Why Pocket Camcorders Dominate

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HD Video, the Easy Way

HD pocket camcorders are hands down the easiest and best image makers anywhere today. If you’re thinking about shooting video for YouTube, Justin.tv or simply for your family and friends, you need to get your hands on a pocket camcorder. Superior image quality provided by improved codecs (such as 3ivx, MPEG-4 and H.264) made these mini cameras a runaway hit in 2010. Well, it’s now 2011 and the trend is definitely set to keep climbing! Here’s a quick look at some popular models:

Pocket camcorders are the new media generators.

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I first noticed pocket camcorders in a vending machine at Miami airport a couple of years ago. The fact that they’re being sold like chocolate bars says a lot about the fast-and-loose approach that comes with this eye-catching technology.

But the truth is that these candy bar-sized cameras shoot full HD 1080p video, which you can play back on your HDTV with pristine image quality.

I usually work with much bigger cameras, from the Sony XDcam to the F900, but I simply can’t deny the charm of the pocket camcorder. Being so small and portable, a pocket camcorder lets you do things you just can’t do with bigger cameras (some models by Kodak are even waterproof).

A pocket camcorder is an ideal choice if:

  • You plan on travelling soon.
  • You have a small budget but want to create high quality video for yourself and your family.
  • Have an active social life, have lots of friends and want something to create your personal movies but you need it to be tiny so it fits anywhere: a purse, a bag, wherever…
  • You’re a student and you need to create media for your courses.

Cameras are very much a personal choice. Everything about them is attached to a particular emotional and personal preference for its owner, from color to shape to image quality and special features, so take care to look over your options. I’ll save you some time and tell you straight up that the most popular model is the Flip Video Camera. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you.

Maybe you’re heading to the Caribbean soon to do some snorkeling… in that case, a Kodak PlaySport would likely be your best choice because they’ve got the most variety and experience with waterproof models. Again, there’s lots of options, so have fun and browse. There’s lots of information on this site, use it!

To get you started, here are the Top 10 Pocket Camcorders:

1. Flip UltraHD Video Camera – 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation)

2.Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera Bundle

3.Flip MinoHD Video Camera – 8 GB, 2 Hours (2nd Generation)

4.Flip MinoHD Video Camera – 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation)

5. Flip UltraHD Video Camera – NEWEST MODEL

6. Coby 1.44-Inch Mini Camcorder/Camera CAM3001BLK

7. Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Camera (Blue) NEWEST MODEL

8. Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL

9. Flip UltraHD Video Camera – Blue, 4 GB, NEWEST MODEL

10. Flip UltraHD Video Camera – Magenta, 4 GB, 1 Hour NEWEST MODEL

GE DV1 Review

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Ratings

Video Quality
Ease Of Use
Price

Available today on Amazon at a deep discount here
GE DV1The GE DV1 pocket video camera has become this year’s surprise hit in pocket camcorders. With its stylish design, fun colors, and a customer-tested ruggedness that’s resulted in really strong reviews, this camera is eating up the competition.

This is a pocket-sized waterproof, shock and dustproof camera that features full HD 1080p movie recording on the fly and photos at the touch of a button. One great thing about it is its large 2.5″ LCD display, which includes Auto Adjust Brightness, allowing you to achieve professional-quality framing for your shots.
This pocket video camera is available on Amazon at over 35% discount. Click this link to take advantage of this huge discount!

The GE DV1 is an outstanding pocket camera which includes advanced image stablilization and face detection, which corrects unintentional camera movements and recognizes faces so it knows where to focus.

Here are some great features of the GE DV1:

  • Recording: 1920×1080 pixels (30fps); 1280×720 pixels (60fps); 1280×720 pixels (30fps); 1440×1080 pixels (30fps); 640×480 pixels (30fps)
  • Digital Zoom: 4X Digital Zoom
  • Focusing Range: 1.5m ~ ∞
  • Effective Image Sensor Pixels: 5.03 Megapixel (2592×1944)
  • Anti-Handshake: Digital Image Stabilization
  • Still Image: 5MP: 2592×1944 (4:3); 3MP: 2560×1440 (16:9)
  • Image Compression: Fine, Standard, Normal
  • Movie Format: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264(MOV)
  • Still Image Format: Exif 2.2 (JPEG)
  • Audio Format: AAC
  • Detection Features: Face detection with red-eye removal
  • Waterproof: Up to 5m
  • Dimensions (W x H x D): 4.1″ X 2.2″ X 0.8″
  • Weight: 5.1oz
  • Battery Life: Still, 260 shots; Video, approximately 80 minutes @ 1080p/30fps

Here’s what one owner had to say:

It takes the best pictures of any camera I’ve owner, but more importantly, this camera survived snorkeling, surfing, a dusty ride on an ATV, and being dropped from a zip-line in the mountains. It also takes really good video and pictures underwater. Maybe it comes with too little memory, but this camera produces much better picture and video quality than expected! (Mandi)

Review paraphrased for size – view original here

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Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera Review

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Kodak Zi8

The Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera is great for recording High Definition video, wide-screen style just like in the movies. If you can imagine, this pocket camcorder weighs a mere 3.8 ounces and is exactly .9 inches thick. Now that’s tiny! And yet, with its 1920 x 1080p resolution the image quality is pristine. You can play the material you record with this camcorder on your giant HDTV and be stunned by the clarity, sharpness and color of the images.

The Kodak Zi8 has a highly effective image-stabilizer, a really bright 2.5 colo LCD screen to make your life easy while you shoot (especially outdoors during the day), and has expandable storage up to 32GB. It even has something most cameras don’t (but should): an external audio jack for superior  sound quality recording. This professional audio feature is very useful when recording out on a busy street, on the beach or anywhere where there is significant background noise. (You’ve seen it before: a video where you can barely make out what the person is saying because the background noise is drowning them out. This camera solves that problem.)

Here’s what you get when you buy the Zi8:

  • Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camcorder
  • A long-lasting KLIC-7004 Li-Ion Rechargeable Batter
  • Adapter and cable for battery charging
  • For your television and other outputs: HDMI and AV cables
  • Wrist strap
  • Detailed User’s Guide
  • Indispensible ArcSoft MediaImpression Software for Kodak (on-camera)

Here’s another view of the Kodak Zi8:

KodakZi8 side

The Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera is one of this month’s Top 10 bestselling camcorders (actually, it’s hovering around the #3 spot). It’s easy to use, delivers very high quality images, and right now this model is the “new kid on the block”, making it hard to resist! Available from Amazon at a great low price, starting at $99 and ships free with some conditions.

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Latest Flip UltraHD Video Camera White 8GB has Improved Features

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flip ultrahd 3rd

This is the newest model Flip UltraHD and it comes with several improved features over its predecessors, most notably in its image-stabilization technology. This is of course is a big issue with pocket camcorders, because the smaller a camera is, the shakier the image gets. (For the technically-minded, here’s why: the closer the lens is to a camera’s center of gravity, the more directly it is subjected to any hand motion,  and the more easily that motion is transferred to the lens.)

Another improvement over previous models is this Flip UltraHD’s ability to shoot at twice the frame rate (60 frames per second). The faster the frame rate the more information gets captured by the device, and the clearer the picture. So this is definitely a significant improvement for the Flip. One related detail I personally like about this camera is that it uses the H.264 video codec to record. What this means is it creates files that are in the most user-friendly and cross-platform compatible format that exists today. So whether you’re transferring your videos to your Mac, you iPad or your PC, you won’t run into any complications.

The camera comes with a rechargeable battery pack but you can also use 3 lithium batteries as back-up, which can be quite practical if you’re on road (on vacation, for instance) and don’t always remember to recharge.

All in all, this is a great little video camera, and certainly one of the trailblazers that popularized the pocket camcorder in the first place. You can read the rest of the specs below.

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Sanyo Xacti VPCPD2BK Respected for Quality

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Sanyo Xacti vpc-pdk2b

We all know everyone has personal favorites when it comes to electronics, and when it comes to pocket camcorders, I have to admit that for me it’s the Kodak Playsport Zx3. But the Sanyo Xacti VPC-PD2BK Full HD Pocket Camcorder has been getting very strong reviews for delivering on quality, and lately I’ve had to stand up and pay attention to some of what my readers have been pointing out.

What might that be? Well, to make a long story short, it’s that the Sanyo Xacti has a bunch of features that are normally found only on more expensive camcorders.

Let’s Take a Look in More Detail

Giving a physical once-over, you’ll find that this Full-HD 1080p pocket camcorder weighs a mere .70 lbs. It’s just over 5 inches tall by 1.89 inches thick. It’s sturdy, and though it may not have the glossy look of Playsport, it definitely has the look and feel of a serious camera.

As a videographer,  I have to admit that this camera’s 3x optical zoom (one of its unique features) is very appealing to me. With an optical zoom, the hardware doesn’t get to degrade the image by blowing it up, it just uses traditional optics to make the image bigger. A added nice thing about this zoom is that it can be used in all modes, whether you’re in video capture mode or digital photography mode.

Another related feature worth mentioning is this camera’s  face-chasing technology. You don’t have to worry about focus– just point at your subject and the camcorder does it all for you.

Back view of the Sanyo Xacti

Sanyo Xacti vpc-pdk2b

Going back to the issue of photography for a moment, if you like taking the occasional digital snapshot along with your video, this camera allows you do it more comfortably and easily than most because it features separate video and photo recording buttons, so you don’t have to fiddle with changing camera modes.

Some of this Camera’s Specs

  • 3x Optical Zoom Photo
  • Wide Angle Lens Range Video: 36mm – 108mm
  • Wide Angle Lens Range Photos: 37mm – 111mm
  • High Speed Sequential Shooting Mode
  • Digital Image Stabilizer (Photos and Video)
  • MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Compression Technology
  • 48KHz, 16 bit, AAC Stereo Sound Recording
  • Mini HDMI Digital Interface

What’s the Sound Quality like?

As for the sound, once again Sanyo seems to have gone the extra length to provide the user with a little extra quality. Recording 48KHz, 16bit AAC Stereo Sound, this tiny camcorder uses the same format most professional cameras use… the same format pro editing platforms such as Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer have as their default setting. That says quite a bit about the level of quality involved.

How Much Video Can You Record?

The Sanyo Xacti VPCPD2BK supports add-on memory storage up to 20 hours of video, with the recently introduced SDXC memory card (up to 64GB). That’s a lot of video. It’s unlikely you’re going to shoot 20 hours of video without getting to your computer at some point in time (to transfer your footage and free up the memory card), but if you’re on vacation for example and you don’t have that option readily available, then having this much video capacity can be a lifesaver.

Is the Sanyo VPC-PD2BK Computer Friendly?

In short, yes. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-PD2BK comes with video sharing software that installs itself automatically onto your PC the first time you connect the camcorder to it, so you can easily get it up on Facebook, YouTube and other popular sites. It’s also iMovie Compatible, so when it’s connected to a Mac the computer will instantly recognize the camera. All in all, this a very nice, high quality package for a very decent price. Highly recommended, and I’ve found it on Amazon for the lowest price online consistently.

For shopping options please see below:

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