The Gizmophile

Don’t even think about buying the Panasonic SDR-H80K camcorder…  It’s a joke…

The resolution is at 704×480 versus the 720×480 offered in standard MiniDV and/or DVD video formats.

While it has worthwhile features, like optical image stabilization, 70x optical zoom, and SDHC flash memory compatibility…  It doesn’t compensate for the lack of 16 vertical lines of resolution.  Sure, you can futz with video editing software, and try to smooth out the jaggies…  But is it really worth it?  Most video editing software have pre-made templates for beginners and novices…  Why confuse those people with non-standard video resolution?

I did buy this camera, but didn’t open it…  Instead, I did my research and found that it wasn’t suited for what I needed.  So I returned it…

I suppose I’m pretty picky when it comes to capturing moments in time…  I should probably just look at the $3,000+ camcorders, and be done with it!

But hey, the small size of flash based camcorders, is pretty nifty!!

The Sony DCR-SX41 8GB Handycam Camcorder is probably the best bet, since it doesn’t skimp on resolution.  It has built-in 8GB of flash storage (vs the Panasonic with no internal flash storage), but it does lack optical image stabilization; Steadyshot image stabilization (digital).  It does have 60x optical zoom though, which is pretty schweet!

Btw, both record in MPEG2 format with Dolby Digital (2-channel).