MiniDV Camcorders Best Buys
BARGAIN
The Canon MD205 is ideal for first time users. Alongside Easy mode, the QuickStart button ensures you're shooting within seconds of starting up, and there's a handy joystick to make adjustments. No optical zoom (the 36x Advanced Zoom is digital) is a downer and the Mini DV format lacks the convenience of SD or a hard drive, but you get cracking value with this format.
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MIDRANGE
The GS500 isn’t the most stylish camcorder around and weighing over half a kilo, this is one camcorder you won’t be slipping in a small bag. Incorporating Panasonic's 3CCD technology and a 12x optical Leica lens for accurate colours and sharp, crisp footage, it’s only let down by the missing headphone jack and fiddly controls.
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LUXURY
The HC9E controversially shuns AVCHD for the HDV format. Otherwise it's a standard Sony with a 10x optical Carl Zeiss lens, Super Steady Shot stabiliser and HDMI input, with ClearVid CMOS sensor promising clear, detailed footage. It seems pricey compared to the more versatile, multi-storage offering of Sony's HDR-UX19E, but it’s an extremely capable camcorder.
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