Suggestions when Selecting a Camcorder
If you are choosing a new camcorder, one of the first decisions to make is the type of storage medium that you will use to record your recordings. Choosing a recording medium first will greatly reduce the number of camcorders you need to consider, so decisions made afterwards will be quite a bit easier. Let's review the different types of recording media out there and provide recommendations based on expected usage.
== Tape Camcorders ==
Despite being the oldest form of recording medium for camcorders, tape results in the best grade recordings for camcorders. When recording to tape, the image is subjected to a minimal amount of compression so the video recording preserves the best possible image quality. In addition to providing best images, tape-based camcorders also tend to be more cost effective than camcorders that make use of other recording media.
On the negative side, tapes are constrained as to how much can be recorded to somewhere in the area of 60 - 90 minutes. But the recording tapes are relatively cheap to buy, so carrying backups is usually not an issue. Another issue with tape-based camcorders is that to move your movie onto a DVD (which is the preferred format for sharing with others), you first need to download from your camcorder to your computer. The uploading process takes place in real time. So if you are going to upload a 90-minute tape to your computer, it will actually take 90 minutes. With tape-based camcorders, you cannot accomplish any sort of editing (other than backing over the tape and recording over it again); any editing that you are going to perform needs to occur on your computer.
Tape-based camcorders are mostly intended for two types of users: people who want high quality recordings, and people on a budget.
== Hard-Drive Camcorders ==
Hard-disk drive (HDD) camcorders tend to offer the longest possible recording times. With typical amounts of compression, you can usually get up to 10 hours of recording time on a camcorder that uses a hard drive as its recording medium. With an HDD camcorder, you never need to purchase additional tapes. With many HDD camcorder models you can edit your recordings right on the camcorder itself. And when it comes time to download your movies to your computer, the download rate is substantially higher than when transferring recordings from a tape-based camcorder.
The main problem with HDD camcorders is that the recorded images are most often very compressed and this results in poorer image quality. HDDs themselves are also comparatively high on power consumption and can be more easily ruined by environmental extremes or drops (as can your camcorder itself). But if you break your tape-based camcorder, while the camera may be dead, you still have the tape. But with an HDD-based camcorder, if it gets ruined, you will probably not be able to get your existing recordings off the camcorder.
HDD camcorders are very versatile and they are chiefly meant for the home user.
== DVD camcorders ==
Camcorders that record directly to a DVD as their storage media are a good alternative for folks who want a recording format that is widely playable and for those without a computer. It doesn't get much easier than filming a movie on your camcorder and placing the result directly into the DVD player.
The main problem with DVD camcorders is the recording quality and length of recording. The length of recording obtainable depends on the compression used, but at the best quality settings, you typically only get 20 - 30 minutes per DVD. If you lessen the quality of the compression you can get longer recording times, but then your recording quality is decreased.
DVD camcorders are a good alternative for folks who have no computer since there is no need to upload the video from of the camera; it comes off directly on the DVD. If you have a computer, and it's an older model that you do not think can handle the increased demands of video transfer and editing, this may also be a good option for you.
== Flash Camcorders ==
As improvements continue to be made in the field of flash memory, flash-based camcorders are becoming more prevalent. Solid-state flash takes up very little space and is not power intensive, so camcorders that use it as a recording media are usually smaller and lighter than other camcorder models. Flash based camcorders also tend to be more indestructible and are able to take more abuse such as drops. Like many other models, flash-based camcorders require that their recordings uploaded to a computer before the recording can be put onto a DVD, but the transfer is usually quite quick for most models.
As with other non-tape based camcorders, there may be trade-offs around recording quality and compression. Also, based on the amount of the flash memory available, there may issues around the amount of the recording time.
If you are seeking the lightest and smallest camcorder available, a flash-based camcorder is probably the right way to go.
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