How to Buy a Good Video Camcorder

You can now purchase a video camera that shoots amazing HD. Cameras vary in price depending on what you want to do with it. You can choose a pocket, standard def, HD or prosumer HD camcorder. Options to pay close attention to include file format, screen, lens, and image stabilization.

Video camcorders have come a long way in just a few years. These days, you can purchase a high-definition video camera that allows you to film clips with amazing color. You can then save your movie to flash memory or a hard disk drive, and put it on the Internet in minutes. In this article, you will learn some of the basics to ensure your camera purchase is a good one!

Flash Memory

For many years, consumers have had several choices in how to store their movies: tape, miniDVDs, and hard drives, among others. These days, the best way to store is definitely flash memory. New video camcorders now often have large flash memory hard drives on board. Also, many cameras have the ability to plug in an SDHC or SDXC memory card. This is a great feature – you can easily store 1 gigabyte or more of video on one of these cards. They are quite inexpensive and very convenient.
Generally speaking, the best camcorder option is one that uses SDHC or SDXC memory cards.

Which Type of Camcorder?

How much you spend on one of these devices depends on what you want to do with it. Some of what is available include the following:
• Pocket camcorder ($100-200): Cheap and convenient. They offer limited video and audio quality, and poor controls and low memory. But, they are very easy to just pull out of your purse or pocket, hence the attraction.
• Standard definition camcorder ($200-300): These cameras are slowly being phased out, but they are still a decent option if you want to save money. They cost about ½ the price of HD devices.
• HD camcorder ($300-1200): If you need something that is small, fairly reasonable in price, easy to use and shoots in HD, this is what you want. They are bigger than pocket cameras, but not by a great deal. These usually have bigger memory, better lenses and video sensors, and bigger LCD panels, even with touch screen.
• HD prosumer camcorder ($1,000-3,500): This is what you might select if you have used a regular HD camera for awhile. Maybe if you have some paid video work, this is a camera to consider. You get better quality sensors and lenses, many manual controls and modes of shooting. And, very importantly, you often get 24p (24-frames-per-second progressive) film shooting. This gives you video that is very much like real motion picture filming. These also have much better quality audio and various options.

Key Features to Look For

File format. Your video camera will probably save its video to flash drive with the AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) format. This format is generally better than the regular MPEG-4. It gives the video most of its clarity and sharpness after it has been compressed and decompressed. But, you need a good computer to handle this format. Bet on a PC with a minimum 2GB processor with at least 4 gigs of RAM for smooth editing.

Screen. The LCD screen allows you to better see what you are filming and allows you to easily play back previews. The bigger and higher res your screen, the better. But a big and bright screen can kill your battery fast.

Lens. Your camcorder will have a zoom lens. You should look for a 10X optical zoom. Digital zoom can give you a grainy, poor image, so you should not rely on that.

Image stabilization. Optical stabilization is usually better than electronic. More expensive cameras tend to have optical stabilization, but more inexpensive models are featuring it now, too.