Canon HG10 review

Hot on the heels of Canon's HR10 DVD HD camcorder comes the hard disk-based HG10.

Despite many technical similarities, the two models look and feel completely different. While the HR10 has attractive curves and bronze highlights, the HG10 is a far more brutish and technical-looking device.

It's very compact, measuring only 81x75x129mm, and sits comfortably in the palm of even a large hand. Like the HR10, this camcorder uses the AVCHD format. This compresses video using the efficient H.264 codec, meaning you can get a fantastic five-and-a-half hours' footage on the built-in 40GB hard disk. This equates to at least 22 of the HR10's 8cm DVDs, or almost six MiniDV tapes. If you like to shoot lots of footage, this is one of the most convenient camcorders.

The hard disk does have its drawbacks. If you were to fill the entire hard disk, say while on holiday, you'd have to delete clips or transfer footage to a laptop. The manual warns against accessing the hard disk directly from your PC, advising you to use the bundled software. We had no problems dragging and dropping video clips from the HG10 directly into media player software, though. There's also a Mini-SD card slot for extra storage.

Video quality is generally good, but despite the Full HD claims, the HG10 records at the same 1,440x1,080 resolution as the HR10 and MiniDV-based HV20 (below), not the full 1080i resolution of 1,920x1,080. It uses the same fantastic lens and sensor combination, though.

At the highest quality setting video is compressed to 15Mbit/s, which is slightly higher than the HR10's 12Mbit/s maximum. However, it still lacks the fine detail that HDV camcorders such as the HV20 are capable of. Swift pans and fast motion also show up minor deficiencies in the compression. It's still high-quality video, but it can't quite match the HV20's.

Despite its compact size, being both smaller and lighter than the HV20, the HG10 still includes an accessory shoe and microphone input, both of which are missing from the HR10. This makes it more appealing for enthusiasts who want better sound quality than a built-in microphone can provide. Battery life is exceptional at 148 minutes, though with all that storage capacity, it's still sensible to invest in a second battery, for around £35.

If you like to edit your footage on a PC, then a hard disk camcorder is the most convenient way of shooting video. However, you'll have to spend time archiving the results on to either DVDs or a larger hard disk, while an HV20 user has the easier option of keeping the original tape as a backup. The HG10 is an excellent camcorder, but we still prefer the HV20 due to its lower price and slightly higher video quality.