Ten of the Best... Pocket Camcorders

Panasonic HDC-SD9

Panasonic provided the British team with its compact camcorders so that they could do a bit of blogging during the Olympics – and if it’s good enough for Team GB then it’s good enough for us. The SD9 isn’t quite small enough to be described as ‘pocket size’, but at just 12.5cm long and 350g in weight it’s still extremely light and easy to carry around. There’s no compromise on features, though, as the SD9 provides an HD resolution of 1080i, 10x optical zoom and even 5.1 surround sound audio recording. We’ve got no complaints about the image quality, but given the almost £600 price tag it’s a little disappointing that you’ll have to fork out some extra cash for a memory card as the SD9 has no built-in memory at all.

Reg Rating 80%
Price £599 Click to compare prices
More Info Panasonic UK

Samsung VP-HMX20C

Samsung produces a number of attractive compact camcorders, but the HMX20C is the one that really hits the sweet spot for us. It’s very attractively designed, with a neat matte-black casing that is about the same size and weight as a can of Coke. The HMX20C provides very good image quality with 1080i HD resolution, along with a powerful 10x optical zoom that can be digitally enhanced right up to 100x. It has 8GB of built-in Flash memory, which allows you to capture about 90 minutes of video, and there’s also a memory card slot that accepts both SD and MMC cards. Other nice details include a rotating handgrip that makes it easy to take shots at an angle, and a touchscreen control panel.

Reg Rating 85%
Price £469 Click to compare prices
More Info Samsung UK