WITH flash memory coming down in price and going up in capacity at the same time, it is fast replacing traditional media like hard disks, tape and DVD in video cameras.

There are advantages in using flash memory - faster data read/write, weight savings when drive mechanisms are eliminated, better battery life from lower power consumption and much easier transfer of video to PC for editing (just pop out the memory card and insert into PC's card slot).

Canon's latest range of five camcorders are all flash-based. Three models (HF10, FS11 and FS10) have dual flash memory (built-in and removable). HF10 and FS11 come with 16GB of built-in flash while FS has 8GB.

All this means longer recording time - up to 12 hours and 10 minutes of video for the HD HF10, if an additional 16GB of removable flash is inserted. And up to 20 hours, 50 minutes for the standard FS11.

Like Sony and Panasonic, Canon's HD camcorders are based on the AVCHD (advanced video codec for high definition) standard and the HF10 and HF100 can deliver full HD recording (1920x1080 pixels). The optics for the new cameras are also quite impressive.

The FS series feature 37x optical zoom and 45x advanced zoom. The HF series come with a 12x optical zoom HD video lens.

How much: HF 10 ($2,299), HF100 ($1,899), FS11 ($1,199), FS10 ($999), FS100 ($799)

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