Good things often come in small packages and that's the case with Sony's PC108E. It is only fractionally larger than the JVC GR-DX77 (the smallest camera in the lab) but weighs in 65 grams lighter.

Sony has kept it compact by providing a separate docking station that contains the USB, DV and S-Video ports. There also are AV and additional microphone connectors on the camera itself.

Like the other Sony camera and PC108E has an excellent LCD which operates well in all light conditions and doubles as a touch screen controller for playback and menu options. Unusually, there are two record buttons, one in the traditional thumb location and the other on the frame of the LCD.

The view finder is both adjustable and comes with a manual focus so nobody has to suffer a blurred image.
The PC108E was also the only camera to have a built-in lens cap operated by a button on the side. This both prevents you losing it and stops that annoying clicking sound you can get from having the lens cap 'tied' to the carry strap.

With such a compact design something usually has to suffer and in this case it is the built in microphone, which is positioned on top of the camera under your fingers, which can result in muffled or low volume audio if you don't use an optional external mic.

The 1 megapixel (690,000 effective) CCD and Carl Zeiss lens provide both good quality video and stills, although the latter are fairly low resolution. Being a Sony product it relies on one of the MemoryStick technologies (in this case MemoryStick Duo) for storing digital stills on memory card. While they are only 1MP, image quality was high with good contrast and colour accuracy.

Despite the size of the small Lithium-Ion battery, it provides about 90 minutes of continuous use with the LCD on and up to two hours with it off before you have to put the camera back in its cradle for a recharge.

All up there is plenty to like about the PC108E, including the price.