Samsung R10

Compact and ergonomic, Good all-round performance, Responsive touchscreen

5x optical zoom too small, Poor software interface

Touchscreens are nothing new but they can be hit and miss when it comes to responsiveness – and how smudgy they become. Fortunately, the R10's version is an excellent one. It's easy to use and responds quickly to touch. It's helped by a menu system ...

If it was cheaper, the Vado HD would be an attractive option. But at £200, it's hard to see its place in the market.

It's portable ; It's easy to use ; It's quick and responsive

Very expensive ; Frame rate could be better

We'd advise picking up the original Vado, which at £62 on Amazon is a bargain in exactly the same way that the Vado HD isn't

The HV30 was very easy to use, but felt a bit chunky to us

Superb stills and video ; Tried and tested format ; Better image quality than HDD models ; Faster import than HDD models

Cumbersome to use ; Last year's HV20 is essentially identical

If you want a very good camcorder, then we recommend the Canon HV30. It has a higher quality image than the latest HDD models at the same price. Better still, shop around for last year's HV20. It is considerably discounted now but virtually identical, ...

The functions on the HDR-TG3E are controlled by the touchscreen which is much more successful than some rival systems

Competitive price ; Impressive quality video ; Small but solid build ; Great touchscreen

The real surprise is that you can buy the Sony for less than £500 and we consider it good value indeed

The HDC-SD9 is a joy to use and feels really good in your hand

Stylish design ; Solid build ; Impressive spec ; Compact ; Good picture quality

Awkward controls ; No microphone input

Panasonic includes a reasonable selection of kit, including a composite cable, remote control, battery charger, power cable and a component cable. Our test footage was very satisfactory and, all in all, we were impressed by the reasonably priced HDC-SD9

Despite its low price, the Canon FS100 produces a decent picture, provided the lighting conditions are good

Decent picture quality ; Easy to use ; Low price

Basic feature set ; Low build quality ; Only standard def

Despite its low price, the Canon FS100 produces a decent picture, provided the lighting conditions are good. In less ideal settings, the quality degrades, reinforcing the idea the Canon FS100 is a camcorder that has been built down to hit a very low ...

Although the speed of data transfer is rather disappointing, the Sony produces good overall results

Great resolution for video and stills ; Face detection ; Foldout touchscreen

Poor mic positioning ; Slow data transfer ; Unclear menu system

This is still a very good camcorder, and the images are high quality. With a better data-transfer speed, we would have recommended it

The Creative Vado is a very tidy little point-and-shoot VGA camcorder

Sharp picture ; Large LCD viewscreen ; Small and compact

Tacky appearance

The only real problem with it is the price. It may only be £79, but in the US it costs $89 which is a lot cheaper. That said, even in the UK the Vado is still £20 cheaper than the Flip which goes to show that maybe it is quite good value after all

The Flip Video only serves to disappoint

It's easy to use

Bulky ; Ugly ; Bad screen

And while we're talking about price... At the moment the Flip Video will set you back £99 which is £20 more than the Vado. Ludicrous when you realise that the Creative camera is fundamentally a better product

This latest Sony cam represents hot new technology at a surprisingly accessible price

Well built ; User-friendly functions ; Excellent LCD display

Heavy and a bit cumbersome ; Not very comfortable to hold

The camera has a 14x optical zoom and the lens is initially quite a bit wider than the Z1 but zooms to the same focal length at the telephoto end. This wider lens is an advantage in many situations such as filming handheld or in confined spaces like ...