The Hitachi DZ-MV350 is the most attractive camcorder in this group, given the originality of its design. Being able to watch your film on a friend's DVD player without having to lug the camcorder around is a rare privilege that most MiniDV camcorders don't offer. The Canon Elura 50 is appealing because of its appearance and small size. The Sony DCR-TRV22 has very good image quality at low cost, but we found its LCD touch screen a puzzle. Lastly, the JVC GR-DX95 will set you back $900 for a black and white viewfinder and rather un-intuitive ergonomics.
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Header Cell - Column 0
Canon Elura 50
Sony DCR-TRV22
JVC GR-DX95
Hitachi DZ-MV350
Format
MiniDV
MiniDV
MiniDV
DVD-R/ DVD-RAM
CCD capture
800,000 pixels
800,000 pixels
800,000 pixels
800,000 pixels
CCD surface
1/6"
1/4"
1/6"
1/4"
Lens diameter
28 mm
30 mm
30.5 mm
30.5 mm
Optical zoom
10x
10x
16x
10x
Digital zoom
400x
120x
700x
240x
35 mm conversion
48 - 480 mm
42 - 420 mm
43.2 - 691.2 mm
40.5 - 404 mm
Minimum aperture
F 1.8
F 1.7
F 1.6
F 1.8
Minimum illumination
2.4 lux
5 lux
0.5 lux
3 lux
Shutter speed
1/50 - 1/2000
1/3 - 1/4000
1/50 - 1/4000
1/50 - 1/4000
Viewfinder
color, 113,000 pixels
color, 113,000 pixels
black & white
color, 110,000 pixels
LCD display
2 inches, 130,000 pixels
2.5 inches, 123,200 pixels
3 inches, 200,000 pixels
2.5 inches, 120,000 pixels
Wide screen mode (16:9)
anamorphic
anamorphic
anamorphic/ letter box
anamorphic
Photo support
SD/ cassette
Memory Stick / cassette
SD/ cassette
SD/ DVD-RAM
Photo resolution
1024x768, 640x480
640x480
1024x768, 640x480
640x480
Loading tapes
side loading, 15 seconds
bottom loading, 10 seconds
bottom loading, 20 seconds
top loading, 25 seconds
DV in/ out
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
USB 2.0
A/V in/ out
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
S-video in/ out
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
yes/ yes
Mic in
yes
yes
no
yes
Headphone in
yes
yes
no
yes
USB port
yes
yes
yes
yes
LANC in
yes
yes
no
no
Grip
no
yes
no
yes
Flash/Lighting
no/ no
no/ no
yes/ no
no
Battery charger
separate
in camera
in camera
separate
Manual focus
dial
touch panel
buttons
buttons
Software
DV MessengerZoomBrowserPhotoRecordImage BrowserPhotoStitch
ImagePixerUSB driver
Studio 8USB driver
MyDVDUSB driver
Weight without batteries
380 g
530 g
450 g
530 g
Dimensions
5 x 11.1 x 8.9 cm
7.1 x 9 x 11.2 cm
9.6 x 10.2 x 5.5 cm
5.7 x 8.9 x 13.2 cm
Price (US)
$800
$700
$900
$969
Price (Europe)
1100 euros
1000 euros
1300 euros
1300 euros
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