It seems like handheld digital camcorders, especially the latest solid-state models that record HD video, were pretty popular around the holidays. The Mino HD particularly caught our eye; we named it one of our 2008 gadgets of the year. With the holiday rush out of the way, Sanyo is now laying out its lineup of new Xacti cameras, building upon the line from last year. There are definitely a few worth looking closer at, including some 1080p models and some more waterproof units.

The Xacti E2, released last summer, was a waterproof model, but only capable of VGA-quality video. Sanyo's come a long way in that short time, as its latest waterproof offerings record in 720p HD video. The DMX-CA9 follows the E2's form factor and is waterproof up to five feet with a 5x zoom, while the DMX-WH1 looks more like a traditional camcorder, bumps the optical zoom up to 30x, and can withstand water up to ten feet.

The real powerhouse models are the HD2000 and FH1, both capable of 1080p recording and sporting 10x zooms. Like all the Xactis, these models record to SDHC cards, supporting up to 32 GB. Besides shooting in full HD, these cameras can do a super high-speed 600 frames per second mode, letting you effectively record in slow-motion.

Rounding out the upcoming models, the DMX-CG10 is a slimmed-down version of older Xacti units, now weighing in at just over a third of a pound. It's another 720p model, so it might be worth looking into if you don't really care about the waterproofing on the DMX-CA9.

All these Xacti models will be coming out in the next few months, with the first cameras available in February.

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