If format proliferation is the sign of growing pains in a market, camcorders are in adolescent hell. Prices are dropping, making HD camcorders an attractive buy relative to their SD competitors, but inexpensive doesn't necessarily mean easy. Our most recent tally indicates there are no fewer than four possible media types to use, each of which can support multiple encoding formats; the encoding formats, in turn, support various combinations of standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) video formats.Toss in HD's three different available resolutions, and you have an ugly mess to sort through while you shop. And we haven't even begun to see the inevitable models based on HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs.

Granted, some of the options currently apply only to the professional shooter. But with ever-improving displays and playback devices, expectations have risen as well, making today's pro technologies tomorrow's vacation must-haves.