At $1,500 street, the Sony DCR-TRV80 MiniDV Handycam is the most expensive camera here. But our tests showed that you get what you pay for. The camera swept our quality trials, and features like a high-resolution touch-screen LCD and a manual focus ring make it eminently usable.

The DCR-TRV80 is a few ounces heavier than the other cameras here, but it feels more solid and better balanced. You drive the touch-screen LCD with a small stylus that stores inside the palm grip, though fingers work just fine. Sony has made great use of the touch screen, which lets you touch target areas or objects on the screen to control focus and exposure. You can fold the screen back into the camera and shut off the LCD panel to conserve power, a nice touch when working on a tripod.

As we mentioned, the camera's Bluetooth and network capabilities are not ready for prime time, unless all your gear is from Sony. In addition, though the camera's manual-control capabilities are generally competitive, you can't set white balance manually—a feature many experienced users will miss.

That said, the DCR-TRV80 delivered superior audiovisual quality. The Sony won (or tied) every comparison with every juror, usually winning by a wide margin. In the talking-head trials, the Sony produced a crisp, noise-free image with good skin tones and accurate representations of other colors. In low-light trials, the image darkened, but with none of the obvious gain noise that degraded the Canon video or the reddish hues apparent in the other two units.

Action scenes were even more impressive, with fast auto-focus, first-rate sharpness, and excellent color accuracy. The exposure was a touch bright but in general, quality was head and shoulders above the others.

The DCR-TRV80's CCD produces 1.9-megapixel still images (1,600-by-1,200), and it's the only unit here with a flash. In informal trials, the camera produced the best still-image quality.