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

Panasonic have also announced the HDC-SD7, which is in Japan only so far. This will record 1,920x1,080-pixel SDHC cards. According to Panasonic, the HDC-SD7 is now the world's smallest and lightest 3CCD HD camcorder.

Inside the HDC-SD7 there's a trio of 1/6-inch CCD sensors and a 10x optical zoom. HD quality is achieved through pixel shifting. Panasonic has improved its optical image stabilisation system to sample about 4,000 times per second instead of 480 on older models. In theory, this will reduce unsteady images caused by shaky hands by a large factor.

On the outside is another 69mm widescreen LCD.

One interesting feature is pre-record, which continually stores 3 seconds of video to the internal memory. In theory this will prevent you from missing any spontaneous moments that happen right before you hit record, although presumably you need to be actually pointing the camera the right way to start with. What that does to battery life remains to be seen. The HDC-SD7 has an enclosed battery design to reduce size.

The HDC-SD7 will hit Japan in September for ¥140,000 (£580).