Lab

Digital Camcorders

Since the introduction of FireWire, digital camcorders have become part of the PC's converging family of peripherals. Once you've shot your video, you can simply hook up your camcorder to your computer with one wire and download the video ready for editing - much easier than with older analog camcorders.

Despite its obvious advantages, FireWire still isn't universal in digital video cameras, particularly with input enabled. This is officially because there's around 9 per cent higher duty in Europe on the import of VCRs over camcorders. Currently, you can purchase simple devices for turning on FireWire input in a wide range of popular models without the feature enabled, but this may not be possible in the future. Reacting to European pressure, some manufacturers have made it impossible to enable FireWire input in camcorders not intended to have this feature. Panasonic and Sony have gone so far as to send letters to manufacturers of FireWire input enablers, arguing that these products infringe the company's copyright for its FireWire input deactivation software.

The upshot is that if you don't already have a digital camcorder, you're best off buying one with FireWire input enabled as standard. This month's selection all falls into this category, and all have been tested for compatibility with a PC fitted with a standard OHCI FireWire adaptor and running Adobe's mainstream editing software, Premiere.

We've got 11 models on test, ranging from sub-£500 entry-level camcorders to the £1,500 semi-professional versions you could realistically use to shoot video for corporate use or even TV. The majority also have reasonable still-image capture abilities, so they can moonlight as digital still cameras when needed. We've also got a couple of camcorders so small you could fit them in a jacket pocket almost unnoticed. So whether you're just starting out with video on your PC or looking to upgrade your old analog cam, we've got a recommendation for you.