Ten... active camcorders

Toshiba Camileo Clip

Aping the simplicity of the sadly departed Flip, the cute Camileo Clip (available in blue, red, yellow or white) combines one-button recording with a tiny 1.5cm LCD screen. It’s a robust internet cam with a tactile, rubbery case, and while it doesn’t shout ‘take me diving’ quite as convincingly as its rivals, can be considered a steal at the price.

The Clip records 1080p/30 and 720/60p MPEG-4 to SD, SDHC and SDXC cards, and takes 5Mp snaps. Giving this model its moniker is a moulded clip on the back-side which ostensibly allows you to attach the camcorder to a jacket pocket for hands-free shooting. The Clip uses a CMOS sensor with BSI (back side illumination) for better sensitivity in poor light.

Toshiba Camileo P100

This feature-rich shooter combines Full HD recording with an 8Mp CMOS sensor camera, saving to SD, SDHX and SDXC cards. Available formats include 1080p/30 or 720p/60 in MPEG-4, plus VGA. While image quality isn’t as good as that from its AVCHD rivals, footage looks pretty good in bright light. The 3in LCD touchscreen is bright and there’s an HDMI output for easy TV hookup. Electronic image stabilisation is on hand to keep things on an even keel.

There’s a 5x optical zoom, extending to 8x and then 16x with the Advanced Zoom and digital modes respectively. The P100 also offers the option of slow-mo and time-lapse. Unlike some rivals, you can crash edit footage by pausing recordings without creating a new file. ®