Camcorder Advice Centre

Camcorders are undergoing a period of fairly dramatic change. Over the past eighteen months there have been a number of advances coupled with the introduction of new recording formats. There has also been a considerable drop in prices across the board.

It has become increasingly difficult to get your hands on an analogue camcorder. Almost all models are now digital. There are many advantages provided by the switch to digital with an improvement in image quality being the most tangible benefit.

If you are buying a camcorder one of the first decisions you face is deciding on which format you wish to use. Format is linked to the type of media video footage is stored upon.

It is hard to keep up with new camcorder formats! New ones are appearing on a regular basis. The biggest change over the last year has been the growth in camcorders offering High Definition recording. This fits in with High Definition televisions. To get the full benefit out of these models you will need an appropriate television. This type of camcorder offers the best overall recording quality.

High Definition camcorders have three formats all to themselves. The only real difference is the way they store video footage.

The formats are:

HDV
At the moment this is the most popular type of High Definition Camcorder. There are also more HDV camcorders available than any other type of High Definition camcorder. Videos are stored to tape. For those of you who own a standard MiniDV camcorder you will find the tapes are similar in style. Unfortunately although the tapes are similar standard MiniDV tapes are not compatible and you will need to buy tapes specially made for HDV camcorders.

AVCHD Hard Disk Drive
These camcorders are similar in the way they work to HDV camcorders. Where they differ is that all footage is stored internally on a hard disk. The hard disks are similar, but smaller to those found in a PC.

AVCHD DVD
These High Definition camcorders record directly to DVDs. The drawback is the recording time before the DVD is full can be limited.

Mini DV
By far and away the market leader are Mini DV (Digital Video) camcorders. Picture quality is high. Footage is recorded onto small cassettes. The cassettes are roughly the size of a box of matches. Mini DV has been around for a number of years now. You will find there is a wider choice of Mini DVs than any other format. In terms of features this is also the cheapest format by a long way. Expect to pay around £250 for a typical consumer model.

As a rule you can select from two methods when it comes to watching your videos on a television. The first is through the audio visual (AV) socket and the second is through the S-Video socket. S-Video provides better quality playback, but you normally have to buy a cable for this separately. Cables are available in different qualities and an entry level cable will cost you around £15.

Mini DV camcorders usually have a USB socket to connect to a computer. Downloading footage to a computer allows you to edit video you have shot.

DVD
DVD camcorders are rapidly gaining market share. Their greatest appeal is simplicity. You can record directly to a DVD. The DVD can then be put into your DVD player and you can watch the video you have taken in the same way you would watch a movie.

There are three downsides to DVD camcorders. Although they have dropped considerably in price over the last year they are still expensive when compared feature for feature against a Mini DV models. The second downside is the units are larger and bulkier than Mini DV machines. The third downside is there are not many to choose from at this point in time. It is predicted that DVD camcorders will become more widely available over the next 18 months and in time DVD is likely to become the dominant format as people go for ease of use.

Hard Disk Drive
Another format that has started to gain ground is HDD (Hard Disk Drive). Movies are stored in a similar way to information on your computer, on a built in hard disk. The biggest advantage of this format is that with the latest and most advanced models you can shoot up to seven hours of high quality footage before the drive becomes full. If you are looking to shoot at lower resolutions you can record over 30 hours of video before the disk is full.

Videos can be watched on television sets using the same connection techniques as the Mini DV (AV and S-Video output sockets). There are also USB connections for downloading footage to a computer.

In my view this format is only likely to appeal if you are computer literate. Seven hours of high quality footage is a lot in comparison with the capacity of a cassette tape, but once the hard disk is full you will need to download video to a computer to free up more storage space.

HDD camcorders have also fallen in price, but remain more expensive that a Mini DV machine with similar features.

Micro MV
These are the little brothers of Mini DV and use smaller cassettes to record footage on. This means that the whole unit can be made smaller. Sony are the only company that make Micro MVs. They have failed to really breakthrough. Although a very small camcorder may sound enticing some people find them too small, especially when trying to control the camcorder using the buttons that give you access to the features.

Many experts feel that the Micro MV will fade away and perhaps within 18 months they will no longer be available to buy.

Flash Memory
Like the Micro MV a Flash Memory camcorder gives you another option if you are looking for a truly small model. The biggest problem with this format is memory is so expensive and the capacity of the Flash Memory cards is small as well.

You may already be familiar with Flash Memory cards. This is the name given to memory cards used in still digital cameras.

Again you will also find Flash Memory models are a lot more expensive than a Mini DV camcorder with similar features.

Digital 8
Digital 8 machines have been around for a long time now. They tend to be larger than Mini DV models. Their biggest advantage is that you can use them to play back footage on compatible cassettes originally recorded with an analogue camcorder.

Although relatively cheap when compared with the newer formats Digital 8 appears to be in decline and you will not find a great deal of choice if you are after a model in this format. Mini DV also offers better picture quality.

General Camcorder Issues.
Good quality camcorders capture footage through a good quality lens. The quality of the lens should not be overlooked. Think about it as the eye of the camcorder. Carl Zeiss lenses are considered as top quality.

If you are looking for a camcorder and it offers a great sounding digital zoom lens, don't allow yourself to be seduced by this. Optical zoom is the best quality type of zoom. Digital zoom works by manipulating the images themselves and lead to a reduction in quality.

It is similar where a camcorder offers image stabilisation. This is a highly useful feature as it helps to lessen the detrimental effects of camera shake. Again look out for camcorders that offer optical image stabilisation.

LCD Screens.
Professional camcorder users will shoot footage by using the camcorder's viewfinder. For the rest of us the LCD screen is very useful indeed. These screens show exactly what you are shooting on what look like a mini television screen that is two to four centimetres in size.

Using Your Camcorder in Low Light.
Look out for camcorders that offer additional lighting. This will help you in poor lighting situations. Camcorders are rated as to how effective they are in low light. This rating is known as the Lux rating. The lower the Lux rating the better the camcorder is in imperfect light.

Programmed Exposure Settings.
If you buy a camcorder that supports automatic exposure settings, this means that the camcorder has been pre programmed to operate well for certain situations. For example a camcorder may have an exposure setting for sport. Then if you are shooting sports footage you would select the "sports mode" and the camcorder will automatically work out how to provide you with the best results.

Special Effects.
Special effects can offer not just the fun side of using a camcorder, but can also allow you to put your own personal stamp on your work. The special effects available vary from camcorder to camcorder, but include fade out at the end of a scene, fade in, fade to black, white or another colour choice; wipe the screen; close and open on the screen like a shutter and fade to a blurred mosaic. On top of this you may also be able to shoot in black and white, sepia, negative and solarised.

Taking Still Photos With a Camcorder
An increasing number of camcorders now offer the facility to take still digital photos. Images size is currently up to two megapixels, but you will also find many camcorders offering still photos of one megapixel and under. At these resolutions you are unlikely to be able to produce prints, but you will be able to download images to view on a computer screen and send by email.

Editing Video Footage
Just like with a still digital camera you can edit your videos once you have downloaded them to a computer. There are a variety of video editing programs around and you can find a decent one for around £60. Look out for some of these names: Pinnacle Studio, Ulead Video Studio, Microsoft Movie Maker (free), Roxio Creator, PureMotion Edit Studio and Canopus Let's Edit.

Leading Brands.
Canon, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Samsung and Sharp.



Camcorder Advice Centre