Mirror Mirror on the wall- Which is the greatest HD Camcorder of all? As of late HD camcorders have become all the rage. All the formats: Memory cards, DVD, hard drive and now Blu-ray are all evolving to high-def. We tested four camcorders and we tested the image offered through several exercises. Specifically with regards function, available options… as well as the easiness of exporting and editing the film recorded. Read on to find out what we found out…

The Sony HDR-CX6 has a CMOS sensor of 6.1 million pixels. It works from a Memory Stick Pro Duo memory card. The size of the cards, their (relative) stability and their memory, which is constantly being developed seem to make the memory card the most prized format of all. That said, it also comes with a price tag of around €900.

The Canon HR10 has a 1/2.7” CMOS sensor. It uses mini DVDs: a format that has rather long access times. The DVD is also susceptible to encounter problems during recording either because of sudden movements or lens problems. It’s not all bad though. This format is more geared towards playing directly on a DVD player in your living room, without having to plug your camera into your TV. A mini DVD costs around 3 to 6 euro.

The Panasonic HDC SD5 is a 1/6” Tri CCD. It works with a SDHC memory card which has the advantage of being cheaper than Sony’s MMS. On top of this, the SD5 “only” costs €850.

The Hitachi DZ-BD70E has a CMOS sensor of 1/2.8”. It’s really noteworthy for the fact that it’s one of the first models which supports Blu-ray as a recording format. This camcorder works with a format created specifically for HD. The biggest stumbling block though is its price tag. Take a deep breath- A mini Blu-ray costs near enough to €20... and the camera itself is around €1300.

Because of time restraints we couldn’t consider a hard drive camcorder for testing. Rest assured though- a model will be added as soon as possible.