Odys distributes some really nice looking cheap HD camcorders. The cheapest HD camcorder is actually below 100 euros. You can watch sample HD videos filmed using this camcorder here:

Sample video 1 filmed using the Odys MC-HD800 (27mb)

Sample video 2 filmed using the Odys MDV-HD8 (14mb)

This interview was filmed using the Sanyo HD1000.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Google, Metacafe, Putfile, Revver, Sevenload, Sumo, Vimeo, Vsocial, Youtube

This looks to be the first consumer priced 1080p camcorder out there.

Filmed using the Sanyo HD1000.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Google, Putfile, Revver, Sevenload, Sumo, Vsocial, Youtube

Showing an testing the DXG DVH 566 HD, DVV 568 HD, DVV 581 HD, DVH 595 HD and DVS 567 HD.

DivX HD 1280×720 3.5mbit/s: Play

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Google, Putfile, Revver, Sevenload, Sumo, Vsocial, Youtube

In this 17 minute HD video, I review the Sanyo HD2 camcorder, which is the latest Mpeg4 H263 1280×720 6-9mbit/s camcorder from Sanyo, which was released globally within the last six months. Sanyo has announce the H264 1080i/720p60/720p30 successor called the HD1000 which I have shown in another interview with a representative at Sanyo Fisher Sales booth at IFA 2007 last week. Will Sanyo definately move away from encoding Mpeg4 H263 to exclusively encoding H264 in all of its future HD camcorders? That is to be seen. One of the specific useful features of the HD2, is that it records in the standard Mpeg4 format, which is recognizable by common editing and encoding software and thus might be a little easier to manage, also being easier to simply playback on any normal computer, the encoding algorithm also being easier for a CPU to decode. So my overall suggestion, although the HD1000 brings better optics, better low light recording, better resolution, better framerates and new features, the HD2 still stays a good camera, and which I recommend especially if you can find it at a sensibly lower price than the HD1000, for example at possibly 400-500€ within the next few months, it would be a good value for such very practical 720p Mpeg4 camcorder.

All the videos posted on this video-blog filmed at the IFA 2007 were filmed using the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2 camcorder: http://techvideoblog.com/ifa/?year=2007. Those videos are all released in 720p encoded in DivX which shows you well the approximate full quality that can be achieved using this camcorder to release 720p videos on the Internet.

DivX HD: Play, Download, Stage6

Flash versions: Google, Youtube, Revver, Vimeo, Vsocial

The first half of the video was filmed by Bogdan of http://digitaldreamsdesign.net

Sanyo announced a new great looking ultra compact HD camcorder, the HD1000, that films in 1080i 12mbit/s, 720p60 12mbit/s and 720p30 9mbit/s. You can also download a 300mb sample shot in 1080i with the camera here below.

DivX HD: Play
(filmed with the Sanyo Xacti HD2 720p camcorder using its built-in microphone)

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Facebook, Google, Metacafe, Myspace, Photobucket, Putfile, Revver, Sevenload, Veoh, Vimeo, Vsocial, Yahoo, Youtube

Here is a link to download a 263mb sample recorded with this new Sanyo HD1000 30fps 1080i camcorder (which also has got a 60fps and 30fps 720p mode which I didn’t test yet): SANY0003.MP4 (The camcorder’s firmware still is being worked on by the engineers so this might not be the exact quality using the finalized production model that will be launched in October.) You can use QuicktimeAlternative with CoreAVC codec to playback this native 1080i H264 video file.

Hitachi shows the world’s first Blu-ray HD camcorder that works as a hybrid with a 30GB or 60GB hard drive. Next version will support dual layer Blu-ray discs.

DivX HD: Play

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Facebook, Google, Metacafe, Myspace, Putfile, Revver, Sevenload, Veoh, Vimeo, Vsocial, Yahoo, Youtube

Samsung comes with a very impressive and very compact 720p HD camcorder, which records in 50fps H264 at 1280×720 progressive. This video interview was filmed using that camera at the booth onto one of my SD cards. I re-encoded that video from 50fps to 25fps using an unproven technique of using a server-side ffmpeg process, so that might explain some of the stuttering that there is in this DivX HD version, and it´s encoded in only one pass Mpeg4 720p just as every other of my IFA 2007 videos (while all the other videos are filmed using the Sanyo HD2). To view the full quality sample from that camcorder, you can download the sample recording below.

DivX HD: Play

Flash versions: Blip, Dailymotion, Facebook, Google, Metacafe, Myspace, Photobucket, Putfile, Revver, Veoh, Vimeo, Vsocial, Yahoo, Youtube

Here is a link to download a 700mb sample recorded with this new Samsung 50fps 720p camcorder:

http://charbax.videohost.eu/ifa2007/HDV_0074.MP4 (the .MP4 file that this Samsung HD camcorder produces is not a common h264 .mp4 file, VLC won´t play it easilly. At the Samsung booth, they told me a software that plays it is http://www.gomplayer.com/download.html)

JVC has their D-ILA technology which they use in their projectors and rear-projection TVs, and which they claim provides superior quality. Still JVC seems to be positionned well over DLP and 3LCD in terms of price. They also are launching a 1000-something dollar 1920×1080 interlaced 27mbit/s Mpeg2 hard drive based camcorder.

DivX HD: Play

Flash versions: Google Video, Youtube, Blip.tv

The Steadicam Merlin by Tiffen is a very compact steadicam technology suitable for small camcorders:

Google Video (6m39s) Play Download Page

HD (172mb) BitTorrent Play Download

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Showing the new Sony AVCHD camcorders, HC5, HC7, UX5 and UX7:

Google Video (5m22s) Play Download Page

HD (139mb) BitTorrent Play Download

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