and price, how do you differentiated between them.

I have had this very issue with deciding on which compact HD camcorder to buy. Here is a list of the top cams on the market. We will discuss a few of them and i will give a conclusion as to which on i would buy.

Sanyo CG10

Sanyo CG20

Kodak Zi8

Kodak playsport

sony bloggie pm5

sony bloggie cm5

Flip range

Firstly HD has a few different formats that you should be aware of. I will be posting an article on what the differences are, but in the mean time i will put the formats in order of quality

1)1080p 30fps

2)720p 60fps

3)1080i

4)720p 30fps

Those are the main formats that an HD camcorder will shoot in. the obvious choice would be to go and find a camcorder that has 1080p capability. you would think this is the best idea, but you would be mistaken. some portable camera's may shoot in 1080p but have no optical zoom or other features that would make using it a lot easier.

What are you looking for in a video camera?

well, i am looking for the following:

1) 720p 60fps

2) 1080p

3) Optical zoom

4) HDMI / mini HDMI output

5) decent interface

6) Easy USB access

Now lets have a quick review of each of the above cameras and then i will conclude with my top pick.

Sanyo CG10:

Pro:

The Sanyo has a decent optical zoom along with memory card expansion slot, HDMI out and makes it easy to shoot a relatively stable shot with its pistol grip

Con:

The Sanyo is an older camera on the market which only does 720p. It also has a measly 1 hour constant shooting battery life.

Sanyo CG20

Pro:

Full 1080p and 720p 60fps have been added to the CG20. It has kept the optical zoom and the handy pistol grip. The compression rate of the filming is great and allows for over an hours worth of shooting on a single 8Gb SDHC card.

Con:

The size of the camera is not that competitive to its rivals like the kodak's and the sony's. Features like smile shutter, face tracing and other features are not available on these models.

Kodak Zi8 and Playsport

Pro:

Shooting modes include 1080p and 720 60fps, cable interface is amazing and all cables are included in the packaging. The best part of the Zi8 is the fact that an external microphone can be added to the camera which allows higher quality sound recording. The playsport has the same features and inner workings as the Zi8 but is built for rugged uses. You can use it underwater to a depth of 3m and the cam is fully dust resistant.

Con:

The Zi8 feels cheap and has a poor build quality, compared to the bloggie and the flip range, the Zi8 feels bulky. If you had the qoice, you would probably buy the playsport over the Zi8 anyday.

Sony Bloggie PM5

Pro:

The Sony Bloggie is one of the best and most compact camcorders on the market at the moment. It records at full HD 30fps and allows for easy uploading to youtube. One of the best features of the PM5 is the 360 degree snap on attachment that makes the PM5 capable of shooting a 360 degree fish eye view of the world!

Con:

Pricing on the Sony Bloggie is above the rest of its competition. Sony is finally allowing SD card storage, “thank the godly lord”. Sony Bloggie does not have the features of the Kodaks, but its quality does over rule that.

Conclusion

I hope that the information on all the choices has been enlightening. My choice on this topic should be clear from my information on the Sanyo CG20. Pricing on all of the above products are very similar and more often then not you can find a very good deal. Please contact me if you need any more information on any of these topics or any of the camcorders in this blog post.