Camcorders > Panasonic Camcorders > Surround

Advantages: Light weight
Disadvantages: Battery

Unlike many tiny camcorders, the SD9 doesn't come with a miniature battery enclosed in the chassis, with no longer-life options. Instead, a decent 1,320mAh unit is supplied as standard, which will be enough for over an hour of recording; up to nearly two hours depending on usage. This fits neatly onto the back of the camcorder, but you can replace it with a long-life version instead, with options up to a whopping 5,800mAh, which will give you between ...
...After extensive usage, particularly in low light, we remain quite impressed with the SD9's video quality. The footage does get quite grainy as the light drops below the equivalent of a living room lit by a 100W bulb, although the colour is still reasonable. So here the small size of the three 1/6in CCDs can't be overcome. But for most consumer uses - such as outdoor holiday shooting or indoor events with at least some lighting - the SD9 will fit ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to record onto DVD, good quality
Disadvantages: No viewfinder

I bought this Sony camcorder after having had a Sony mini dv camcorder for around a year. The reason I wanted the hard drive camcorder is because the mini dv one was very very hard to put onto tape. This camcorder is very easy to use and replay and since it's a hard disk camcorder, you can easily record the footage onto DVD. The footage is shown in clips which makes it very easy to find/delete what you are looking for. When you play back, all the ...
...The picture quality is absolutely fine, as is the sound. The only downside, I would say, is that there is no viewfinder so on a sunny day it's difficult to see the screen clearly. I would definitely recommend this camcorder, if anything for it's ease of use and good quality. ... Read review

Advantages: Simple functions, lightweight, great zoom for the price
Disadvantages: No firewire cable supplied, camera shake at extreme zoom

Bought from John Lewis for £149 which came with a 2 year guarantee this is a compact and easy to use "point and shoot" camcorder. Bought because we have just had our first child and wanted to record those special moments. There are a few obvious positives: a) The quality of the 40x zoom using the Carl Zeiss lens, although there is obvious camera shake at extreme zoom when not using a tripod b) It has a good battery life and you can purchase the ...
...combined with intuative controls, lightweight machine and comfortable to hold. d) It is a entry level camera with reasonable specifications which records onto Digital Video (small tapes) and these are the preferred recording media if you are considering transfering to your PC. The firewire cable to connect the unit to your PC is NOT included, which is my main complaint about the unit. You will need to add some editing software (or use windows movie ... Read review

Advantages: Light, Easy, Clear Menus
Disadvantages: The power switch is hard to find.

If you want a camera that can do everything then this is the camera is perfect for you. This camera really can do everything. Someone I know who has got this camera wanted to connect it up to the computer so that they would be able to show the videos so we got the box out and found the thing we needed plugged it into the computer without installing the software and then the next thing that we new Windows Media Player came up and we were able to view ... Read review

Advantages: Hard drive, zoom, good quality lens, great screen, night mode
Disadvantages: only 3 mega pixels

...through dropping the camera, however, Sony have added a G sensor which knows when the Camera is falling, so the hard disk drive can protect itself to ensure that your videos are kept safe. This camera also has a lovely 2.7 inch touch screen, which makes going through menus a breeze. There are other features such as the external microphone, photo mode, and a great 120x digital zoom. I bought this when HD camcorders were first arriving onto the market. ... Read review