Digital Trends

DVD camcorders get all the buzz in the camcorder world. Poor MiniDV is now the forgotten stepchild—even though the majority of digital camcorders in 2006 are still tape based. But, dear readers, the trend is clearly to disk and HDD camcorders with a sprinkling of SD flash memory editions thrown in for good measure. As we reported  from the Consumer Electronics Show in January manufacturers are cutting back MiniDV and heading for newer technologies. Industry pundits expect DVD camcorders to make up the majority of camcorders sold by the end of the year, a true sea change. Sony, the dominant camcorder maker, has cut its MiniDV lineup to four--a big drop from last year—and they've dropped prices, a favorite trend of ours. This year's top model is $799 versus close to a grand last year. The DCR-HC96 not only takes MiniDV videos but snaps 3-megapixel (2016 x 1512) stills, making it a reasonable two-in-one digital imaging capture device. Should you go for the convenience of DVD or the quality of MiniDV? Let's power up and find out.