HD camcorders less than $600
Lori Grunin,
Senior Editor
December 8, 2009
"Budget" HD camcorders don't dip into the most popular price range for camcorders--at least on CNET, everyone's looking for a sub-$300 bargain--but you can now get a good model for less than about $600. Here's a roundup of some of the least-expensive, top-of-the-line models we've looked at thus far.
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| Price | $499.99 to $669.18 | $702.03 | $519.97 to $1,999.99 | $380.00 to $499.00 | $549.00 to $749.99 | $499.99 to $2,499.95 |
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| Review date | September 29, 2008 | August 06, 2008 | April 16, 2008 | March 30, 2009 | April 20, 2009 | February 25, 2008 |
| The Bottom Line | Like its cousin, the flash-based HF11, Canon's Vixia HG20 delivers excellent HD video quality and performance albeit in a slightly larger, heavier package. However, you do get more storage space and a lower price. | 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. | One of a pair of Canon's first flash-based camcorders, the Canon Vixia HF100, delivers excellent HD video quality and performance in a tiny package. | You can tell where Sony cut corners on this compact, flash-based HD camcorder. While it's decent, there are better options for the money than the Sony Handycam HDR-CX100. | While it's more expensive than its sub-$600 competitors, the Canon Vixia HF20 and Vixia HF200 deliver a more extensive feature set for the extra money. The HF200, which lacks internal memory, is probably a better buy than the HF20, though the HF20's all-black body is a bit classier looking. | An extremely minor upgrade from the HV20, the Canon Vixia HV30 remains a quality HDV camcorder with a couple of performance issues. |
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| Features | ||||||
| Lens aperture | F/1.8-3.0 | F/1.8-3.0 | F/1.8-3.0 | F/1.8-2.2 | F/1.8-3.2 | F/1.8-3.0 |
| Media type | Flash card Hard disk drive | Flash card | Flash card | Flash card | Flash card | Mini DV (HDV) |
| Optical zoom | 12 x | 12 | 12 x | 10 x | 15 x | 10 x |
| Optical sensor type | CMOS | CMOS | CMOS | ClearVid CMOS | CMOS | CMOS |
| Video input type | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder |
| Digital zoom | 200 x | 200 | 200 x | 120 x | 300 x | 200 x |
| Weight | 16.4 oz | 13.4 oz | 13.4 oz | Info unavailable | 12 oz | 1.2 lbs |
| Image stabilizer | Optical (SuperRange) | Optical | Optical (SuperRange) | Optical (Steady Shot) | Optical (SuperRange) | Optical (SuperRange) |
| Optical sensor size | 1/3.2" | 1/3.2" | 1/3.2" | 1/5" | 1/4" | 1/2.7" |
| Manual focus | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
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