Excellent features and performance, but it’s pricey and you need a suitably powerful PC to make the most of it.

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

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

Canopus first made its name providing top-notch 3Dfx cards. Realising the deadly competitiveness and pace of that market, however, Canopus has moved on and repositioned itself as a company specialising in video editing.

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

Not content with dominating the semi-professional end of video editing, Matrox has reworked its 'Power of X' technology for a more humble audience.

Some powerful improvements – but you won’t get the most out of this unless it’s used alongside other Adobe apps.

Support for latest video formats and a batch-media encoder, but supporting apps have seen little upgrading.

Vegas has a huge array of editing features for the money, plus powerful bundled DVD authoring.

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

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

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

You still get a lot for your money, but HD optical burning only extends to data discs

Canon grabs the crown for the most fully featured HDV camcorder for under $1500

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

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 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.

Not only slightly cheaper than the last version, but now Encore CS3 and OnLocation CS3 are included too.

This version brings some real improvements, but there are still a few features missing.