With the popularity of Youtube, Facebook, and MySpace, camcorders have become extremely popular. Such is the demand for them, there are now many different brands and models to choose from, many of which now feature Higher Definition recordings.
Lots of cheap HD camcorders are now beginning to come of age, and this list features four of the best in this range. For the purposes of this list, all products are for sale in the UK priced under £200 at the time of writing.
Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera – £119.50
This camera features an HD of 1080p, 30 fps video capture. This is the best capture spec of the four featured here, and is arguably the best model. The camera is easy to use thanks to its four way rocker navigation, and is encoded to play QuickTime Mpeg – 4 movie file, using H26 compression. It is also capable of capturing a 5 megapixel still image.
The camera is powered by removable, rechargeable batteries, and has an SD expansion slot which enables more film to be recorded to the device. It features image stabilization, and an external Mic Jack.
Some what surprisingly, the Zi8’s software is only compatible with windows, and does not feature one touch uploading to Youtube and the like. But nonetheless still very good overall.
The next two devices are both from Flip, which seems to be gearing its camcorders to the Youtube users market. Neither one has an expandable memory slot which gives the Ultra, a two hour shoot time, and the Mino just an hour. This is OK for a day out, but for a family holiday is impracticable, unless you have a spare laptop to upload the video to. Neither features an output jack to a high def TV, but both do come with Mac and PC friendly software.
Flip Ultra HD – £129.33 
Featuring 720p high definition video at 30fps, this camcorder offers good image quality for the 720p range. It is fair to say that this is one of its strengths. It has 8GB of internal memory, which somewhat compensates for the lack of an expansion slot. Powered by rechargeable, built-in batteries that recharge when plugged into a PC, Flip have also included a nice touch in the form of allowing standard AA batteries to be inserted into the camcorder for convenience. All in all a good camcorder if you are looking to make Youtube vids, or are not looking for a camera for long trips.
Flip Video Mino HD – £119.99
Though on the surface you may feel that for a Flip, its cousin the Ultra is the one to go for with its slightly better video quality, cheaper price, extra 4GB of memory, and the addition of insertable batteries for convenience.
However, the usability of this camera is without doubt its key strength. One touch video and playback capability, combined with its one touch uploading to either Youtube, AOL, or Myspace, makes this a strong contender as the top dog of them all currently on the market.
Creative Vado HD – £89.95
Just when you thought the Youtube market was sown up, along comes Creative, blowing the market wide open. Though the Flip cameras have slightly better image quality than Creative’s offering, it does eclipse the Flip camcorders in terms of features and price.
The Creative Vado features 720p HD video, removable, rechargeable batteries, one touch video uploading to Youtube and Photobucket, a mini HDMI connector to an HDTV, and though it does not have an expansion slot, it can shoot for two hours thanks to its 8GB of memory storage. The software is easy to use, but for the Mac, the one touch uploading is not available. This is a real competitor to the Flip camcorders, and the decision of which to choose is a tough one.
It is worth noting that even though HD in this range is better quality video than non-HD, it can be said that for an extra £100, the higher definition is much better quality.
This article is targetted mainly at UK shoppers, but similar products are also available in the US on sites like Amazon.com and other good retailers.
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