Best Camcorders - Multimedia Card (MMC) Memory Card Type, 200 to 700 x Digital Zoom

'Anyone who's used to MiniDV may find the results disappointing, but casual users may well feel that the convenience of straight-to-DVD recording more than compensates.'

'does not include a full manual control mode'

'the software is not that great'

'The viewfinder is unimpressive, and the LCD and the viewfinder quickly become cluttered with fonts when in menu mode.'

'Unfortunately, like its competition, the PV-VM202 makes a lousy still camera.'

'Small LCD screen.'

'The resulting small wide-screen image lacks the necessary detail for precise operations such as manual focus'

'relatively small LCD screen'

'The compact 1.1-pound Optura 600 has a vertical form factor that takes a bit of getting used to.'

'The camcorder may tend to slip when you use your thumb to reach for the record button'

'The considerable size and bulk of the PowerShot S1 make it a camera more suited for static, homebound situations.'

'The DZMV780A's still-image quality is abysmal.'

'no built-in flash'

'The DZMV780A's still-image quality is abysmal.'

'viewing and transferring of data can still be troublesome because the DVD-RAM discs require special DVD-RAM compatible DVD players for viewing and dubbing.'

'The manual focus control on the DZ-MV730 is its worst manual control and is practically unusable.'

'The video quality is equally poor, however.'

'Without the gain control features, the camcorder produced dark unusable images with barely any color information.'

'All of the camcorders in JVC's GR-DF series have a similar design and unfortunately there are parallel problems accessing their features.'

'Unfortunately, accessing and initializing these manual controls can be cumbersome, due to the exhausting menu system.'

'While many of this year's camcorders are bad, none are this unusable.'

'Unfortunately, that spirit of innovation doesn't seem to have filtered down into the JVC GR-DF550 miniDV camcorder.'