Best Camcorders - 1 to * CCD Quantity, CCD Image Sensor Type, 0 to 13 x Optical Zoom, 2 to 3 in. LCD Panel Size, 5 to 7 in. Depth

', unfortunately, the camera uses Sony's tiny, proprietary MicroMV videotapes, which are incompatible with nearly all video-editing programs--a big drawback.'

'8cm BD-RE discs for recording can be frustrating.'

'barely good enough for a YouTube opus'

'gigantic battery'

'Unbelievably poor battery placement'

'>.'

'performance, and image quality didn't live up to its high price tag.'

'lack of a viewfinder'

'high price'

'exceedingly shallow LCD cavity'

'No video editing app supports its capture format.'

'Noisy compression'

'The manual focus is unusable, for example, as it provides no distance feedback.'

'the battery, which juts out of the back end like a prodigious grey brick.'

'With its 680g weight, this massive brick of a camcorder has more in common with the analogue models of yore than those fiddly fag packet-sized digital cams you currently find dominating the market.'

'It's a shame that the recording format is so poor, because the DX1 is otherwise a primo bit of kit, packing triple 0.5-megapixel sensors, Dolby 5.1 audio, and a lovely Leica lens.'

'frustrating interface'

'The zoom switch, however, is the worst control on the camera and is difficult to manipulate with any finesse.'

'LCD is average'

'no built-in flash'

'The PV-GS320's hand strap is hung so low that the camcorder flops to the side of the palm of the hand at an awkward angle.'

'Another questionable design decision puts the FireWire and USB ports for transferring video to your PC under the battery.'

'Another questionable design decision puts the FireWire and USB ports for transferring video to your Mac under the battery.'

'rampant edge crawl, noise, and motion artifacts.'

'rampant edge crawl, noise, and motion artifacts'

'So, unsurprisingly, the DVD205's video and still quality mimics that of the DVD305; they're pretty mediocre, with rampant edge crawl, noise, and motion artifacts.'