Digital camcorders are now a mature market, with around half of today's models filming in high definition, recording onto hardware that comes straight from the world of computers, like memory cards or hard drives. Users have benefited from both better quality and wider compatibility.

A lot of you have been wondering whether HD video from a digital camera can really rival the quality of a dedicated camcorder. To find out, we put Panasonic's DMC-GH1 up against Sony's HDR-XR500 ...