Like its sibling the HF10, Canon's flash-based Vixia HF11 delivers excellent HD video quality and performance in a tiny package. However, the HF11 delivers a bit more value for its lower price.
Canon's XH A1 and XH G1 are excellent camcorders for entry-level professionals and independent filmmakers, with hard-to-beat prices for what they offer.
The Sony Handycam DCR-SR45 has a good design and reasonable feature set for its price, but the video quality doesn't measure up to the rest of the package.
Despite some minor flaws, Pure Digital's Flip Video Mino is the best mini camcorder for straight-to-Web video currently available--but it also costs more, and it can't match the features of a video-savvy point-and-shoot camera.
Combining the simplicity of SD recording, a roomy 30GB hard drive, a long zoom, and pleasing image quality, the SDR-H18 is a good choice for a standard-definition, hard-drive camcorder.
• Canon XH G1 Canon's XH A1 and XH G1 are excellent camcorders for entry-level professionals and independent filmmakers, with hard-to-beat prices for what they offer.
• Canon XH A1 Canon's XH A1 and XH G1 are excellent camcorders for entry-level professionals and independent filmmakers, with hard-to-beat prices for what they offer.
• Panasonic AG-DVX100B Mini DV Camcorder Panasonic has listened. The third incarnation of the AG-DVX100 offers unrivalled bang for the buck in a prosumer standard-definition MiniDV camera.
• Panasonic AG-DVC60 At its price point, an unrivaled value in an entry-level shoulder-mounted DV camera.
