Pocket DV4 Camcorder - DV3300

(Not sure which digital camera to get? Check out our comparison guide.)

A dinky digital stills camera that can knock out the odd 30-second clip of video is all well and good, but if you're after high quality video you really need to bag yourself a camcorder. Until recently, in order to get a DV Cam, you'd have had to nip down your local electrical retailer and hand over the best part of a grand to the youngster behind the counter. Thanks to our tireless product research, though, all you need to do these days is go online, shell out £149.95, and before you can say Blair Witch Project you'll be the owner of a shiny digital camcorder, ready to shoot your budget masterpiece.

The Pocket DV4 boasts a 2-megapixel CMOS sensor, which with software tweaking will produce images of up to 3-megapixel resolution – the same quality as a bleeding edge dedicated stills camera. When it comes to shooting video, the DV4 offers VGA resolution (640x480 pixels) at 8-12 frames per second, or 340x240 resolution at 10/20 frames per second. While it's not exactly big screen standard, it's more than enough to shoot quality videos to post on the web or email to friends.

You can also upgrade the standard 16MB memory via the Secure Digital and MultiMedia Card memory slot to boost capacity. Secure Digital cards can be bought at Firebox separately, or you can take advantage of our SD card bundle offer and save yourself up to twenty quid.

With the video functionality sorted, it's clear there's been a lot of focus (ahem, excuse the pun) on the DV4's stills functionality. A built-in flash and 4x digital zoom are functions often missing from basic digital cameras and yet somehow they've been shoehorned into the DV4's jaw-dropping spec.

But wait, there's more! As if the above weren't enough, the Aiptek engineers got quite carried away and included voice recorder and MP3 player functionality. AND, with the addition of an SD Card, the DV4 can be used as a removeable Hard Drive. Pretty amazing, we think you'll agree.

Just because there's five gadget's worth of functionality crammed into the DV4 doesn't mean it's piled on the flab. Oh no. It's just as svelte as previous offerings, but gives you so much more tech per pound. Why carry five gadgets around with you when the DV4 can do everything so damn proficiently?

Links:

• The British Film Institute - a wealth of film & tv info
• www.dv.com - "Inspiring and Empowering Creativity"
• 2-pop.com - "The Digital Filmmaker's Resource Site"
• Internet Filmmakers FAQ
• More links...