A few by now will know that I myself am on the hunt for a good video camera, I was supporting the Sony HDR-SD1 but then realized it didn’t have a Microphone input jack, neither did the Sony HC3, which is a shocker. So I focused on this HD1, it’s not full High Definition in it’s glory but 720i, however what does put it above the rest is it’s amazing compression, the fact it has a mic jack, a 5.1 MP camera with flash, AND an amazing OLED screen. Having an OLED screen means that pictures are not laggy and they’re vibrant without the need for a backlight.

Read more for a review at Steve’s Digicams

Update: (Read WIDGX’s Hands On Opinion)
WIDGX HD1 Xacti Review

Click here to read a review.

Sony today announced the HDR-HC3 HDV 1080i Handycam camcorder.It has a dual record function that allows you to shoot video and simultaneously capture 2.3 megapixel stills (16:9) in high definition mode and 1.7-megapixel stills (4:3) in standard definition mode. You can also record slow motion video using the model’s smooth slow record function, which plays back three seconds of video in 12 seconds.

Casio introduce two new digital cameras in the form of the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z850 and EX-Z60.The first the Z850 has 8.1 megapixels and an improved shutter lag of just 0.003 seconds,and inclusion of a much needed anti-shake DSP.The 6 megapixel EX-Z60 does away with the glass viewfinder on the Z850 yet fails to increase the LCD beyond 2.5-inches or lens beyond a 3x zoom in attempts to keep the all-metal package slim.

The xbox 360 official camera and other special and secret accessories will be arriving this may.

Sony has released two low-cost 6-megapixel cameras, each with a 3x Zeiss optical zoom lens. The DSC-W50 (pictured above) is differentiated from the DSC-W30 by its 2 1/2 inch viewfinder, where the DSC-30 has a 2-inch finder. Available in both silver and black, these two still cameras are uncommonly thin, at 2/3 of an inch thick. Sony says these two diminutive shooters have a more hospitable user interface, where the icons are accompanied with a text-based explanation on the LCD screen. The DSC-W30 will be available first, shipping this month for $230, with the DSC-W50 shipping a little later, available in early March for $250.

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You know, I was VERY interested by Sony’s S100 videocamera since it had a 30GB hard disk. I was in a quest for finding a very high quality camera at a decent price. I remember buying my own Sony PC5E (which was the smallest video camera for it’s specs at it’s time) for around 1000 pounds and that was alot of money.
However it struck me, 2006 is the year to buy into HD Video Cameras. They are getting much smaller and why not show off that HD TV that’s basically used once a month to view something high quality?

So, then comes rumours of the HC3 coming out. Sony haven’t announced anything but the manual has been leaked out which tells me that this is going to be worth it. It’ll be slightly weaker than the HC1 which is already released, however it’ll be cheaper at it’s release thats for sure.
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