Moving pictures: DV camcorders on test

Home-movie makers have never had it so good. We've come a long way since those three-minute reels of Super8 film and temperamental projection equipment.

Even during the enormous boom in the video camcorder market of the 1980s and 1990s, we had to suffer analogue technology that was, by modern standards, unreliable and often resulted in poor-quality pictures and sound.

Thankfully those clunky old VHS and 8mm video cameras were just the start. Now, with the digital revolution in full swing, there has never been a better time to buy a camcorder. Digital video technology has made vast improvements to the image and audio quality of the average video recording.

MiniDV (to give the most popular digital video format its official name) allows users to make more of their footage too, with added computer compatibility and editing features. Digital circuitry has also helped to make camcorders smaller, more portable and above all, packed with features.

Digital camcorders have been around for a while now but even a year ago, you would have been scoffed at by sales assistants if you asked them what £500 would buy you.

Today, you can pick up a fully-fledged MiniDV camcorder on the high street for even less than that. Read on as we take a close-up snapshot of some of the best digital camcorders available and look at what they can do.

Why digital?
We're often told that "digital is better" and although that's not always strictly true, the world of video has very clearly benefited from the move to zeros and ones.

Take DVD, for example. Prior to the arrival of those popular movie discs, we were quite happy to stump up in excess of £10 for our favourite films on a reel of tape that suffered from serious quality issues and promised to degrade even further the instant you unwrapped it and popped it into your VCR.

The huge success of DVD has demonstrated the public's hunger for better quality, longevity and added extras. So it's only logical that we should also display similar inclinations when it comes to recording our homemade audio-visual material.

In the simplest of terms, the MiniDV format has given us the opportunity to create our own videos without any of the snap, crackle and pop that you would associate with both the sound and picture of old analogue formats like VHS, VHS-C, Hi8 and Video8.

MiniDV still works in much the same way as traditional video - there's still a lens to capture the image and a tape to store it on - but the whole process has been refined, resulting in a purer image with more detail, more colour and less tendency towards random imperfection.

Meanwhile, the economy of digital technology has meant that much of the machinery required to record moving pictures (and their accompanying soundtracks) has been shrunk down to much more manageable proportions.

It's not uncommon nowadays to find a camcorder the size of a fist that's capable of outperforming a machine that only a few years ago would have given your shoulder a run for its money.

If that hasn't convinced you, then consider the fact that the digital video format is, by its very constitution, a natural partner for your computer. With the help of an appropriate cable and the right software, your digital camcorder and your PC can talk to each other.

This gives you the unique opportunity to transfer full-quality footage to your Desktop where you can cut, splice, add effects, alter and ameliorate without losing an ounce of the original quality - editing together the best bits of your tapes into something that you can be proud of showing off to your peers.

Picture perfect
What should you be looking for when you're shopping for a digital camcorder?

Manufacturers will try to dazzle you with exciting-sounding features like enormous digital zooms or night-shot functions, but the first and most obvious deciding factor is image quality.

Just because it's a digital format doesn't mean that all MiniDV cameras are the same. A number of factors contribute to a clean, crisp, colourful picture, so look for a decent quality lens and a large image sensor or 'CCD'.

CCDs are the sensor devices that electronically 'read' the image captured by the lens. In most cases, CCDs are 1/4in in size but some camcorders feature sensors that are a little bit larger (often 1/3in, which can improve image quality further).

Some expensive and semi-professional models even use three separate CCDs - one each for red, green and blue - which result in a very good picture indeed.

As we are looking at the low- to mid-range price bracket, most of the models tested for this feature have 1/4in CCDs, with the notable exception of the two Canon models.

Both the MV5 and the MV500 use smaller 1/6in CCDs in order to reduce the overall size of the cameras. This is particularly effective in the case of the MV5, by far and away the smallest (and smartest) camera on test.

We were, however, surprised to find that the smaller sensors didn't appear to adversely affect image quality. In fact, both the MV500 and the MV5 recorded superior images to some of the 1/4in CCD cams on test.

The quality of the lens itself is also a factor; the Sony DCR-TRV25 (£800. Sony: 0870 511 1999) comes with a very good Carl Zeiss lens and, as a result, its image is crisp and colours are vibrant.

Picture quality was also particularly good on the Panasonic NV-GS5B (£850. Panasonic: 0870 535 7357) and the unusually shaped Sharp VL-MC500 Viewcam (£750. Sharp: 0800 262 958).

Sight and sound
In terms of audio, ignore all the jargon and simply make sure that the camcorder's microphone is mounted in an effective position on the unit.

A microphone that sits next to frequently used buttons is likely to pick up more noise from your fingers than sounds from your shoot. Top or preferably front-mounted microphones are most suitable.

The microphone on the JVC GR-DVL367 (£550. JVC: 0870 330 5000), for example, is perfectly placed at the front of the unit, just below the lens and far away from any buttons or switches that you are likely to fiddle with during filming.

The only part of the camera that comes anywhere near the microphone is the GR-DVL367's unique lamp, for use in low-light conditions. While using the lamp severely reduced battery life, it didn't seem to interfere with sound recording in any way.

Far away, so close
Several of the camcorders we've looked at in this feature boast enormous digital zooms - up to 500x for both the Panasonic NV-GS5B and the JVC GR-DVL367.

Don't be fooled into thinking that a digital zoom is going to give you a better quality enlargement than a standard one, though. A digital zoom simply zooms into a part of the captured image, much like you would in an image-editing application.

This doesn't reveal any more detail but simply enlarges the pixels that comprise the image and usually results in a reduction in image quality. For long-distance film-making, always look for models that have a healthy optical zoom that uses the lenses instead.

The 10x optical zoom on most of our test cameras was perfectly sufficient, but the Canon MV500 (£550. Canon: 0870 514 3723) does particularly well with a whopping 18x zoom lens.

Now that camcorders are small enough to fit in your palm, they no longer have the support of a shoulder to stop them from wobbling about all over the place. However steady you think your grip is, you may find that you are disappointed with the shakiness of your footage when you get it home.

Thankfully, many digital camcorders come with a built-in image stabiliser to even out those tottering takes. Again, an optical image stabiliser is best, but these are increasingly rare and none of the camcorders we looked at come with one.

More common is an electronic steadying option that can usually be found lurking in one of the menus.

Photo-finish
It seems that convergence is everywhere and every gadget has to perform at least two jobs rather than concentrating on getting just one thing right.

When it comes to DV camcorders, many people like to be able to take still photos as well as moving video. This makes sense - after all, who would want to take two expensive devices out with them, especially when they perform largely the same function?

However, it may be a surprise to learn that very few digital camcorders are actually any good at taking still shots.

Just about every model on the market comes with the ability to commit a single frame to tape, but the image sensor of a camcorder was designed to produce TV-resolution images, not detailed photographs.

Modern digital stills cameras augment their resolution with multi-megapixel CCDs though a similar approach is beginning to creep into the MiniDV market. Of the batch we looked at, only the Sharp VL-MC500 and Sony DCR-TRV25 offer the extra pixel oomph when it comes to taking still photos.

The Sharp model's 1.3 megapixel camera is capable of a very respectable resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels, compared with the run-of-the-mill DV cam top resolution of 1024 x 768. Even so, a good dedicated digital camera will still produce better photos.

Don't be fooled into thinking that a megapixel camcorder will have a better quality moving image than a standard one either. Megapixel CCDs only comeinto their own when employed for still photography.

If dual video/photo capability is an important factor in choosing a camcorder though, look for models that come with an additional storage medium, such as a memory card. That way you can at least keep your photos and video separate.

All the mid-end cameras in our test come with a 8MB memory card of some description, with the notable exceptions of the pair of Canons (MV5 and MV500) and the Samsung VP-D130 (£699. Samsung: 0800 521 652).

Also worth noting is the fact that most manufacturers are wisely including a USB connection for fast, efficient transfer of digital photos from your camcorder to your PC without the need for a FireWire connection.

In and out
Connectivity is key to a camcorder's success. FireWire, also known as IEEE-1394 or (as Sony would have it) iLink, has become the de facto standard for transferring DV footage to computers and it's very rare that you'll find a model without it. Not all FireWire ports work the same way, however.

FireWire is designed to allow data to pass back and forth so that you can receive as well as send video. For various technical reasons, however, many models come with a one-way port that can only send video from the camera.

A two-way FireWire socket (such as that included on the Sharp VL-MC500H, the Sony DCR-TRV25, the Panasonic NV-GS5B and the JVC GR-DVL367) can drastically improve your camera's PC compatibility and increase your editing capabilities.

For instance, anyone interested in setting up a video-editing suite around their DV camcorder and PC will benefit from being able to not only transfer raw footage from camera to computer but also master the finished movie back to DV after it has been edited.

Sadly, manufacturers like to charge a lot extra for this pleasure. For example, the Canon MV5 (£800; Canon: 0870514 3723) and MV500 are both one-way FireWire cameras. Two-way versions are available (MV5i and MV500i), but expect to pay up to £100 extra for the privilege.

If you buy a DV-out model and decide at a later stage that you need DV-input too, all is not lost. Bedfordshire-based company Datavision specialises in selling products designed to unlock DV camcorders' input capabilities.

Have a look at Datavision's website to see if it makes a widget for your particular model.

Size matters
Finally, it's worth looking at the small matters of ergonomics and design.

One might initially consider that the style aspect of camcorders is largely a cosmetic luxury. However, size, shape and portability are actually fairly large factors in determining how much use you will get out of your camera.

If, for instance, your camera is something that you can pop into a pocket or a handbag, like the attractive and diminutive Canon MV5, then you're much more likely to take it out with you.

The downside of shrinkage is less surface area, which means that sometimes buttons become too small and fiddly to operate or sometimes even rejected altogether in favour of awkward menu access.

Fortunately, the MV5 manages to avoid being uncomfortable to use, thanks to a pleasingly uncluttered casing and easy-to-navigate option screens.

Similarly, if your camcorder is heavy or awkward to hold, you will feel less inclined to use it, particularly for long stretches of time. The net result is less footage, fewer photos and an expensive camcorder that sits in a drawer gathering dust.

The design of the JVC GR-DVL367 was a bit of a throwback, reminding us of those bulky, conspicuous analogue monstrosities that tourists often have glued to their faces.

Everybody has different hands, however, and the only real way to tell whether you'll feel comfortable wielding a specific model of camcorder is to try it out before you buy.

Thankfully, those glass cabinets in high-street shops such as Dixons are full of camcorders for you to play with, while sales staff should be more than happy to let you judge the suitability of a model's design.

Parting shots
Aside from the points we've already mentioned, there are a few other details worth bearing in mind before you part with your hard-earned cash.

If, for instance, you plan on doing a lot of tripod-based filming, then it's probably best to avoid camcorders with bottom-loading cassette mechanisms, since changing a tape halfway through filming means that you'll have to remove the camera from its perch and thus muck up your framing.

Unfortunately the otherwise excellent Sony DCR-TRV25 suffers from this ill-conceived design flaw, as does the Canon MV500.

Manufacturers proudly tout a number of largely gimmicky features in the hope of persuading you to buy their products. The night-shot functions of the Sony, Canon and JVC models might sound enticing but in practice, you're unlikely to use it terribly often, unless you're planning on filming your own Blair Witch Project.

There's really no substitute for good picture quality, and, on those terms, the Sony DCR-TRV25 and the Panasonic NV-GS5B win hands down.

Convenience is also key, so you might want to consider the Canon MV5 for its pocket-size proportions, or the Sharp VL-MC500 with its unconventional pivoting body might appeal.

If cost is your main concern, the Canon MV500 offers an unbeatable balance of quality and features at an extremely low price.

DESKTOP CUTTING ROOM
As we have mentioned, one of the biggest benefits of digital video is its compatibility with your desktop computer. Here's a brief outline of what you'll need to get started.

Hardware
To edit video on your PC, you'll need a fast processor (700MHz at the very least), bags of memory (256MB minimum) and a vast expanse of free hard disk space on which to store all those hefty video files.

Unless you use an Apple Mac (which come with FireWire as standard), it's likely that you will have to invest in a FireWire card. FireWire is a little bit like USB, except that it can transfer data much faster, allowing you to send your footage very quickly from tape to hard disk at high quality.

If you don't already have a FireWire port on your PC, you can add one cheaply and easily with a PCI expansion card, such as Belkin's IEEE-1394 Controller Card (around £50).

Software
A good video editing application will let you capture your footage, trim your shots and piece together your movie, adding soundtracks, special effects and transitions as you go.

Adobe Premiere is the industry standard, but is fairly complicated and has a price tag to match (around £520). Cheaper and more beginner-friendly is Roxio's VideoWave Movie Creator (£45).

Cash to splash
All the MiniDV camcorders we've looked at in this feature weigh in at well under £1,000.

Indeed, a bit of shopping around will reward you with some substantially lower prices than the recommended prices we've listed here. Try Jessops, which specialises in all kinds of camera equipment and pledges to match any competitor's price; perfect for those shopping on a budget.

But if you can afford to splash out a little bit more on a higher-end camcorder, then what kind of features can you expect for your extra cash?

Spend more on a camcorder and you should notice a drastic improvement in image and sound. Semi-professional models, such as the Canon XM2, come with significantly better lenses than their cheaper counterparts and are capable of near-broadcast quality video.

The XM2 comes in just shy of £2,000 and at that price, you can expect features such as two-way FireWire, three CCD sensors and an optical image stabiliser as standard.