Camcorder round-up: Hi-def gets smaller and smaller

By Rich Trenholm on 02 August 2007, 1:06pm

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Canon announced its smallest ever AVCHD high-definition camcorder -- nay, the smallest ever hi-def camcorder (for at least the next few minutes): the HG10. It packs into that diminutive frame a 40GB internal hard disk memory, enough to hold up to 15 hours of HD movie clips. The HG10 captures images at 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, but it's not yet clear whether it supports the 'Full HD' 1080p format.

On the inside there's a CMOS sensor and advanced DIGIC DV II processor, along with 10x optical zoom, instant autofocus and a Super Range Optical Image Stabilizer for smoothing out the shakes.

On the outside there's a new navigation control dial for smooth menu selection and easy playback, a 69mm widescreen LCD and an HDMI terminal for easy connection to hi-def televisions. There's also that rarest of prizes, a microphone jack, as well as a hotshoe and headphone jack.

Canon claim battery life will top an hour of continuous recording on a single charge. For those quick-start shooting-from-the-hip moments, the HG10 is ready to go in approximately 1 second from standby.

The Canon HG10 will be available in Europe and the UK from October, although only the US price of $1,299 (£640) has been announced so far.