A little thicker than a box of Altoids, the D-snap packs video recording and still-photo capabilities into a package small enough to fit in a pants pocket or behind a potted plant. Despite its size, the D-snap takes remarkably good videos — comparable to, or even slightly better than, the full-size DVD camcorders here — and its LCD is actually no smaller than that of most full-size camcorders. As a result, using the D-snap is a joy, although one 512MB SD card holds only 10 minutes of top-quality MPEG-2 video (or several hours of truly crummy MPEG-4 video). Still, if you don’t mind paying $750 for a pocket camcorder, you can probably shell out a bit more for some extra 512MB cards; they’re only $70 apiece.
-Dylan Tweney
Best Feature: Terrifically portable video
Worst Feature: Cam-phone quality stills
SPECS:
Panasonic SV-AV100 D-snap
$749
Weight: 6.4 ounces
Size: 2.5 x 3.5 x 1.3 inches
Specs: MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video recording; 10x optical zoom; SD card slot (512MB card included); USB 1.1; AV port; 0.3-megapixel still images
www.panasonic.com
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Link: Panasonic SV-AV100 D-snap
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