Small is beautiful
SINCE THE INTRODUCTION of the MiniDV tape format about 10 years ago, the camera-makers' creed has been 'think small'. Today every manufacturer produces a model that would turn James Bond green. The smaller units don't produce the quality images of their larger brothers, particularly in low light, but I have yet to meet anyone who owns one of these tiny wonders who has anything but praise for their performance. Here are some of the petite units widely available in Hong Kong.
Its makers describe the Canon MV5iMC as a 'multi-media' camcorder. Like most on the market it can shoot both video and still pictures, which can be stored on a memory card and downloaded via the camera's USB port. The MV5iMC can also record video in an M-JPEG format. M-JPEG files can be down-loaded and e-mailed without your having to capture, edit and compress the video first. This machine can also act as a converter, allowing you to transfer older 8mm and VHS tapes to DV tape or directly to your computer for editing. You can do the same with an analogue-to-DV converter, but that will cost about as much as this $7,980 camera.
Continuing with the multimedia theme, the Samsung VP-D590i includes an eight-megabyte Memory Stick for the storage and easy downloading of still photographs. The VP-D590i has an LCD almost as big as the camera, so you don't have to peer through the unit's tiny viewfinder to shoot. Samsung also touts its ability to function as a webcam, but its most interesting characteristic is its Night Capture feature. Many video cameras can see infrared light, but Samsung has exploited this ability by adding infrared lamps to its camcorders, allowing you to shoot in what appears to the human eye to be total darkness. At $6,980, this is also the least expensive model in this selection.
With the exception of the MV5iMC's converter function, the Sony DCR-TRV50E has everything the Canon and Samsung models have, plus a couple of extras, including a hefty price tag of $11,880. Best are its resolution, which is almost double that of its Canon and Samsung rivals, and the camera's wireless capability. The DCR-TRV50E incor-porates Blue Tooth wireless technology, which means that with a Blue Tooth transceiver on your computer you can download stills and compressed video for the web without using cables. And you can use the camera to send e-mails or surf the internet. You can even store web pages on the DCR-TRV50E's memory card, all through the Blue Tooth connection.
The $8,980 JVC GR-DVP7SH has a 007, it-could-be-a-cigarette-lighter look about it. JVC claims a resolution of one megapixel, which means your stills should be slightly better than those from the Canon and the Samsung, but not as good as those produced by the Sony. One megapixel is nothing compared to what most digital still cameras can produce, but if you want to e-mail photo-graphs it is sufficient and will allow you to send them without having to reduce them first. Incidentally, the differences in resolu-tion described should have little or no effect on the quality of video shot with these cameras. The JVC, which also has a wireless remote-control function, can also shoot stills and compressed video for the web. Web video is shot in the advanced, universally readable MPEG-4 format.
