Print This Article

Add To Favorites

Email to Friends

Ezine Ready

Camcorder Research Considerations

If you are selecting a new camcorder, one of the first decisions to make is the type of recording medium that you will use to store your recordings. Picking a recording medium first will greatly reduce the total number of camcorders you need to consider, this will make later feature-based decisions easier. We'll review the different types of recording media out there as well the types of user/usage each media is best suited for.

== Tape Camcorders ==

While it's not the newest technology, tape results in the best quality recordings for camcorders. When using tape as a recording medium, the image is subjected to the least amount of compression so the video recording preserves the best possible image quality. In addition to providing sharpest images, tape-based camcorders are usually more cost effective than camcorders that record to other recording mediums.

On the negative side, tapes are limited as to how much can be recorded to somewhere in the area of 60 - 90 minutes. However the recording tapes are fairly cheap to get, so carrying backup tapes is typically not much of a problem. An additional consideration with tape-based camcorders is that to get your movie onto a DVD (which is the preferred format for distribution with others), you first need to upload from your camcorder to your computer. The uploading process happens in real time. So if you need to upload a 90-minute tape to your computer, it'll actually take 90 minutes. You also cannot accomplish any sort of editing (other than backing over the tape and recording anew); any editing that you are going to do needs to occur on your computer.

Tape-based camcorders are mostly intended for two types of users: the person on a budget, and people who want high quality recordings.

== Hard-Drive Camcorders ==

Hard-disk drive (HDD) camcorders tend to offer the longest possible recording times. Depending on the compression used, you can often get as much as 10 hours of recording time on an HDD camcorder. With camcorder using a hard disk, there is never anything new to buy. With some HDD camcorder models you can edit your recordings right on your camcorder. And when it is time to upload your recordings to your computer, the upload rate is substantially higher than when transferring movies from a tape-based camcorder.

The main problem with HDD camcorders is that the recordings are usually highly compressed and this results in poorer recording quality. HDDs themselves are also comparatively high on power consumption and can be more easily damaged from drops or environmental extremes (as can the camcorder itself). But if you break a tape-based camcorder, while the camera may be dead, you can still extract your recording. In the case of an HDD-based camcorder, if the camcorder is destroyed, you are unlikely to get your existing recordings off the camcorder.

HDD camcorders are very versatile and they are principally designed for the home user.

== DVD camcorders ==

Camcorders that record directly on a DVD as their storage media are a effective selection for folks who desire a format that is universally playable and for those without a computer. It doesn't get much easier than recording a movie on your camcorder and putting the result right into the DVD player at Grandma's house.

The primary downside to DVD camcorders is the length of recording and the recording quality. The amount of recording time obtainable is dependent on the type of compression employed, but at the best recording quality settings, you typically only get 20 - 30 minutes per DVD. If you lessen the quality of the compression you can achieve increased recording times, but then your image quality is decreased.

DVD camcorders are a good alternative for those without computers since there is no need to download 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 don't think is appropriate to the increased demands of video transfer and editing, this may also be a good option for you.

== Flash Camcorders ==

As advances continue to be made in the field of flash memory, flash-based camcorders are becoming more prevalent. Solid-state flash is small and is not power intensive, so camcorders that use it as a storage medium are usually smaller and lighter than other camcorder models. Flash based camcorders are also usually more durable and are able to take more abuse such as drops. As with other non-DVD models, flash-based camcorders require that their recordings downloaded to a computer so that the video can be recorded onto a DVD, but the transfer is usually very quick for most models.

As with other camcorders that do not store on tape, 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 length of the recording time.

If you are looking for the lightest and smallest camcorder on the market, a flash-based camcorder is probably the right way to go.

Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info

Buster is a dedicated gadget freak who loves camcorders, read his camcorder reviews at camcorder-rankings.com.