By Lisa Neff

Contributing writer

The new wave of cinema is at hand—actually in the hand, with palm-sized video recorders providing anyone of about any age with the opportunity to produce, direct and star in a film.

CFP tested a variety of cameras recently and came away with two clear favorites—one video recorder and the other a camera with video capabilities.

Sony DVD Handycam camcorder is a hybrid video recorder that allows shooters to record to a memory card or directly to a DVD. For extended shooting, a 16GB media card can hold about 11 hours of video. Why consider a camera that records direct to DVD? It’s perfect for fast-track distribution—consider the videographer who, for example, wants to leave the bride and bride with an immediate record of the wedding.

Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FX500—new to the market this spring—is a digital camera that can shoot short high-definition video. A big plus with this tiny camera—besides the beautifully sharp Leica lens—is the 25mm wide-angle shooting capability. We also like the three-inch touch-screen LCD monitor on the back for fast and easy editing. www.panasonic.com

CFP also recommends Pure Digital’s pocketsize Flip Video Ultra Camcorder. This is perhaps the simplest recorder on the market for the YouTubists. Just press the power button, turn the camera on the subject and press play. For downloading the video, a USB plug is attached to the side of the camera and flips up for easy attaching to the computer. Directors can shoot up to 60 minutes with a 2GB recorder and up to 120 minutes with a 4GB. www.theflip.com

Load up: Looking for a small home studio? Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio Platinum edition—as well as the Vegas Movie Studio basic—is about as small a studio as one can buy. The box measures about one inch by 10 inches. Inside is a software disc, the software capable of producing high-quality movies, corporate videos, wedding DVDs or just home flicks. If you want to be the Obama boy, the Hillary gal or the McCain man, you’ll want to ship the film through the Vegas Movie Studio, which has drag-and-drop editing, 200-plus 2D and 3D transitions, 350 special effects and Chroma Key for “green screen” editing, which you’ll want to play with for hours. There’s even support in the program to export for Playstation. The one downside: No Mac version. ww.sonycreativesoftware.com

The Nero 8 Ultra Edition software doesn’t take the place of Movie Studio, but rather complements the system. The Nero software suite contains about 20 applications, including a program to rescue scratched DVDs, a one-click disc copy operation, an easy-upload program for posting video to the Internet and an application to create high-def video in Blu-ray format. www.nero.com

Back up: The Aegis Mini Ultra Portable hard drive from Apricorn is about the size of a deck of cards—and probably lighter. This gadget can serve as a film vault for shooters in the field, slipping easily into a cargo pant pocket. There’s a USB 2.0 and FireWire cable for hassle-free connections. No AC adapters are needed. A data protection suite allows the user to encrypt material. The hard drive connects to Mac and PC systems. And directors can chose from 60GB, 80GB, 100GB or 120GB storage capacities. Remember when you needed a storage closet for a hard drive of that capacity? www.apricorn.com

Listen up: V-Moda earphones are fashionable, comfortable-fitting phones designed to stay in place during lots of movement—recommended by V-M marketers especially for stepping and pumping at the gym. Offering professional-grade audio, they also work well for running a personal playback in the film editing or viewing process. www.V-moda.com

Read up: For a quick and easy guide to filmmaking, pick up “The Complete Idiot’s Guide: Digital Video” by Karl Bardosh, a vid pro who has worked in varied formats. His book from Alpha publications offers step-by-step direction, whether you are interested in the how-to on burning DVDs or whether you seek expert advice on storyboarding, lighting technique and special effects.

For aspiring documentarians, “Blood on the Lens” by filmmaker Jim Burroughs tells the documentarian’s adventurous story of two decades of war in Afghanistan, beginning in 1986 with Burroughs’ first of 18 trips to the country. For filmgoers whose knowledge of Afghanistan is little more than “Charlie Wilson’s War,” Burroughs’ book fills in all the gaps and arrives to the present. For filmmakers, the book chronicles the filming of an epic documentary, “Shadow of Afghanistan” and the perils of job. www.shadowofafghanistan.com