Best Camcorders

The Consumer Electronics Show is the Big Bang of gadgets - an explosion from which all of 2010's shiny new electronic toys are born. We dove into this maelstrom and emerged with the coolest imaging products at the show:

Samsung NX10: Samsung's entry into the interchangeable lens camera sweepstakes (following Olympus and Panasonic) is the CES launch of the NX10. It's d-SLR like, in that it has an APS-C size CMOS image sensor and interchangeable lenses, but it doesn't have a reflex mirror, which allows the camera body to be lighter and more compact than your traditional d-SLR. The 14-megapixel NX10 also offers a 3-inch AMOLED display (which boasts a higher response rate and better viewing angles than an LCD) and HD video recording. No price yet, but it's due in the Spring.

Kodak Slice: A stylish but pricey point-and-shoot, the Slice packs a 14-megapixel sensor, a 5x optical zoom and 720p HD video recording. Flip the Slice around and you'll find a huge, 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD. Using the touchscreen, you can tag the photos you take for uploading to sharing sites like Flickr once the camera's connected the computer. Look for it in April for $349.

JVC Everio GZ-HM550: The first camcorder with built-in Bluetooth, JVC's Everio GZ-HM550 can record audio from Bluetooth microphones, or have its zoom and record functions operated by a Bluetooth-enabled smart phone. It can also send still images from the camcorder to a Bluetooth smart phone, or use a Bluetooth-equipped GPS unit or GPS-equipped smart phone to geotag videos. This is an $799 HD camcorder with a new back illuminated, 10-megapixel CMOS sensor, 32GB of internal flash memory and a 10x optical zoom.

Eye-Fi Pro X2 Card: A great camera and camcorder accessory gets even better with the new Pro X2 card from Eye Fi ($149). Now the memory bumps to 8GB, from 4GB, with a Class 6 speed rating for higher performance cameras and HD camcorders. It's also compatible with faster 802.11n wireless networks. The company will also update the Eye Fi Manager software to give it greater functionality. But to my mind the best new feature is the "endless memory" mode which deletes files from the card after they've been uploaded.

The SDXC Card: Panasonic was one of few memory card makers to come to the show with the next generation SD card - the SDXC card. The first two new cards will come in capacities of 48GB and 64GB for $449, and $599, respectively. That's more expensive than most digital cameras on the market, but the new format promises blazing fast speeds for high-resolution JPEGs and RAW files from d-SLRs as well as the large capacity necessary for HD video files (normal SDHC cards are already fast enough to handle video files).

Just as important, the SD card format finally triumphed over Sony, which had championed its own proprietary Memory Stick format for its cameras and camcorders. Sony will still support Memory Stick, but it said at CES that its new imaging products will have a slot that accepts both Memory Stick and SD/SDHC cards.