Home movies: better by design

Even though Jeremy Beadle is no longer about proclaiming that someone or other has been "framed", our eagerness for camcorders is undiminished. In the past few years, analogue cameras (which could record only on to the camera equivalent of videotape) have gradually been supplanted in shop windows by digital ones, which – being digital – open up a whole new range of possibilities, most of all of editing out the boring stuff and doing some interesting thing to the unfinished product on a computer.

I'll deal with the computer trickery next week. First though one has to look at the camcorders. I tested three: the Panasonic GS5, JVC GV-DVP5 Miniature MiniDV and Sony DCR-PC101E (pictured). (The alphabet-soup of the model names is terrifying, like trying to find your way around the civil service without a guide.)

Interestingly, all these companies also make PCs. Sony, of course, is known for its stylish Vaio, whose thinness is much-copied (unsuccessfully). Panasonic and JVC aren't generally so well-known, at least among the average consumer. And I think it's safe to say that they haven't gained particular attention for their PC design.

So how do they cope with camcorder design? Everyone has now adopted the dual method of viewing what's going on in front of the camera: either through an eyepiece, or a fold-out LCD screen – the latter feature innovated by Sharp in 1992, but now accepted design wisdom. And pretty much every camcorder over £500 or so will include a CompactFlash (CF) or SecureDigital (SD) card for storing pictures, so that you have a 1.3 megapixel digital camera effectively thrown in (though without a flash).

All also have "DV-out", which lets you output your film to a computer. What you should also demand is "DV-in", which lets you re-export your edited digital video back on to camcorder tape. Although DVD burners that would let you export directly from your computer to DVD are coming down in price, it's not an urgent purchase. DV-in is a more useful feature, for now.

What is still being argued over, in design terms, is where the controls should go on the camera. With autofocus built in, you don't have to twist the lens. That leaves you with four fingers and a thumb free. The Panasonic and Sony models choose a long, thin design for the camcorder, with controls on top.

JVC's design, which is tall and thin, is initially attractive. The lens cap slides neatly up and down, rather than being a detachable, losable object. The idea is that you wrap your hand around the camera. Unfortunately it's a flawed design, as I discovered when I reviewed a long sequence where part of my index finger obscured the lower part of the lens throughout. This was a pity, because the JVC was pleasant to use, for me at least; my wife found it too large for her hand, suggesting that this is one gadget shopping trip that should be made jointly, unless you want to be relegated to the role of the encouraging voice behind the camera in all future family videos.

All the designers agree that the thumb should be used to start and stop recording, and switch between modes (such as camera or video). But what about that other common video task, zooming in and pulling back? And how about the camera "shutter" control? Where should all those go? A crucial difference between Sony and Panasonic on this. Sony puts the zoom controls near the front of the camera. But that means you have to reach forward with your fingers to get at them. Panasonic, by contrast, puts both those and the camera shutter near the back, close to your index finger (because it's determined that you'll hold the camera in your right hand). I found the Sony placement to be the easiest and most logical.

All these add up to key wins for Sony. It's obvious that the company's reputation for design is well-earned. The model I tried was costly, but that was for elements such as the night-light filming (which cranks the CCDs' sensitivity up to the max) and the quality of its lens. I liked the touch-sensitive screen for changing settings (no wondering which button to press to change the menu – which was a fight I did have with the JVC and Panasonic models). What I liked best of all, though, was that the battery meter showed how much capacity you had left in minutes, not the unhelpful bars that others use. Sometimes it's the small touches that are most helpful. And they all add up.

JVC GR-DVP5E around £640; Panasonic GS5 around £400; Sony DCR-PC101E around £1,000