Kodak Zi8

Bought from Amazon.co.uk.

I researched extensively online before buying and chose the Zi8 for several reasons, which were:

* External mic socket - primarily film music gigs and wanted to be able to plug in a good mic.

* SDHC card data storage - Some competing products have no removable media so you're limited by the built in capacity

* Removable battery - as with the removable data media, this means you are not limited by the running time of a single built in battery. Spares are very cheap - £5 or less.

*.mov format video. I have had problems with AVCHD .mts files in the past. The .mov files are more easily managed by my editing facilities.

Overall everything is great. The small, pocket format makes for a few limitations, and performance is not as good as that of a full sized camcorder. Low-light results are ok but not spectacular, and the screen can be a little hard to use in bright sunlight - and lacks a swivel feature.

Overall, a great, extremely handy, little HD camcorder with still camera built in too.

I would buy again, and would recommend.