GH Institute

All Camcorders

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  Review of Kodak PlaySport Zx3 camcorder

  Good Housekeeping Top Scorer

  Features

  Block shape. Full high definition (1080). 58x19.5x113mm. Weight 145g. 20Mb onboard memory, SD card. 4x digital zoom. Still photos to 5.3 megapixels. Rugged, waterproof casing.90 minutes recording on one charge. HDMI socket for connection to HD TV. Video light. Colours: White with black, blue, purple or red.

  Comments

  Good points: block shape means good for quick shots, irritating for long shots. Good quality video. Very rugged, and waterproof to 10 feet, making it superbly flexible. Very simple controls.

  Drawbacks: Relatively weak still photos.

  Rating: 73/100

  Price: £120

  Stockist: 01442 261122 - http://www.kodak.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Toshiba Camileo H30 camcorder

  Features

  Traditional shape. Full high definition (1080). 45x110x65mm. Weight 250g. SD card memory. 5x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom. Still photos to 16 megapixels. 150 minutes recording on one charge. Flash/movie light. HDMI socket for connection to HD TV. Colours: black or silver.

  Comments

  Good points: traditional camcorder shape means fiddly for quick shot, better for long shots. Fits well in the hand. Neat touch screen controls. One click upload to YouTube. Large (7.6cm) screen. Good quality video.

  Drawbacks: Considerably more chunky and heavy than the rest - not ideal for handbag or pocket. Still photos not as good as specification suggests.

  Rating: 71/100

  Price: £128

  Stockist: 0844 847 8944 - http://www.toshiba.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Sony Bloggie MHS-PM5K camcorder

  Features

  Block shape. Full high definition (1080). Weight 130g. 54x19x108 mm. 4Gb Memory Stick Duo provided. Also takes SD. 4x digital zoom. Still photos to 5 megapixels. 95 minutes recording on one charge. Colours: violet, pink, blue or white.

  Comments

  Good points: block shape means good for quick shots, irritating for long shots. The best video of the cameras we looked at. Fun swivel head and 360 degree adaptor for all-round photos.

  Drawbacks: Very fiddly getting videos off the camera - the only one you can't just copy them off. Software too complicated. Not obvious how to fit SD card. Only half screen used for video, so small image. ‘Violet' is almost indistinguishable from black.

  Rating: 70/100

  Price: £120

  Stockist: 08705 111999 - http://www.sony.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Panasonic HM-TA1 camcorder

  Features

  Block shape. Full high definition (1080). 53x17.8x104mm. Weight 115g. SD card memory. 4x digital zoom. Still photos to 8 megapixels. 80 minutes recording on one charge. Video light. Colours: Black, blue, purple or white.

  Comments

  Good points: block shape means good for quick shots, irritating for long shots.  Good quality video and still photographs. Full paper manual.

  Drawbacks: Controls are slightly confusing initially. Easy to accidentally open the battery compartment.

  Rating: 70/100

  Price: £150

  Stockist: 0844 844 3852 - http://www.panasonic.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Sanyo VPC-GH1EX camcorder

  Features

  Traditional shape. High definition (1080). 38.5x110x55 mm. Weight 172g. 50Mb onboard memory/SD card. 5x optical, 10x digital zoom. Still photos to 16 megapixels. 60 mins recording on one charge. Flash. HDMI socket for connection to HD TV. Colours: silver.

  Comments

  Good points: traditional camcorder shape means fiddly for quick shot, better for long shots. Excellent lens and zoom. Full paper manual. Good still picture quality.

  Drawbacks: Some jagged effects on indoor shooting. Video quality good, but not the best we saw.

  Rating: 68/100

  Price: £186

  Stockist: 01923 477124 - http://www.sanyo.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Flip Mino HD camcorder

  Features

  Block shape. Limited High definition (720). 50x16.8x100 mm. Weight 116g. 8 Gb onboard memory. No optical zoom, 2 x digital zoom. No still photos. 120 minutes recording on one charge. HDMI socket for connection to HD TV. Colours: brushed silver.

  Comments

  Good points: block shape means good for quick shots, irritating for long shots. Extremely simple point and shoot. No settings, nothing to fiddle with. Compact, elegant style. Onboard memory holds 2 hours of HD video, which looks surprisingly good considering it's not full HD. Easy to use touch panel controls.

  Drawbacks: Limited zoom, not full HD video (and no choice of video formats). No still pictures.

  Rating: 64/100

  Price: £147

  Stockist: 0844 922 1010 - http://www.flip-video-cameras.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Samsung MemoryCam SMX-C20RP camcorder

  Features

  Traditional shape. Standard definition. 35.2x109x56.2mm. Weight 160g. SD card memory. 10x optical zoom, 1200x digital zoom. Still photos to 1.6 megapixels. 160 minutes recording on one charge. Colours: black, red, blue or purple.

  Comments

  The best looking camera, a delight to handle and excellent zoom.

  Drawbacks: Lack of HD really shows – video quality isn’t in the same league as the HD cameras. Quite bad jagged effects on straight edges when the camera is moved.

  Rating: 62/100

  Price: £169

  Stockist: 0845 726 7864 - http://www.samsungcamcorder.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010

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  Review of Canon Legria FS306 camcorder

  Features

  Traditional shape. Standard definition. 55x121x59mm. Weight 225g. SD card memory. 37x optical zoom, 2000x digital zoom. Still photos to 0.75 megapixels. 200 minutes recording on one charge. Integral lens cover. Video light. Colours: silver, red or blue.

  Comments

  Good points: traditional camcorder shape means fiddly for quick shot, better for long shots. Powerful zoom and excellent lens.

  Drawbacks: SD video looks very poor in comparison to HD. Very chunky. Seems outdated. Still photos very poor.

  Rating: 52/100

  Price: £187

  Stockist: 08443 690100 - http://www.canon.co.uk

  GHI Test Report - November 2010