They're good and getting better, especially with the latest offerings from Sony and Canon. And both companies are stretching down into the lower ends of the market, giving people with relatively thin wallets the opportunity to try their hand at high def.

The JVC GDR-HD1 and JY-HD10U, which were first to the market, are not very convincing. Image quality was less than stellar, thanks to the single CCD image sensor which created badly washed out images. The people who tried using it for professional work also found that the lack of quality manual controls made it very difficult to do anything professional with it.
As of December 23, 2004, Sony just introduced the HDR-FX1 at a very appealing $3,699 price point. It's the first high definition camcorder likely to make sense to most people. I certainly want to check one out!

Sony's camera films at a higher resolution than the JVC, but doesn't feature true progressive scan. As we say elsewhere in the FAQ, this means that it will create terrible stills, which is a big disappointment. This also means 35mm film frames upconverted from the camera's DV images will have hideous video artifacts.

Here's an early review of the camcorder.

During NAB 2005, Panasonic introduced a new camera that records data on memory cards instead of tape. This camera is capable of recording to a higher quality HD standard, and it has HD experts very excited. The price is $5,995, but unfortunately the memory cards add about $2,000 per 8 minutes of recording capacity. It's also supposed to be recording in MiniDV, but I think that's just standard, not high, definition. This looks very promising, and hopefully we'll have some clarification on this issue.

A high-definition camcorder will certainly stroke your ego, and the new Sony is likely to produce the highest quality images of any prosumer camcorder. But look before you leap; most actual video will be viewed as standard definition for years to come.

A major problem with high-definition video is that it uses an entirely different aspect ratio from standard broadcast TV. If you shoot HD, you will find that either the left and right sides of your video will be clipped when your production is viewed on a standard TV, or the image is letterboxed, meaning there will be black bands on the top and bottom of your image. Because of this, you have to decide early on whether your audience will be people using standard or high definition TV and plan accordingly.

I was thinking of upgrading to high definition in the next year or so, but my wariness about compatibility with standard video has made me a little shy about actually doing it.

Canon's initial HD camcorder, the XL HD, has impressed reviewers with its high-quality images, but at $9,000 retail, has left consumers less than happy. I liked the original $4,400-odd price point of the original XL1 a lot better.

Canon listened to us and has introduced a new line with a $3,999 model starting in October of 2006. It promises to provide similar image quality than the XL HD, with essentially the same optics and image sensors. It also introduces a new fast autofocus system, which was urgently needed, especially since focusing in HD is notoriously difficult.

While the Sony FX1 has definitely improved its controls significantly over the old VX-1000 and 2000, I still trust Canon more as a camera maker. But when I do buy a new camera, I will check out both Sony and Canon with exceptional care.

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message