Best HD Camcorders

Best high-def camcorders blend performance, price, design

For the most beautiful high-definition video, experts recommend the Canon Vixia HF S10 (*Est. $1,140) -- but it's not quite the landslide it used to be. Some experts prefer the rival Panasonic HDC-TM300 (*Est. $1,175), but reviews say the Canon shoots slightly sharper video. If a $1,000 camcorder isn't in your budget, reviews say the Canon Vixia HF200 (*Est. $600) offers good video and plenty of features for hundreds less.

Still, if you're a pro shooter, budget filmmaker or just a real video enthusiast, critics say you'll be happiest with the Canon HF S10, even though it costs almost twice as much as the HF200. The HF S10 "blesses us with one of the best video performances we've seen" on a nonprofessional camcorder, say editors of InfoSyncWorld.com. The palm-sized Canon HF S10 is "built like a miniature tank," and it allows experienced shooters to wield detailed manual control over their video. As with most HD camcorders, you can select easy mode and let the camcorder do all of the work.

The Canon HF S10 records to built-in flash memory -- no tapes or discs to fiddle with. You can fit about three hours of top-quality HD video in its 32 GB internal memory before you have to upload it to your computer via the included USB cable, or you can slide in an SDHC memory card and keep on shooting.

Canon's newest model in this line, the Canon Vixia HF S11 (*Est. $1,400), is essentially the same camcorder with "very few advantages over the HF S10," CamcorderInfo.com concludes. The HF S11 offers 64 GB of memory, a slightly better image stabilizer and compatibility with a wired remote control -- but by and large, experts prefer the less expensive and still widely available HF S10.

If your budget is a little smaller, the Canon HF S100 (*Est. $1000) is exactly the same as the HF S10, except it has no built-in memory -- it records only to SDHC cards. An 8 GB card costs about $20 and holds about an hour of high-definition footage; more expensive, higher-capacity cards hold more.

Critics find only two major drawbacks to the Canon HF S10/S100 HD camcorder. First, it's "a decent low light performer, but it's definitely not its strong point," experts at CamcorderInfo.com conclude after extensive testing. The new Sony Handycam HDR-XR520V (*Est. $1,300) shoots better in low-light tests. (See our section on hard-drive camcorders, below, for more on this Sony model.)

Second, the Canon HF S10/S100 camcorders lack viewfinders and lens rings, both of which make a camcorder feel more professional, reviewers say. You'll find both features on two new, top-of-the-line Panasonic camcorders that differ only in the recording media they use. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 (*Est. $1,175) records video to either 32 GB of internal memory or to a memory card, while the Panasonic HDC-HS300 (*Est. $1,200) packs a 120 GB hard drive for up to 50 hours of shooting.

The Panasonic HDC-TM300 (*Est. $1,175) is challenging Canon's supremacy in reviews. It seizes first-place honors at CamcorderInfo.com; experts there say both camcorders shoot great video, but the Panasonic is also "an absolute joy to use for beginners and advanced videographers." However, other testers say they can hear the Panasonic's cooling fan in their videos.

All of the camcorders mentioned above are pricey, but you don't have to spend $1,000 to get a good HD camcorder, according to reviews. Canon's smallest, lightest and cheapest HD model, the Canon Vixia HF200 (*Est. $600), performs well in expert tests and packs a surprising array of sophisticated features. The HF200 records to SDHC cards; the Canon Vixia HF20 (*Est. $815) is similar but adds 32 GB of internal flash memory.

A test at DigitalTrends.com finds that when viewed side-by-side, the Canon HF20/200's video doesn't look quite as rich as that produced by the more expensive Canon HD camcorders described earlier. But it does beat video produced by the cheaper Sony Handycam HDR-CX100 (*Est. $500), showing beautiful colors and sharp detail. Reviewers also pick the Canon HF20/200 more often than the Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1 (*Est. $435) and Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 (*Est. $700) -- although experts at CamcorderInfo.com pick the latter Sanyo as their sleeper hit of the year.

Low light is the Canon HF20/200's only real downfall in reviews. Although Videomaker.com tests the HF20 in a dimly lit closet and gets good results, Jeremy Stamas at CamcorderInfo.com is shocked at how much low-light quality Canon gives up to achieve the HF20/200's small size and price tag. Still, "If you're going to do all your shooting outside, with the occasional well-lit indoor event, the Canon HF20 will probably suit you well," Stamas concludes.

You can still find a camcorder that records to old-fashioned MiniDV tapes -- the Canon Vixia HV40 (*Est. $800) -- on experts' best-of lists. Tape-based camcorders don't have to compress footage as tapeless camcorders do, and experts say the resulting video looks stunning. It also takes less computer power to edit, and Canon's line of tape-based HD camcorders (starting with the HV20 and HV30) have built up a fervent following among owners over the years, with websites and communities devoted to them.

Hard-drive HD camcorders for longest recording times

If your priority is to record long stretches of uninterrupted video without switching out tapes or memory cards, you'll need a camcorder with a built-in hard drive. The Sony Handycam HDR-XR520V (*Est. $1,300) boasts the longest recording time available; it can hold 29 hours of the highest quality high-definition video on its 240 GB hard drive. If you want even more capacity, the Sony accepts Memory Stick media as well.

Reviewers' lists of advantages for the Sony HDR-XR520V go on and on: They say it's easy to use, quells hand shake better than any other camcorder, and has fun and useful features like Highlight Playback, which automatically picks out your best clips (using smile and face recognition) and sets them to music. Testers also say the Sony camcorder virtually eliminates grainy noise from its low-light footage, something the top-ranked Canon Vixia HF S10 (*Est. $1,140) can't do.

The list of disadvantages is relatively brief. In normal light, the Sony HDR-XR520V's video isn't quite as sharp and vibrant as that produced by the Canon HF S10, tests show. Advanced shooters may wish for more manual controls, such as direct access to the aperture and shutter speed, although casual users may not miss them. "The XR520 gets things right on its own most of the time," says James Morris at TrustedReviews.com, who looks at the very similar European version.

The Sony HDR-XR520V is the first camcorder with a GPS receiver, so you can geotag your clips: "Very useful for those world travelers who forget that the Eiffel Tower is in Paris," quips Brent Holland at Videomaker.com. All of the gee-whiz features and mammoth hard drive add up to a hefty price tag. You can whittle down the price by opting for the HDR-XR520V's little brother, the Sony Handycam HDR-XR500V (*Est. $930), which has a 120 GB hard drive.

The Panasonic HDC-HS300 (*Est. $1,200) has a smaller hard drive -- 120 GB, or about 15 hours of HD video -- but it adds a focus ring, which gives the user ultimate control (you won't find a focus ring on Sony or Canon camcorders). Videomaker.com calls the Panasonic HDC-HS300 "the perfect all-around consumer-level camcorder," and CamcorderInfo.com ranks it second only to the flash-memory version, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 (*Est. $1,175).

But editors at InfoSyncWorld.com say their love affair with the Panasonic's innovative manual controls "instantaneously crashed to a tragic halt when we discovered that the Panasonic HDC-HS300's video and photo quality just couldn't hack it." Other reviews agree that the Panasonic's video isn't quite as sharp or bright as the top-rated Canon Vixia HF S10's.

The Canon Vixia HG21 (*Est. $800) also has a 120 GB hard drive and gets some good reviews. If you want to save a lot of money, the Canon Vixia HG20 (*Est. $655) is the same camcorder with a 60 GB hard drive. Oddly, several top review sources ignore Canon's hard-drive camcorders -- but reliable sources that do test them, including CNET, Macworld and the U.K.'s TrustedReviews.com, find them just as capable as Canon's excellent flash-memory models and accordingly rate them as top picks. Reviewers do commonly gripe about the joystick manual focus, which CNET calls "pretty useless," and they don't think the Canon HD camcorders are quite as easy to use as the Sonys.