Compare Canon XH A1 High Definition Mini DV Camcorder to Panasonic HDC-SD1 Flash Media Camcorder

As a professional camcorder, the Canon XH A1 spares very little to be one of the most affordable HDV solutions on the market. A bevy of manual adjustments and a L Series Fluorite Lens allow you to custom tailor your shots and define color, sharpness, and hue. The DIGIC DV II HD image processor provides exceptional color reproduction and noise reduction. Super-Range Optical Image Stabilization and Instant Auto Focus protect you against the rigors of videography ensuring you get the best shots when there’s no room for error. Less

The HDC-SD1 high definition video camera from Panasonic is designed to spearhead a digital video revolution in that it enables recording of high definition video clips to a high capacity SD card (SDHC Class 2) of 4GB (Gigabytes) and higher. What's more, it uses the relatively new AVCHD recording system to achieve very high quality images when displayed on large high definition LCD and Plasma television sets. AVCHD is a format that has been developed jointly by Panasonic and Sony in partnership with several other leading companies (see here for info on AVCHD) and uses a MPEG4-AVC/H.264 compression system to effectively squeeze a lot of very high quality data into a small space. For this reason, it is being tipped to succeed the more common MPEG2-based devices such as standard definition DVD. However, despite the major advantages it brings in terms of quality and efficient use of storage space, the use of the AVCHD format isn't without its negative points - more of which later. Less