Camcorders for the holidays

With a customized Flip MinoHD, you can give the pocket HD camcorder a unique look. You can design your Flip MinoHD online using a pattern offered by company, or by generating your own pattern, or by applying an image you've uploaded to the store. The designs are not interchangeable skins that you can easily put on and pull off. Rather, CafePress, the company responsible for handling the printing, embeds the design into the Mino's plastic case. Once it's on, it's on for good.

The only drawback is that this customization is currently available only for the older standard definition Flip Mino and the Flip MinoHD with 4GB of storage, which stores 60 minutes of 720p video. The company says that customization for the new 8GB Flip MinoHD is coming soon. Read our full review. [$150 to $200; Cisco]

New products are appearing in the pocket camcorder market on a regular basis, so how do you pick which one is the right one? It comes down to video quality, and the new Flip MinoHD produces some of the best images we’ve seen from a pocket camcorder released this year.

In our tests, the Flip MinoHD produced color under lamplight that came close to what you see in real life. The camcorder also does a good job with bright colors. There’s also a stereo microphone as an added bonus.

There are actually two versions of the Flip MinoHD available. The new version is available in a brushed aluminum body and has 8GB of storage, enough capacity for 120 minutes of video. The older version is available in black or white and has half the storage capacity. Grab the new version. Read our full review. [$230 (Get best current price); Cisco]

As we covered in our full-sized HD camcorders buying guide, many full-sized HD camcorders record using the AVCHD format. When you import AVCHD video into iMovie ’09, the video needs to be converted into a format the software can use, which can take several minutes—or even a few hours, depending on the length of the video and the processing power of your Intel-based Mac.

Apple developed the iFrame Video format to help make it easier to work with video in iMovie ’09. The Sanyo VPC-HD2000A (pictured above, left) and VPC-FH1A (pictured above, right) HD camcorders are the first to support iFrame Video. Both camcorders shoot video at 960-by-540 resolution at 30 frames per second when using iFrame Video. [$600 for the VPC-HD2000A; $500 for the VPC-FH1A; Sanyo]

The next time you’re scuba diving off the coast, or spending your summer poolside, capture the moments in high definition using this waterproof case with either Canon’s Vixia HF20 or Vixia HF200 camcorders. The WP-V1 is designed to be waterproof at a depth of 130 feet.

Panasonic and Sanyo both have camcorders that are waterproof, but they can’t goes as deep as a Canon camcorder encased in the WP-V1. [$599; Canon]

A bit bigger than a pocket HD camcorder, the HDR-TG5V is a full-featured camcorder without the bulkiness. The HDR-TG5V records AVCHD video at 1920-by-1080 resolution, and the 16GB of built-in memory is enough room for 110 minutes of video at the highest quality setting. There’s also a slot for Memory Stick Pro Duo cards to increase the storage capacity.

With the HDR-TG5V’s GPS receiver, as well as built in support for Navteq digital maps, Sony says that location data can be added to recorded files. You can view maps on the camcorder’s 2.7-inch LCD as well as find geotagged locations on the map. Sony includes PC software that Windows users can use to via geotag information on a map; for Mac users, the geotags can use by iPhoto ’09’s Places feature. [$1000 (Get best current price); Sony]

The Vixia HF S10 generates some of the best high-definition video and still images we’ve seen from a HD camcorder. Add the impressively deep and professional manual controls, and you have an excellent camcorder for advanced video.

The camera’s 1/2.6-inch CMOS imaging chip records 1080 horizontal lines of video; it records 1080i at 60 frames per second, 1080p at 30 frames per second, and 1080p at 24 frames per second. The camera includes 32GB of built-in flash memory and supports SDHC cards, and it encodes the video as AVCHD files with data rates up to 24 mbps, the format’s maximum capability. The HF S10 connects to your Mac via USB, and video can be imported into iMovie ‘09 and Final Cut Express easily.

The overall image quality, deep manual controls, and decent ease of use make Canon’s Vixia HF S10 an excellent choice for both advanced and casual videographers. Read our full review. [$1300 (Get best current price); Canon]

Panasonic’s excellent HDC-TM300 produces top-notch still and video images. Even with the 17-mbps limit, the HDC-TM300’s video exhibits impressive resolution, smooth motion, accurate color, and low noise. The camcorder also boasts 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound, which it captures with a cluster of built-in mics mounted on the top. Audio capture was decent; more than adequate for casual shooters.

The HDC-TM300, which stores video on both an internal flash drive and an SDHC card, provides robust and innovative features that justify the camera’s relatively high price. In case you want to shoot still photos, camcorder shoots 10.6-megapixel stills, and extremely sharp ones at that. Read our full review. [$1400 (Get best current price); Panasonic]