Whatever the reason for the current interest in all things high definition, it's ushered in a wave of affordable high-def camcorders for home users.

In an effort to grab some of this lucrative market, Sony pushed its impressive new HDR-HC7 into the spotlight only a few weeks before Canon's HV20 model; uncannily, not only do they look very similar, but their specification lists also have an extraordinary number of common features. That, at least, will make it easy to compare the two. Or will it?

Design and layout

These camcorders have so many similarities it's spooky. One plus point for both models is their chunkiness, which leads to improved stability when recording on and off a good tripod.

Both have a comprehensive set of accessible controls, divided between physical buttons and virtual buttons embedded into the graphical menu systems. HDV or DV tapes are top-loaded on both models, so you can change tapes with the unit still attached to a tripod.

In both cases, buttons and connectors are where they should be for efficient operation and the many connectors required for digital and analogue signal transfers are conveniently concealed behind plastic doors and flaps. Also welcome are the LCD frame-side controls on both models that, in the case of the Sony, are complemented by touch-screen control icons.

The HV20's functions are largely controlled by a mini joystick positioned at the rear of the main body and supplemented by simple tape transport controls mounted on the lower edge of the LCD frame. Both models have a small 0.7in colour viewfinder; the Sony's pulls out horizontally whereas the Canon's is fixed and, on first impressions, not that practical.

Features

Both models offer HDV or DV recording and playback modes and use FireWire to connect to either a Windows, Vista or Apple Mac computer for editing and exporting as full-HD 1920 x 1080 resolution.

You have the added benefit of analogue-to-digital signal conversion in each case (to DV only). When recording standard DV, traditional 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 modes are available. Both models have a full range of manual control options.