Ten... active camcorders

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Panasonic HX-DC1


If you like the look of Panasonic’s HX-WA20 but don’t need splashproofing, then consider the HX-DC1. An officially licensed Olympic Games camcorder – just think, it may become a collectable – the model comes in London Games livery with a bright 3in display and tips the scales at just 181g. The HX-DC1 records sharp MPEG-4 iFrame compliant 1080/50i, 1080/25p and 720/50p to SD, SDHC and SDXC cards or the modest built-in memory; it will also snap digital stills up to 14Mp, interpolated from the 11.9MP sensor.

There’s a 6x zoom, which doubles to 12x digitally, plus basic image stabilisation. HDMI and USB jacks are provided in the grip itself, however battery life is relatively short at around an hour per charge. While everything runs under Intelligent Auto, you can manually adjust things such as ISO and exposure. There’s also simple in-camera editing available, along with a webcam mode.

Reg Rating 85%
Price £159
More info Panasonic

Panasonic HX-WA20

Panasonic took over Sanyo's interests a couple of years ago and this Xacti-style model forms part of an expanded range. A handsome action-cam this Panasonic is waterproof down to 3m and sports a beach-proof shell. The HX-WA20 is fronted by a 28mm wide-angle lens with a 15x digital zoom, supported by an Active E.I.S. image stabiliser.

Extra features include a slow-motion mode, which records 15s clip at either 240fps (640 x 360) or 480fps (320 x 180). There’s a choice of recording modes: 1080i/60, 1080p/30 and 720p/60 MPEG-4 plus iFrame compatible H.264 video at 960 x 540. You can also take digital stills interpolated to 16MP (the sensor is just over 8MP effective pixels). There’s no internal memory, the HX-WA20 records direct to all flavours of SD card.

Reg Rating 80%
Price £299
More info Panasonic