A great entry-level video editing app, but Montage is the only major addition unless you go for the Ultimate edition

Another big improvement, but this time it’s enough to make PowerDirector a worthy alternative to its mainstream rivals

A good price coupled with outstanding image quality – a good budget alternative to the Panasonic HDC-HS9

Pocket-sized digital camcorders are becoming more capable all the time. We round up ten of the best

High resolution stills and laudable quality for the money, but image stabilisation isn’t the best

It may not be a looker, but in all other respects this Panasonic is a stunning camera

Huge storage for the money, but quality can’t match the more expensive models in this group

Good quality optics and lots of storage, but not the most portable of camcorders

Impressive optical quality and storage space, though a touch expensive

Great image quality and plenty of enthusiast features for a very reasonable price

The smallest, cheapest camera on test, but unsurprisingly, it also has the poorest image quality

Cheaper than the HF10, although you need to factor in the cost of storage cards

A new interface, smart albums, guided editing and photo merging keep Photoshop Elements ahead of the pack

Key improvements over the SD5 make this a still more enticing pocket HD camcorder prospect

A fully featured hard disk AVCHD camcorder with plenty of recording space

A great value camcorder that’s capable of some decent results.

Canon’s first hard disk-based AVCHD camcorder gets it mostly right, with a good level of features and the best image quality we’ve yet seen from the format.

A great next-generation camcorder, but it lacks editing support for the recording format

A fully featured hard disk AVCHD camcorder with plenty of recording space

Refocusing on disc-related features makes Nero the top choice for optical disc authoring.