The Times rated HD camcorders.
Samsung R10 had 4 stars along with Sony.
On test: Handheld HD video cameras
Genius G-shot Perfect HD Camcorder
Reasons to buy It's cheap and cheerful, and the 'trigger' record button is fun to use. It's definitely sturdy enough to take on outdoor adventures and can double up as a webcam.
Reasons not to This 'HD520' camera is not strictly HD at all - and the picture quality suffers as a result. It's also a bit bulky.
Verdict Better than the average mobile phone camera, this entry level camcorder would suit extreme sports fans who want to capture their antics on tape and upload to Youtube. The picture quality isn't good enough for much else though.
Full HD? No, just 520p
Price Around £99
www.geniusnet.co.uk
Kodak Zx1 Pocket Video Camera
Reasons to buy Just the size of a mobile phone, this camcorder is designed with YouTube in mind. Easy connectivity (you can hook it straight up to your TV or PC) and a handy remote for recording and playback add to the fun. It's splashproof and durable, and performs pretty well in low light.
Reasons not to The AA batteries don't last very long, so you'll need to keep a supply handy. It does come with a charger though. The buttons aren't very instinctive at first, either.
Verdict This is a great little toy and the picture quality isn't bad for the money. As it takes SD cards, you'll never run out of memory.
Full HD? No, but not bad at 720p
Price Around £125
www.kodak.com
Toshiba Camileo S10
Reasons to buy Looks-wise, this compact full HD camcorder has it all. Sleek and sexy, it slips into the pocket and boasts a 5 mega pixel camera too.
Reasons not to In low light, it fails miserably. Grainy dark pictures just don't do this camcorder justice, and it struggles in bright sunlight too.
Verdict For the style conscious, this is shiny gadget heaven. It's just a massive disappointment that the picture quality doesn't measure up.
Full HD? Yes, 1080p
Price Around £150
www.toshiba-multimedia.com
Flip Ultra HD
Reasons to buy With one of these in your pocket, you're ready to roll at any given moment. Uploading is a breeze thanks to the integral USB and plug and play connectivity. Picture quality is surprisingly good, even in low lighting.
Reasons not to It's not the best looking camera, and it doesn't feel particularly solid
Verdict It's dead easy to use and you'll get great footage. What's not to like?
Full HD? No, just 720p
Price Around £160
Samsung R10
Reasons to buy This sleek model really raises the game in the style stakes and it's packed with features. The Super Slow Motion Recording is bags of fun and it's hard to find fault with the 12 mega pixel camera.
Reasons not to Picture quality could have been better; the camera struggled to make the transition from sunlight to gloom. The buttons could be more intuitive too.
Verdict Looks great, feels great, and takes a pretty good movie too. It's a serious piece of kit for a serious home user.
Full HD? Yes - 1080p
Price Around £300
www.samsung.com
Sony TG7VE
Reasons to buy It's compact, completely intuitive to use and takes fantastic footage. It's as good in the dark as it is in bright sunlight and has a fabulously smooth zoom. The GPS function means that you can track your videos around the world too.
Reasons not to The only thing between this camcorder and 5 stars is the awful proprietary software Sony always insist on using. It was a real drag converting the video files into something we could use.
Verdict Lovely camera, shame about the software. Completely incompatible with a Mac, and clunky on a PC. However the 6 hours of internal memory (16gb) and cute docking station sort of make up for it.
Full HD? Yes, 1080p
Price Around £700
www.sony.co.uk
See for Yourself
If the reviews on this page have helped you decide that you want to buy a small HD camcorder, then we have some good news for you. At timesonline.co.uk/tech we have lovingly assembled near-identical footage shot with the six cameras on these pages. Watch the very short videos (around a minute each), shot both in bright daylight and deepening gloom, and you should get a better idea of the picture quality on offer. If you want to know more about the very peculiar bicycle featured in the videos, you will need to tune back in to timesonline.co.uk/tech later in the week, when all will be revealed in a full review.
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