subject: Christmas Video Camera Picks [print this page] Christmas Video Camera Picks Christmas Video Camera Picks
You don't have to pay a lot of money these days to purchase a camcorder and the quality of them is pretty amazing. Here are five top video cameras that are receiving a lot of attention:
1. Panasonic HDC-SD60K - This is a great starter camera because it's starting price is around $500. For this price you can get a real zoom-capable high definition camcorder. Panasonic has a series of entry level video cameras that include the HDC-HS60, TM60, TM55 and SD60. The four models are similar and all cost between $500 and $700. The difference between them is in the amount of memory. Memory ranges from 8 GB to 120GB. Each of these camcorders has a comfortable grip. Switches are on the back of the camcorder whereupon you can select still video and playback modes - or you can use the touch screen. There are also a number of ports for connectors like Mini-HDMI out, USB, SDXC card slot and such. All of the camcorders come with manual shutter speed and iris controls.
2. Panasonic HDC-TM700 - Taking a step up in price, this version of camcorder has great low-light video quality and numerous manual controls. It includes a 108/60 p recording option. It is said to be a step up from its predecessor in that it has a larger lens and LCD, a larger pixel count and improved lens ring control. This camera's price is in the $900s with its sister version the HDC-HS700 pricing at $1399 (due to its large internal hard drive of 240GB) The camcorder also ha 5.1-channel surround recording and volume controls to support the mic.
3. Canon Vixia HV30 - This is a tape-based camcorder for those who still prefer tape. It is considered a solid and quality camera. While MiniDV tapes are becoming more difficult to find, there are those who still prefer them. This could be due to the compatibility issues Mac users are facing with tapeless camcorders. This little camera has over-the-top video quality and features such as the four-directional joystick, which makes it easy to navigate through the settings menu with your thumb. The tape deck is located underneath the camera where your palm is holding it. The HV30 is Canon's third camcorder in the HV series. It is an improvement over the HV10 and HV20. Some say the HV30 isn't much different than the HV20. The difference, the HV30 introduces a 30p progressive mode and supports the BP-2L24H lithium-ion battery.
4. Toshiba Camileo - Toshiba has announced three new camcorders from the Camileo range that all feature full HD resolution. There is the Camileo S20, CamileoH30 and the Camileo S20. These camcorders are said to be the slimmest HD recorders in the world. The camera is 17mm thin. The S20 comes with a 5-mega pixel CMOS sensor, capturing 1,920 x 1,080 resolution with a 4x digital zoom. The H30 features a 10-mega pixel CMOS sensor and an 5x optical and 4x digital zoom. The menu on these systems is said to be easy and provide seamless navigation between shooting modes. It comes with a 3" LCD TFT touch screen display and the H30 has video stabilization which helps with those zoomed in shots. You can upload your video into YouTube directly from the camera without the need for a PC to processed the captured videos. To bump up the quality, Toshiba has even released the Camileo SX900 July of this year. This mega zoom camcorder has Full HD 1080p video recording at 30 frames per second. There are ports to connect videos directly to your HDTV, 9x optical zoom and more. The S20 starts at $109.
