Convenient Camcorders
Video cameras that record directly onto DVDs or hard drives make shooting and viewing your footage easy. But our lab tests found some clear differences between the two formats.Tracey Capen and John Poultney are freelance writers based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Eric Butterfield is a senior associate editor for PC World.
Eric Butterfield, Tracey Capen, and John Poultney
JVC's compact Everio GZ-MG155 (above left) was the top-performing HDD camcorder in our roundup, while Sony's chunkier, DVD-based DCR-DVD408 earned our overall Best Buy award.
You can choose from many recording formats when shopping for a camcorder. Your options include Mini DVD, hard-disk drive (HDD), MiniDV tape, and SD Card--not to mention the hybrid models that record to both an internal hard drive and DVDs.
For this story we tested 10 camcorders that record video to either a Mini DVD disk or to an internal hard drive--two formats that are convenient for playback (one unit does both).
We didn't include MiniDV camcorders in our ranked chart (see "Top 10 DVD and HDD Camcorders"), in part because their popularity is waning; but you can still read our reviews of several recent MiniDV models. Sales of Mini DVD and HDD models, meanwhile, are rising. According to a report issued by IDC, 2007 will be the first year that consumers buy more DVD camcorders than they do MiniDV models.
You may also be interested in checking out our video, "New, Improved Camcorders," featuring PC World Senior Associate Editor Eric Butterfield, and our slide show of the Top 10 HDD and Mini DVD Camcorders.
Many video editing applications now let you import MPEG-2 files for editing. But even so, MiniDV content remains easier to edit than MPEG-2 footage because video editing software must rely on an MPEG codec to interpret MPEG-2 files, a process that requires far more computing power than editing DV does.
Mini DVD camcorders let you burn footage directly to a disc that you can finalize in minutes and pop into your DVD player for viewing. With most hard-disk drive (HDD) camcorders, you have to transfer video to a PC so you can burn the footage to a DVD disc; some models, however, provide a dedicated one-touch button for burning video to a DVD disc or backing it up to an external hard drive. The two JVC camcorders we reviewed have both of these capabilities. We chose to rank the two types of camcorders in a single chart because both of them capture video in the same MPEG-2 format and both produce DVDs; HDD models simply require an extra step.
Disk or Discs?
One drawback of Mini DVD camcorders is that recording to a disc limits the length of your video. Most Mini DVD models can record about 35 minutes of high-quality video on a standard disc (on a few units we tested, though, using the highest quality setting limits you to about 20 minutes). Most models we saw support dual-layer discs, which have twice the capacity of standard discs. You must finalize each disc before you can remove it--and completing that minutes-long process could cause you to miss a crucial video opportunity.
Every hard-disk camcorder we tested had a 30GB hard drive--roomy enough to store approximately 7 hours of high-quality footage (or about 14 hours of video shot in normal mode). Some other models available have 60GB drives. If you plan to shoot video in inclement weather or in dusty environments, an HDD camcorder is your best bet, because its sealed compartment is less susceptible to infiltration by foreign substances than is a camcorder that uses removable media.
The Video Quality Question
Of the camcorders we tested, the DVD models delivered better video quality than did the HDD models. The average video quality score was 89 for DVD camcorders and 80 for HDD models. The disparity isn't huge, but consider this: Only three units earned a Superior for video quality--and all were DVD camcorders. In particular, DVD models performed very well in low-light conditions, earning an average mark of 91 (Superior), while the HDD models posted an average of just 71 (Fair).
Not only did DVD camcorders tend to produce better-looking video, but they had a significantly lower average price. Of the models we tested, DVD camcorders had a mean price of $548 versus $690 for HDD units. Here's a head-to-head example: The $380 Panasonic VDR-D210 (a Mini DVD model) earned a video quality score of Very Good; the least-expensive hard drive camcorder to match that score was the $600 JVC Everio GZ-MG155.
Though MPEG-2 (the video format that MiniDVD and HDD camcorders use) involves more compression than DV format and supposedly yields inferior-quality video, output from the various models we looked at didn't vindicate this assumption.
We compared output from four camcorders that had scored very well for video quality in our lab tests: two MiniDV, one Mini DVD, and one HDD model. Despite some slight differences among them, none of the four camcorders produced demonstrably sharper video or smoother motion or better color accuracy than the others. For instance, the best low-light video came from the Canon DC50, a Mini DVD model.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in our video quality tests came from the $400 Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG65, which records to an SD Card (see "Inexpensive Camcorder Puts Great Video in Your Pocket"). This unusually compact model surprised us with its extremely high image quality, earning overall scores of Very Good for video and Superior for photos. And unlike the other units here, the Xacti records video in MPEG-4 format.
Comparing Camcorder Formats
Each camcorder type has its own advantages and drawbacks. We outline the conveniences and hurdles of each.
| CAMCORDER FORMAT | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Mini DVD |
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| Hard Disk Drive (HDD) |
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| MiniDV |
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| SD Card |
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Individual Product Reviews
Following are lists of links to individual reviews of the digital camcorders we tested for this article. The first list is of the MiniDVD and HDD models that we assessed in compiling our ranked chart, "Top 10 DVD and HDD Camcorders." The second list presents links to reviews of five MiniDV camcorders, which we tested at the same time as the Mini DVD and HDD models, but which we chose not to include in the ranked chart because MiniDV models are difficult to compare head-to-head with these other types. And finally we offer a link to a review of the SD Card-based Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG65, which records to its card in MPEG-4 format.
Top HDD and DVD Camcorders
Here are the links to our individual Mini DVD and HDD camcorder reviews.
MiniDV Camcorders
Here are the links to our individual MiniDV camcorder reviews.
SD Card Camcorder
The following digital camcorder records video to an internal SD Card.
Inexpensive Camcorder Puts Great Video in Your Pocket
The tiny Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG65 records to an SD Card.
Though DVD and hard-disk drive (HDD) camcorders are quite portable, they're much too big to slip into a coat pocket. I tried the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG65, which costs $400 and is only slightly larger than a typical point-and-shoot camera, so it would be perfect for carrying inside a ski jacket next winter when you hit the slopes. Because it records video and still images to an SD Card--a storage mechanism with no moving parts--the CG65 should be able to handle hard knocks better than an HDD or DVD camcorder. The CG65's case feels plasticky, however, and not very rugged.
In my informal tests, the CG65 produced generally high-quality video, which it shoots in the MPEG-4 format (all of the other camcorders reviewed for this story employ the MPEG-2 format). In my opinion the video captured under low lighting conditions was especially impressive. Overall, the CG65 received a score of Very Good for video quality. Footage taken indoors at night looked good but not great: Errant pixels danced in shadow areas, and exposure changes occurred with disconcerting abruptness as I moved the camcorder into well-lit areas from darker ones.
The CG65 does a nice job of doubling as a digital camera. It records still images at resolutions of up to 6 megapixels, and it was one of just three camcorders tested for this review that earned a score of Superior for photo image quality.
Its 2.5-inch LCD is slightly smaller than the wide-aspect screens included on most of the other camcorders we tested. Another drawback is the CG65's short battery life (a skimpy 74 minutes), which means that you'll need to carry an extra lithium ion cell with you, since the first one will run out long before you reach the video capacity of a 4GB SD Card (2 hours, 45 minutes at the highest quality setting). You don't get an SD Card in the box either, so purchasing a 4GB card (for example) will run you an extra $45 or so.
Eric Butterfield