Labs

The MVX460 is the smallest of the three pricier MiniDV models, thanks in part to the unusual placement of its battery, which is tucked away behind the LCD. This design prevents you from using a larger replacement if required, but with its stunning battery life of two hours and 32 minutes you probably won't need to.

On the front is a built-in lens cover, which is manually controlled using a switch. Beside the lens is a video lamp consisting of two white LEDs for shooting in dark conditions.

The rear of the camcorder is a mess of fiddly controls, many of which are hard to reach with one hand. It's

PERFORMANCE

Video recorded by the MVX460 was generally good quality. In our indoor tests it produced crisp video with plenty of detail, and film taken in good lighting conditions had little noise. It couldn't record colours as accurately as the Panasonic NV-GS180, though. In low light it performed well, recording far less noise than the best budget models and with detail visible even in the darker areas of the shot.

Outdoors it was more than acceptable, capturing far more detail than the budget MiniDV cameras. It also benefits from a slightly wider angle of view in widescreen mode. Still photos have a resolution of just 1,152x864 pixels and there's no flash. If you want to take still pictures, consider the DCR-HC96E instead.

VERDICT

This is a very capable camcorder that has all the features most users need. It's a good choice if you want a small camcorder, but otherwise Sony's DCR-HC96E is better.