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Camcorders Basics

If you haven't used a camcorder in a while, get ready for a very pleasant surprise! Advances in digital technology have taken the once cumbersome video camera and evolved it into a sleek and manageable necessity. Whether you're trying to capture your baby's first steps or record the ultimate vacation video, you'll need to know which camcorders will work best for you. Here are a few camcorder basics to help you decide.
Jump to: Analog Camcorders, Digital Camcorders, Features to Consider

Analog Camcorders

Analog camcorders are the traditional camcorders you grew up with. They collect visual data, interpret it as an electronic video signal and record it to tape as a magnetic pattern. Analog Camcorders are available in Hi8, 8mm, S-VHS, VHS and VHS-C formats. Overall, there isn't much need to recommend analog over digital camcorders anymore since prices on digital camcorders have dropped significantly in recent years.

Pros: Analog camcorders are less expensive than their digital counterparts.
Cons: Their image quality isn't as sharp as digital, and will deteriorate over time. If you want to preserve your VHS home movies you'll eventually need to convert them to a digital format for archiving. Analog copies lose fidelity, so every generation away from the original recording will look worse. Analog video is difficult to edit, whereas there are many easy-to-use software programs for editing digital video recordings.
Price: N/A

Digital Camcorders

DVD camcorders
DVD camcorders transfer their digital images directly to a DVD, producing excellent quality video. They're a great way to start creating your own home movie DVD collection. DVDs come in a number of formats (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM) so, if you want to watch your videos on your DVD player, be sure that your camcorder and DVD player support the same DVD disc formats.

Pros: Convenience. DVD camcorders record video directly onto DVDs. You can view your videos immediately on a computer or standard DVD player, eliminating the need to transfer your recording to another media format. This is great if you're filming child's play or sporting events - the footage can be viewed directly on your TV!
Cons: DVD video can be difficult to edit in many video editing programs.
Price: $199 to $1300

MiniDV camcorders
MiniDV camcorders are popular among consumers and semiprofessional video producers. Mini DV cassettes can hold either 60 or 90 minutes of video footage. The high image quality of digital video recorded on a Mini DV cassette is better than the quality of digital video formerly recorded on a Hi8 or 8mm cassette by a Digital 8 camcorder.

Pros: MiniDV is a great choice for any budget, since there are tons of affordable models.
Cons: Because of its compact design, the menu buttons are sometimes difficult to access.
Price: $250 to $4,500 for professional models

Flash Media/Internal Memory camcorders
Many camcorders on the market today have significant amounts of internal memory or operate on flash memory cards instead of miniDV cassettes. Using flash media camcorders allows you to use extremely compact models that give you quick and simple access to menu controls. The image quality and ease of editing may not be optimal, but this is a trade off home video enthusiasts and similar consumers can accept.

Pros: You'll have a variety of camcorders than in any other format since the manufacturers are constantly improving memory technology. This type of camcorder is a great choice for beginner and casual camcorder users.
Cons: The user is constrained by the camcorder's memory capacity level along with their small battery life.
Price: $99 to $1,300 for high memory capacity models

High Definition Video camcorders
HDV camcorders have become widely available to consumers and professionals through technological innovations made by Sony, Canon, and JVC. HD camcorders are designed to shoot in widescreen (16:9 ratio) formats with resolutions of 720p or 1080i. HDV provides crisp high definition for your perfect home, travel, or vacation video. HDV records in MPEG-2 format, which is the same compression rate for DVD movies and HD television. The HDV format can be edited with similar editing software that was previously used with miniDV standard definition footage.

Pros: Using HDV allows you to capture images with a higher compression rate than ever before, all with the features of a prosumer camcorder.
Cons: The MPEG-2 format also forces computer operating systems to work harder to edit frames on the fly in this native format. Thus, you may be forced to convert the raw footage to edit more efficiently and then transcode back to the HD format.
Price: $549 to $6000 for professional models with 1080i resolution

Features to Consider

Think about where you will be using your camcorder to decide which features are most important to you. If you will be mainly recording indoor events you'll need a camcorder that performs well in low light conditions. If you're primarily going to be outdoors recording fast motion activities such as your child's soccer game, you'll need a camcorder with image stabilization assistance to help keep your shots steady.

Here are a few of the basic features to consider:

Battery Life
Battery life is a crucial factor in getting the most use of your camcorder. Look for models that have an on-screen battery life display as these will let you know when your battery is becoming low and needs to be recharged. The average camcorder battery lasts about 1-2 hours so investing in a second battery pack is always a good idea.

Cables
Cables to connect your camcorder to your television are not always included. Audio/visual RCA (Radio Corporation of America) composite cables are the most common way to hook-up your camcorder to your TV. These are single pronged cables that carry both audio and video signals to your television using a composite signal. If you prefer higher quality playback, you can use the S-Video (Separate Video) connection with a single 4-pin S-Video cable. This will provide you with the highest quality picture available for home cinema today.

Digital Still Capture
Digital Still Capture allows you to use your digital camcorder as a point-and-shoot camera. Most camcorders with still capture capabilities store the still photos on a separate memory card rather than saving it with the video to the digital tape. This handy feature could eliminate the need to carry a separate camcorder and digital camera while you're on vacation.

Focus
Focus is the action of adjusting the camcorder's lens so that the images appear sharp and well defined. Most camcorders use an electronic system of menus rather than a traditional lens ring for setting and adjusting focus.

Manual focus
Manual focus is the ability to disable the camcorder's automatic focusing system allowing you to adjust the camcorder's lens incrementally by hand. Manual focus becomes important in low light, macro or special effect photography where the camcorder is unable to automatically lock on the video subject.

Automatic Focus
An auto focus feature adjusts the camcorder's lens, focusing on the subject directly in front of the camcorder without manual intervention.

Image stabilization
Keep your images steady without having to use a base or tri-pod to support the camcorder. Image stabilization is a digital process that attempts to shift the subject content horizontally or vertically by a few pixels to match the content of the previous frame. The downside of this feature is that sometimes it can cause the vertical resolution to suffer.

Low Light Performance
Poor low light performance is one of the most critical weaknesses of camcorders today. Many rooms are lit well enough for the human eye to see clearly but you'll often notice the video you've recorded in that same room may be dark or grainy. Therefore, you'll want a camcorder with a low "Lux" rating, .3 being the best 7 being the worst (1 Lux is equal to the amount of light produced by one candle). This rating will tell you how much light is needed for the camera to operate and capture video.

Night Vision
Night vision is the ability to capture and record video in complete darkness. The video recording is often very grainy and difficult to watch. Night vision is often used by the military for surveillance.

Screens
Camcorders have LCD screens that allow you to review the images that you have recorded. A large screen will make a difference when you're watching the video playback or performing in-camera editing. Swivel screens come in handy for situations where your subject is not directly in front of you - or for taking self portraits.

Video Resolution
Video resolution is measured by the lines of pixels displayed across the width and height of the screen. Higher resolution means that you'll get clear, crisp images. Camcorder beginners may be comfortable with a resolution in the 200 range while professionals require upwards of 500 lines of video resolution to achieve studio quality results.

Zoom
Zoom is the action of shifting the focal length of the camera's lens to make your subject appear larger in the frame. It can be accomplished either optically or digitally.

Optical Zoom
Also referred to as "true zoom" or "real zoom", optical zoom achieves its magnification by moving parts of the lens forward or backwards. This magnifies the image while retaining maximum quality.

Digital Zoom
Digital Zoom uses a magnification process called interpolation, which artificially enhances the image by adding pixels, often resulting in poor quality images.

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