High-Def Advisor

Removable flash memory camcorders

Removable flash memory is currently the 'new black' of the camcorder industry, with all major vendors supporting a version of this format. Its benefits over digital tape and DVD are numerous, including the ability to hot-swap between camera and computer, less power consumption (and thus longer battery life), sound-free operation and compact camcorder sizes. Indeed, the smallest camcorders on the market all adhere to the flash memory format (including the truly miniscule Panasonic SDR-S7). This makes them a good option for frequent camcorder users.

Removable flash memory comes in a variety of different flavours, depending on the camcorder manufacturer at hand. The main types are SD/SDHC (used by Canon and Panasonic), Micro-SD (JVC) and Memory Stick (Sony). They all basically do the same thing, although SDHC cards are more widely supported.

Best removable flash memory camcorder (standard-def): Canon FS100

Best removable flash memory camcorder (high-def): Panasonic HDC-SD9

Removable flash memory card — SDHC