There was no official announcement, but the manufacturers of camcorders seem to have decided somewhere along the way that there is very little future in a relationship between digital video cameras and computers.
At least that's true of the three high-definition camcorders under review here, each made by a leading manufacturer: Panasonic, Canon and Sony.
All three have included rudimentary video-editing software, and dedicated very little space in their manuals to the intricacies of connecting their camcorders to computers. Only two, the Sony and the Panasonic, have included a camera-to-computer cable. In Sony's case it's an IEEE1394 (or Firewire or i.Link, depending on whether you speak Sony or Apple) with a four-pin (not six-pin) plug, meaning it's not likely to be of much use on many computers; in Panasonic's case, it's a simple USB cable, but the format of the video is unreadable by most photo-editing software, so you need the included Panasonic software, whose primary design is to burn movies onto DVDs.
In short, it appears the market has dictated that editing home movies might be more than the average consumer wants, or can handle.
From top to bottom, the Sony Handycam HDR-HC7, Canon HV20 Mini DV/HDV and Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD.
Instead, owners of these camcorders are the kind of people who will end up with either a collection of high-definition digital tapes or (in the case of the Panasonic), mini-SD memory cards, and will either view the movies directly from their cameras on their flat-screen TVs or burn them to a DVD disk.
This suggests that one of the great attractions of home video — the ability to create your own movies, complete with fancy cross-fades and titles — has come a cropper.
What's behind this? More than likely, it's because good video-editing software is still a sharp learning curve, one that many people are simply not willing or able to take. But there's a second possibility: That the arrival of high-definition home video has allowed the major manufacturers to start another war over standards, with each company coming up with its own recording format for either tape, mini-DVD disks, hard-disk drives or even on mini-SD cards.
The decision over format and whether editing films is important is enough for a buyer to have to deal with. Then there are all sorts of other features that manufacturers throw into the mix to attract customers, such as how many megapixels the camcorders shoot at, the number of CMOS or CCD chips and the zoom range.
It all adds up to a lot of homework for potential buyers before they can make a fully informed decision.
Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD
Panasonic Canada
$1,499.99
Of the three under consideration here, the Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD, Panasonic's first HD camcorder, offered the nicest surprises — not only is it really easy to learn, it also records to a mini-SD memory card, one of those tiny fingernail-sized devices that you can store much more easily than DV tape cassettes. Getting rid of the tape drive (as well as a viewfinder) cuts down dramatically on the entire camera's size.
It's rated to capture 90 minutes of HD footage to a 4-gigabyte card, which is included with the camera.
The AVCHD recording format achieves very high quality images when displayed on large high-definition television sets. The AVCHD format, developed by Panasonic and Sony, uses a MPEG4-AVC/H.264 compression system to squeeze a lot of high quality data into a small space, and it is being hailed as a revolution in some quarters, driving out the common MPEG2-based devices such as standard definition DVD. One downside: The AVCHD system is not fully supported in its native form by most computer editing systems.
Canon HV20 Mini DV/HDV
Canon Canada
$1,399.99
The Canon HV20 Mini DV/HDV records to a DV cassette, but, like the Sony and other camcorders, includes an SD card recorder intended only for still images.
A joystick on the back allows for handling the camera's functions, but the menu system now includes the administrative menu as well as the function menu, which removes some of the button clutter on the body, but moves it into a complex system on the LCD monitor. You also have to get used to the fact that some of the tape-handling controls are at the bottom of the LCD monitor, and require a whole new focus of attention to operate properly.
The Canon's viewfinder is very small; it neither pivots nor extends from the body, meaning it can be difficult to use if you ever get the optional expanded battery pack, which sticks lout underneath the viewer. There is also an accessory hot-shoe.
Canon has been known especially for its proprietary stabilization system, which it calls Super-Range Optical Image Stabilization. This system uses feedback from the processor to in its fight to compensate for inadvertent movements, though it slips a bit when the view is on the extreme (10x) end of the zoom scale. Its Instant Auto Focus reacts quickly, but slows down in low light.
The Canon HV20 provides excellent high-definition video and reasonably comfortable operation, which makes it a great all-purpose camera for non-professionals.
Sony Handycam HDR-HC7
Sony Store
$1,499.99
Sony's Handycam HDR-HC7 is at the front of a new line of Sony's more affordable HD camcorder line. This HDV camcorder records to tape, and also includes a mini-SD card for still images.
The HDR-HC7 has been hailed as the camera to beat this year, although one oddity that sharply separates its fans from its detractors: A touch-screen menu on the LCD monitor, which reviewers either like or denounce passionately. It also takes some patience to scroll through the HC7's menu, but to make things easier, Sony has included an "Easy" button, which kicks the HC7 into fully automatic mode. The touch screen also has a Spot Focus feature that allows you to sharpen the focus on a particular section of the image just by touching an area on the screen.
It also has an auto white balance feature, and Sony claims its sensor is superior in low-light conditions, where other cameras have encountered problems before, among them Canon.
The camera's large ClearVID CMOS sensor is Sony's top-end model, capable of capturing 3.2 million pixels, which make for a crisp and sharp image. The large size does have a negative side, however, losing detail in low light — it compares unfavourably with the Canon.
Although any of these three cameras should satisfy home-movie makers, they all have one problem in common, which cannot be fixed no matter how sophisticated the technology. All these camcorders can deliver such a fine picture that they emphasize just how much talent and ability goes into making a decent movie. Somehow, the better the picture, the more it creates the urge to make a better film.
And that's difficult to do without editing the films, and it's difficult to edit them when the manufacturers clearly do not have that at the top of their priority list.
