DVD camcorders

Round-up reviews let you compare four related products and find out which one is best for you

Last updated: 30 Jan 2006

VHS is dead, long live the DVD. If you loved the convenience of your old VHS camcorder, then you'll find these new DVD-based ones equally appealing. All the camcorders below record straight to a half-sized DVD, burning footage in real-time. Once you're done recording, pop the disc out and place in it your home DVD player and you can watch the footage back in glorious colour.

We'll level with you -- this technology is new, and picture quality struggles to match what you can achieve with MiniDV camcorders in the same price range. The real advantage of these DVD camcorders is the convenience of rapid playback in a common domestic format. For casual use, quality is more than good enough. In good lighting conditions you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between DVD and MiniDV on most home television sets.

Fans of Mad Max will obviously opt for the Hitachi DZ-MV580E, with its mechanical-industrial look and sturdy grip -- perfect for a makeshift-jeep ride through the post-apocalyptic desert. Aspirational buyers will find that the Sony Handycams look great against the leather upholstry of their Mercedes SLK, and are reliable workhorses. If you're not feature-hungry, the Panasonic VDRM70B offers a no-frills alternative.

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	Sony Handycam DCR-DVD7E	Sony Handycam DCR-DVD403	Panasonic VDRM70B	Hitachi DZ-MV580E
Review date	2 Sep 05	29 Jul 05	13 Oct 04	14 May 05
Editors' rating	7.2	7.5	6.7	7.0
Price range	£480	£720	£615	£450
Review summary	DVD camcorders are, for the moment at least, not capable of matching the output of a cheap MiniDV camcorder. None the less, the convenience of shooting your footage straight to a DVD that can be played back in a normal DVD player makes the 7E an attractive proposition Read full review	The DCR-DVD403 is the first DVD camcorder we've seen that doesn't force you to compromise on features or quality -- much Read full review	The VDR-M70 doesn't shake our belief that mini-DVD camcorders still are not ready for prime time Read full review	The Hitachi does its job extremely well, and you may love the simplicity of recording straight on to a DVD that you can play in your home DVD player. However, compared to a MiniDV camera in the same price range, the Hitachi is less flexible and captures a slightly lower quality image. For those without directorial aspirations the Hitachi is a total solution, but for budding filmmakers the limited options for transferring your footage to PC are just too restricting Read full review
User rating				7.0
Recording media	DVD	DVD	DVD	DVD
Number of CCDs	1	1	1	1
Size (W x H x D)	127x101x48 mm	61x94x132 mm	64x89x146 mm	64x89x146 mm
Sensor type	CCD	CCD	CCD	CCD
Optical zoom	10 x	10 x	10 x	10 x
Digital zoom	120 x	120 x	240 x	240 x
Image stabiliser	Electronic	Electronic (Super Steady Shot)	n/a	Electronic
Display size	70 mm	69 mm	64 mm	64 mm
Display resolution	123200 pixels	123200 pixels	112000 pixels	n/a
Effective sensor resolution	n/a	n/a	n/a	120000 pixels
	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification