Group test: Budget digital camcorders

Six very affordable digital video camcorders tested and reviewed

Compare the earliest home video cameras with those on sale in the shops today and you’ll get an idea of just how much technology has moved on in the intervening 30 or so years.

The first portable home video devices stretched the very notion of portability. They were huge shoulder-mounted beasts (often with a separate over-the-shoulder tape deck). Using low-quality analogue video formats such as VHS, home movie devices were, more often than not, guilty of producing terrible pictures and equally dreadful sound.

And, with exorbitant prices for such equipment, early home video enthusiasts paid dearly for the privilege.

Fast forward to 2006 and you’ll find that the analogue camcorder is virtually extinct. In its place is an amazing range of digital video cams – small enough to sit in the palm of your hand and capable of vastly superior digital picture and sound quality.

And with prices as low as £170, pretty much anybody can afford to get behind the camera and start making movies.

Nowadays there are several different digital formats to choose from. MiniDV (mini digital video tape) cassette is still the best when it comes to quality, and usually the cheapest too, but it’s not necessarily the most convenient. Most miniDV devices can connect to a PC to turn recordings into DVDs, for example, but it’s now possible to buy camcorders that record directly to blank DVDs.

There are also models that use hard disks and even memory cards as their storage medium, allowing for even easier transfer of footage to a PC.

At the price point we’ve set for this group test (£300 and under), the most common formats are miniDV and DVD, and we’ve rounded up a mix of both. Even better, many of these camcorders can be found for far less than the manufacturers recommended price here. Also, do not expect decent still photography at this price – all the cameras had sensors with less than one megapixel.

More to spend?
As with any area of technology, the more you spend, the more you get. If you have a bigger budget, other features you might want to look out for include analogue audio/video inputs for making digital copies of old analogue camcorder and VHS recordings, high-quality still photo capabilities and an accessory shoe for fitting external devices, such as a video light.

With digital camcorders, you may also find that spending more than £300 could buy you a significant improvement in picture quality. Those with deep pockets could, for example, consider going for a high-definition HDV camcorder like Sony’s HDR-HC3 (around £800). HDV camcorders use ordinary miniDV cassettes but are able to record video at much higher resolutions that you can enjoy on an HD-ready TV set.

A far less expensive way of getting a quality picture boost is by going for a 3-CCD camcorder, such as the Panasonic NV-GS180 (around £330). Camcorders with three separate image sensors tend to be much better at reproducing colours than standard models with just one CCD.

This article is part of a group test of budget digital camcorders. Others are:
Canon DC100
Canon MV930
JVC GR-D340
Panasonic NV-GS37
Samsung VP-DC161W
Sony Handycam DCR-HC35
Table of features can be read via our pdf download.
Verdict is on the next page

Verdict
In general we were more impressed with the miniDV cams than the DVD-based ones. It may be an older technology, but miniDV tape has still got the edge in terms of quality and – better still – it’s cheaper, so you get more features for your money into the bargain. Perhaps when (or if) high-capacity, high-definition disc formats like Blu-ray and HD-DVD find their way into budget camcorders, the situation will improve.

Out of the miniDV camcorders, if we were to choose, we’d go for the Sony Handycam DCR-HC35. It’s not perfect, but it’s by far the best balance of image quality and usability, and it has some of the most useful extra features, particularly for desktop video editors.

Those with slightly less cash to splash could do a lot worse than choose the JVC GR-D340. It may lack some of the fancy features of its more expensive rivals, but it’s easy to use, records decent quality pictures and is unbelievably good value for money.

Before you buy, it’s worth taking into account what a little extra cash might get you. But if this group test has proved anything, it’s the fact that you definitely don’t need to break the bank if you want to become a digital movie maker.