TOP 5 FULL HD Best Camcorders under $500

On reviewing what seem to be the best HD camcorder, we looked for the latest features such as AVCHD which is the highest resolution right now in consumer camcorders, but this format is only available in Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon camcorders.

Other important features of any best camcorder which are worth noting are OPTICAL zoom, a large touch screen LCD monitor, card slots for inserting extra memory cards and of course Full HD 1920x1080 resolution.

It would be easy to assume that high end features such as are listed here would be priced well out of the price range which a normal family would be prepared to pay, but this is not the case with these mass produced camcorders, and many of them are available for under $500 now.

So take a look at our list of TOP 5 Best Camcorders under $500 and marvel at the features:

This best HD camcorder under 500 from Fujifilm records only to an SD card, which is fine, and it has one of the largest LCD viewfinders at 3.5 inches, and because this is a 3D camcorder you can review your movies in 3D through the viewfinder without wearing 3D glasses. The zoom lens is 3x and optical.

There are choices for full auto recording, or manual control, and you can take great photos with the dual 10MP sensors. Resolution is 720p, which is still HD, but not the highest.

The Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3 best camcorder makes it onto our list on price, 3D performance and almost perfect scores in best HD camcorder 2011 reviews from over 80 buyers.

You will find that the 3D option is offered by most big brands this year, and Panasonic is no exception with the Panasonic HDC-SD90 3D camcorder. This too records only to SDXC/SDHC/SD flash drive memory cards but in 1920 x 1080p Full-HD.

The LCD touch screen on the SD90 is 3inches,it has an optical image stabilizer, 40x optical wide-anglezoom lens and superior sound recording through a zoom microphone which has a wind noise canceller.

A downside, if you buy into the 3D hype of this best HD camcorder under 500 from Panasonic is that to record 3D with the HDC-SD90 requires you to buy the Panasonic VW-CLT1 3D camcorder lens for an extra $200.

Sony seem to be listening to their customers more by giving us what we want at the price we want to pay with the introduction of the Sony HDR-CX160. Already 20 owners have reviewed this beauty and given it high marks as their best HD camcorder.

And how could they not vote this their best HD camcorder under 500 choice with so many features which we all crave for?

Superb low-light video ranks high on our list, and the Sony HDR-CX160 gives us this with a back-illuminated "Exmor R" CMOS sensor as well as a built-in LED light, optical zoom is 30x, a 3 way shake cancelling optical image stabilizer, a 3.0” LCD touch screen and Full HD 1920x1080p recording to a 16GB internal memory drive.A worthy best HD camcorder 2011 choice.

The JVC GZ-HM670BUS records to an SD card taking SD/SDXC/SDHC cards, or a 32GB built-in flash memory. Choose to record directly to the high AVCHD format or standard definition, with an advanced optical image stabilizer for smooth movies.

Record at a high 24Mbps bit rate, with a 40x Optical zoom and low light recordings should be good as this too has the BSI-CMOS sensor like the Sony above.

The Touch Panel LCD screen of the JVC GZ-HM670BUS is only 2.7"

This is another Best HD Camcorder under 500 buy.

If you remember the list of features most of us would put at the top of our list as the best HD camcorder, such as a LCD touch screen, good optical zoom, optical image stability for smooth movie recordings, stacks of storage with a large internal flash drive and 2 SD card slots, the Canon VIXIA HF R21 has all of these and stacks more.

Add a great image processor the Canon DIGIC DV III, a FULL HD CMOS image sensor, AVCHD with 24Mbps bit rate, and professional features such as a mic input terminal and headphone terminal with full manual audio control, focus assist and Full HD to Standard definition conversion and you can see why the Canon VIXIA HF R21 tops our list of Best Camcorder under $500 in 2011. This is the Best HD Camcorder for under 500.

Camcorder buffs in the UK can find the Canon VIXIA HF R21listed as the Canon Legria, and the model number is the R28. So for Canon VIXIA HF R21 in the US, please read Canon Legria HF R28 in the UK.

I hope you can agree that all of the 5 camcorders are very good value for money because of the features which are packed into them. I know there are many more which could have made this best HD camcorder list, and if you have a camcorder which you would have included, I will be very interested to hear from you.

All of these TOP 5 best video camera models have many more features worth checking out, and you can read full information of these and over 200 more camcorders at http://www.uscamcorderreviews.com.

UK readers can do likewise at http://www.ukcamcorderreviews.co.uk. There are also video reviews of many camcorders on those sites, or from our Youtube Video Review Playlist goo.gl/rMMVh where you can subscribe to be notified as new best video camera models are added.