F/1.8-2.8 Digital Camcorders

The Bottom Line: A very good prosumer HD camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-HS300 still isn't as good a deal as the similarly featured but flash-based TM300 and has the same annoying touch-screen interface.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CMOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 16.2 oz

The Bottom Line: A very good prosumer HD camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-TM300 nevertheless has an annoying touch-screen interface.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, 12 x, Flash card, 13.6 oz

The Bottom Line: A very good prosumer HD camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-HS250 is the best deal of its product line, but has the same annoying touch-screen interface.

Specs: Camcorder, 3MOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 14.9 oz

The Bottom Line: Though it has a nice feature set for the price, the Panasonic HDC-SD100 doesn't deliver the quality of video you expect from an HD camcorder in its price segment.

Specs: Camcorder, 3MOS, 12 x, Flash card, 11.3 oz

The Bottom Line: Though it has a nice feature set for the price, the Panasonic HDC-HS100 doesn't deliver the quality of video you expect from an HD camcorder in its price segment.

Specs: Camcorder, 3MOS, 12 x, Hard disk drive, 5.2 megapixels, 14.8 oz

The Bottom Line: Despite its trio of CCDs, the video quality and performance of the Panasonic HDC-SD9 are a bit too inconsistent.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CCD, 10 x, Flash card

The Bottom Line: Though it delivers good video with excellent color, the Panasonic AG-HSC1U falls short of its "professional" aspirations in most other ways.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CCD, 12 x, Flash card, 15.2 oz

The Bottom Line: A solid SD-based camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-SD1 nevertheless suffers from a few performance issues and an annoying design.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CCD, 12 x, Flash card, 1.5 megapixels, 15.2 oz

The Bottom Line: The Panasonic VDR-D310 produces good-looking home movies without much hassle.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CCD, 10 x, DVD-R (8cm), DVD-RW (8 cm), DVD-RAM (8 cm), 1.1 lbs

The Bottom Line: Delivering high-quality MiniDV footage and decent still images, the Panasonic PV-GS320 should appeal to advanced amateurs searching for a tape-based camcorder.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CCD, 10 x, Mini DV, 0.54 megapixels, 15.9 oz