There’s portable and then there’s really, really portable. Three major manufacturers seem to be on a competitive mission to shed pounds (make that ounces) from their latest generation of HD field gear.

Panasonic now claims the world lightweight championship with the HDC-SD7 and HDC-SD5, two new 3-CCD 1920 x 1080 HD camcorders. The SD7, the smallest of the pair, weighing .96 pounds, is a vertical configuration targeted for Japanese release only. The SD5, the smallest to be released in the U.S., is packed into a 2.6 x 2.6 x 5.3-inch, 0.75-pound case. Both AVCHD models offer 1,920 x 1,080 30-fps recording on SD or SDHC cards, a revamped image-stabilization system, and a Leica Dicomar 10x optical zoom lens.

On the plus side, the cost of AVCHD is falling, with the HDC-SD5 due in September at $999.95. Editing options are finally becoming available, though the format's tight compression demands a lot of computing power. The new camcorder ships with HD Writer 2, an upgraded software package that includes AVCHD playback drivers, MPEG-2 conversion, and the ability to export frame grabs.

On the down side, for these models Panasonic moved to smaller 1/6-inch CCD sensors and omitted a separate microphone input, headphone output, and accessory shoe.

Canon, not to be left out, has introduced the HG10, a tiny but slightly heavier AVCHD model that records to an internal 40 GB hard drive. Priced at $1299 and weighing 1.1 pounds, the Canon model adds some important pro-friendly features like mic input, manual audio level control, and headphone monitor jack. It's set for a U.S. release in October.

On the HDV front, Sony announced the GV-HD700E, the company's first HD “Walkman” portable. Due this fall in Europe (no word yet on U.S. availability), it supports HDV 1080i and both standard and long-play miniDV cassette record and playback. The device can be used for field viewing or as an external recorder for archiving and doing backups of field masters.

Features include a seven-inch 16:9 LCD display (800 x 480 resolution) and three buttons that handle 14 functions including scan, search, index mark, and playback zoom.

There are six user-assignable LCD setup profiles and settings for brightness, color level, contrast, sharpness, and phase. Inputs include i.Link for HDV and DV, S-Video and composite video. Outputs include HDMI, i.LINK, component and S-Video/Audio through a multi-connector.

The unit runs on InfoLITHIUM L and M batteries or DC in. There's also a memory stick slot, headphone jack, and stereo speaker. No price is yet available.

(For information on Panasonic consumer HD camcorders visit www.panasonic.com. For Canon, visit www.usa.canon.com/consumer. For more on the Sony GV-HD700E, visit www.sony-europe.com.)