High-def camcorders, while not exactly cheap, are now more affordable then ever. CNET Australia picks the best from this year's litter.
Photo credit: Sony and CNET Australia
High-def recording chews up space, a lot of space — think of the Cookie Monster being let loose in an Arnott's factory — and that's why our preferred camcorder picks are hard drive models. The Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 and the Canon HG21 both marry excellent video quality with plenty of space. A word of advice though, you should invest in extra, longer-life batteries.
If size and weight are critical issues for you, then you might want to investigate the flash drive-only models out there. Prior to this year we've been reticent to recommend them because of their limited storage, but with flash memory prices dropping quicker than an investment bank's share price that situation has changed. Indeed our top flash memory pick, the Canon HF11, comes supplied with 40GB of storage (32GB built-in and 8GB on an SDHC card). Our other choice, the Sony Handycam HDR-CX12, only comes with 12GB of supplied Memory Sticks, but it does have smile detection that works even during filming.
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