EISA - Awards 2005/2006: CAMCORDER

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN HIGH-END CAMCORDER



Sony HDR-FX1E

Why merely watch High Definition movies on your plasma or LCD screen, when you can go out and shoot your own? That dream becomes a reality with the arrival of Sony’s top-flight HDR-FX1E camcorder. Numerous aspects of this design echo the sort of features and performance demanded by professionals: control over shutter speed, exposure, colour temperature and neutral density filters. Yet this wealth of options does not command a vast price, and certainly does not require Spielberg levels of skill to operate. Selection buttons lie easily to hand, or users can just select the fully-automatic mode. High Defintition has never been so easy!

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN DV-CAMCORDER



Panasonic NV-GS250

From its Leica Dicomar zoom lens to its three CCD sensors and optical image stabiliser, this compact cam is an exemplary performer. Panasonic has also thought hard about ergonomics, convenience and ease of use. The digital stills option yields high-res 3.1 Megapixel images, for example, and all main functions are conveniently controlled by a very practical joystick. There’s even USB2 connectivity. Panasonic has long been expert in the creation of top-performing camcorders, and the high-tech new NV-GS250 follows firmly in the family tradition.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN MEDIA CAMCORDER


JVC ‘Everio’ GZ-MC500

The ‘Everio’ GZ-MC500 is another miniature marvel from JVC. It captures images, sound and stills not onto tape, but into a Micro drive hard-disk, which is cleverly located, alongside the battery, in the unit’s adjustable-angle handgrip. That’s just one of many remarkable functions, however: there is also a three-CCD image sensor; a ‘high-resolution’ LCD display which remains almost totally visible in direct sunlight, and a zoom function supporting manual focus. Supplied software enables image transfer to PC (via USB2), editing and DVD content creation. Transferring stills is easier still, using the built-in SD memory card slot.