DV Stars: Hello, Hollywood!

• Features Comparison: The Big, the Small, and the Expensive

With the new breed of digital camcorders, making your own movies has never been cheaper or easier, so it's next stop, Sundance. Whether you are filming an independent movie, a sales meeting, or a family barbecue, these new camcorders make shooting your video as simple as writing an Oscar acceptance speech. And it's easy to copy that digital video to your PC, where you can edit it and then burn it to DVD to send to your friends, colleagues, or family.

One of the fastest-changing areas in digital video is storage. Although most of the camcorders we review here use the widely available MiniDV tapes, two of the models use other storage types: The Sony DCR-DVD300 records video to an 8-centimeter mini-DVD disc that can be played in most computer DVD drives and most DVD players, while the diminutive Sony DCR-IP1 uses tiny MicroMV tapes.

We tested nine models costing between $350 and $1000, including everything from entry-level models to semi-professional units. The PC World Test Center put them through their paces, testing battery life and video quality for indoor, outdoor, and low-light indoor settings.

All of the units shot good-quality video in outdoor and well-lit indoor venues: The variations we saw in our video tests on the 30-inch LCD TV we used were noticeable when we looked at videos side by side. We rated the Panasonic PV-DV953 as having the best, most accurate video overall; colors were vivid and lifelike and the motion of the video was smooth and realistic.

Our battery-life tests revealed that all of the camcorders were adequate for casual shooting, although we recommend investing in higher-capacity or spare batteries. We tested the units recording to media with the LCD screens on, and they all lasted at least an hour. The PV-DV953 took the top spot with a battery life of over 2 hours, owing to the high-capacity 1600MAh battery that Panasonic includes; all of the other models came with an 800MAh or smaller battery. Want to make your unit's batteries last longer? Use the viewfinder instead of the LCD panel where possible. The only two models we reviewed that won't let you do this are the Sony DCR-IP1, which doesn't have a viewfinder, and the Sony DCR-HC20, which you must control through the on-screen touch menu.

These camcorders vary greatly in design and ease of use, and especially in how comfortable they are to hold and operate. Panasonic's PV-DV953, while heavy, was a pleasure to record with; but its lighter sibling, the PV-DV73, was uncomfortable to hold for long stretches and had an awkward menu-key placement.

Vendors often quote the digital zoom that their cams offer; this feature is not ideal because it enlarges a part of the image, often producing horribly grainy video. Use the optical zoom instead.

All camcorders offer the same basic features (including automatic point-and shoot modes, exposure presets, and manual controls), but advanced features can vary widely. For instance, while the cams all come with low-light shooting modes, their implementations range from basic to deluxe. Canon's ZR80 deals with low-light shooting only one way: by slowing down the shutter speed to capture more light. On the other hand, Panasonic's PV-DV73 offers three low-light modes: a slow-shutter-speed mode, an assisted mode that uses a powerful white lamp for low-light shooting, and a mode using an infrared light, which the camcorder can see but the human eye can't. This last mode lets you shoot video where discretion is desired, such as when recording deer in your backyard after dark without alerting or spooking them.

We were surprised by the lack of a microphone jack on many of the camcorders. Sound quality can make or break a video production, so it's surprising that only Sony's DCR-HC20 and the two Panasonic models offer the ability to connect an external microphone that picks up better sound than the built-in ones.