Best Camcorders - 0 to 13 x Optical Zoom, High Definition Recording Format, 2 to 3 in. LCD Panel Size, 3 to 5 in. Depth

'The JVC GZ-HM550 is sharply styled, with a silver-accented black body.'

'The HM550 has other great new features being showcased by JVC's newly announced flagship camcorder, the GZ-HM1.'

'smooth, fluid image'

'Picture quality and sound are impressively clear, with no background hiss or operational buzz, while colours have just the right amount of saturation to ensure that skin tones look healthy without appearing unnaturally so.'

'For starters, it captures full 1080p video, not 720p like the higher-end pocket camcorders capture, and at a whopping 60 frames per second. '

'responsive wide-angle-to-telephoto rocker zoom'

'Excellent HD Camera'

'colours are warm and well saturated – reds particularly eye popping and skin tones bright and healthy looking – with detail and sound impressively clear when viewed back on a flat panel telly.'

'remarkably smooth video'

'Even if you don’t buy this high-def model, check it out at the local retailer: It’s quite impressive.'

'The usual array of Sony features are present and accounted for, including X.'

'The lens space is only sufficient to provide a 5x optical zoom, which is pretty paltry when most HD camcorders offer at least 10x.'

'The optical image stabilization did a fine job smoothing out shakes from handheld videos. '