No-one who sees Sony's DCR-IP7E can fail to be impressed by the technical achievement of squeezing a camera with so many features into such a tiny (47 x 80MM) form factor. As always, Sony's attention to aesthetics only serves to add to its appeal and with the added advantage of being able to connect both analog and digital devices, enabling just about any type of video camera to be used, it is the smallest recorder on the market and ideal for body worn and covert use.

In order to reduce the overall size of the camera, Sony has developed a new tape format, MicroMV that's sixty per cent smaller than a standard MiniDV cassette -- which isn't exactly bulky in the first place. By using MPEG2 compression, these tiny tapes can store up to sixty minutes of footage, with a variable bit rate helping to avoid image noise and artifacts. It's been said that the video quality produced by the IP7E is equivalent to MiniDV, and we'd have to agree.

With a clever rearrangement of the hinge, Sony has managed to fit a 2.5in. LCD to this product, and a reflective back plate lets you use it in bright sunlight with the backlight turned off. Pivoting through 270 degrees, it fits face outwards from the chassis, making it simple to navigate the menu system with the adjacent cursor control.

For a camera that's so tightly packed, we were surprised at how little motor noise appeared on recordings.

As is usual for Sony cameras, the IP7E is fitted with a Carl Zeiss lens, in this case a 4.2mm, F/1.8 T* lens with 10X optical zoom -- a 120X digital converter is also included. The IP7E's digital image stabilizer helps remove the rough edges from your handheld filming.

On top of all this, Sony has managed to find space for a Memory Stick slot (an 8MB unit is supplied). This gives you somewhere to store your 640 by 480 resolution digital stills and short MPEG1 movie clips. The usual slew of video and digital effects are thrown in for good measure, along with a 60-minute Info Lithium battery.

Another advantage is that both analog and digital devices can be connected, something nearly all other recorders lack.