THE Guide to Buying Camcorders  

How to get the right camcorder and the right accessories without any Buyers Remorse

Quick Guide to the Best Consumer Camcorders - Compare the different brands

by Mark Shapiro

 It’s that time of year again when Santa and his associates and representatives are busy scouring the gift catalogs, magazines and the Internet to figure out what would make their kids and family happy, as well as what might delight their personal funny bones. You might be brave enough to wander the aisles at your local Electronic's emporium or you might prefer to do your shopping online, searching and clicking on what you need and want.

 High on the list of most Santas and their helpers this year is video equipment. Maybe your family needs a new camcorder to document the families adventures, celebrations and parties, to capture little Horatio and Sybil as they open up their holiday season presents and gifts. Maybe you also need some accessories; or even a new computer to edit and post videos at YouTube or other online web hosting service.

 When you first open up a magazine like Camcorder & Computer Video or VideoMaker, it can be bewildering. There are so many different types of camcorders to select from – ranging from entry level gear under $300, up to deluxe three chip models for $3,000 or more that professional moviemakers would salivate for. It can be an awesome chore to choose among them. How much to pay? What features and controls do you really need? What accessories do I really need to have? Should I get a tape based camcorder or should we spring for one of those cool flash memory, hard drive or DVD camcorders. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 That is the purpose of this article - to try and make this gift-giving season a little easier on your mind, as well as on your brain.

  The good news is that there are now fewer makers of camcorder gear. Most of the smaller and less reliable manufacturers have gone out of business or have been folded into the giants. Nowadays your choice is mostly limited to the big seven – Hitachi, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Canon, JVC and Panasonic. All of these companies make good equipment and offer excellent warranties. If your camcorder works well for the first months that you have it, it will probably work great for another three years or so – assuming you don’t drop it off a cliff or dunk it in the ocean.

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Looking for a great price on a camcorder? GREAT DEALS - REBATES

DV versus Analog

  The first, and most complex decision is digital video versus analog. Even though manufacturing a digital video camcorder is actually a bit less expensive than making an analog VHS or 8mm camcorder, you might end up paying a small premium for DV. There are two main flavors of analog – VHS and 8mm. Both offer Super (high resolution versions) S-VHS and Hi8mm.

  In our humble opinion, the only reason to get an analog camcorder nowadays is to save a few bucks.  You can find close-out deals on analog gear for very attractive prices.  The quality of the recording is not as good as most digital video camcorders and it is a lot more complicated to make copies, do editing, and to input the video and audio into your computer.

  Digital videocassettes have greatly dropped in price. They may not be as inexpensive as the cheapest VHS cassettes but they are very affordable

Almost every DV camcorder on the market, regardless of its specific flavor, offers many of the same basic features and capabilities. In general, you can expect to find a 10x to 20x optical zoom, analog video out, and a fold out LCD panel to make it easy to compose your shots and watch them back. Most have DV in and out jacks – enabling you to easily transfer your DV footage from one DV camcorder to another, as well as to transfer your DV footage to your computer. Many also offer analog video in as well. This enables you to connect your old analog camcorder, or a VCR, to the camcorder, and then transfer your old footage to digital video.

  From brand to brand, the video image quality of DV camcorders is about the same – almost all DV camcorders provide between 400 to 500 lines of resolution, sharp, detailed images, and realistic looking color. They all use similar digital audio recording so you won’t find much difference there either.

  There are audio differences however. Some smaller DV camcorders mount the microphone on top of the camcorder point up. Perfect for capturing your voice and breath – not so good for capturing the sounds of what the camcorder is aimed at. 

The flavors of DV

  The biggest and hardest decision is to decide what flavor of Digital Video do you want? Most camcorders on the market are single chip DV camcorders that use a standard MiniDV tape cassette that runs for about 60 minutes.

  Another option to consider, especially if you have lots of old 8mm and Hi8mm tape cassettes that you would like to be able to play back, is what is known as Digital8. Originally a Sony only format, you can now find Hitachi Digital8 camcorders.

  Digital8 camcorders look and operate very similarly to regular Digital Video except they use a slightly different tape stock. In fact, you can use standard 8mm and Hi8mm tapes to record on. To my eye, the image quality is a hair below that of most digital video camcorders but it is not all that noticeable, especially for most home and family uses.

  If you have a bunch of old recorded 8mm or Hi8mm tapes, you can slide then into a Digital8 machine and they should be able to play. (I say “should” because your original 8mm camcorder “may” have had its video heads misaligned, making it difficult for ANY other camcorder (digital8 or 8mm) to be able to successfully play them back.

No more tape? DVD Camcorders and Hard Drive Camcorders

Tapeless digital video recording is a a new and rapidly emerging DV technology. Recently, there have been several introductions of camcorders that record a DV on built-in hard drives, solid state media like Flash memory, and even DVD RAM Disks. In addition to being very cool, have certain technical advantages, and are definitely the future, they might not be ready for primetime for family and home use.

  Right now – in 2006, I’d still recommend staying with standard DV. The format is time tested, it works and it is affordable. Tapes are cheap and easily found. However, DVD camcorders and hard drive camcorders are very good and need to be considered.

The big negative on the non-tape camcorders is that most of them record in some flavor of MPEG4 or MPEG2 and that format is not very condusive to doing accurate editing. Both of these formats save video as big chunks so its hard to get down to the frame level for tight editing. Yes, there are some software programs that will convert the MPEG to a AVI or Quicktime format but that is an additional added step that can add a little bit of fuzziness to your movies.

  See DV vs Digital8 vs DVD vs Hard Drive

What features do you really need?

  I am sort of a Luddite when it comes to features and capabilities. From my personal experience, and from talking to numerous camcorder owners and their families, most of them never use the cool bells & whistles that are available with their fancy camcorders. And if they did decide that they indeed wanted use them, they misplaced the instruction manual and have forgotten how to work it anyhow.

  So what features do you really need?  You need a good optical zoom. Most camcorders now offer zooms ranging from about 10 times magnification to about 25 times or more. Don’t get confused about electronic or digital magnification claims – they are meaningless. All this means is that your camcorder can electronically magnify the image. Yes it can make your image bigger and look closer, but at the same time, it greatly reduces the quality of the image and increases the noise. Optical zoom ratios is what you should be comparing.

  Another thing to check is how the battery gets charged. Avoid camcorders that don’t include a separate battery charger and instead require you to charge the battery while it is inside the camcorder. Aside from being dangerous to your camcorder’s health, this makes it very difficult to use your camcorder while charging up your back-up battery.

  Make sure the camcorder has a nice big color foldout LCD screen, a battery that lasts for a least an hour, electronic or optical image stabilization, and a manual focus capability. Manual focus is the just about the only manual control that most people will ever use. Look for a focus ring at the end of the lens or a dial that can be turned. If possible, avoid camcorders that require you to push one button to focus in and then another to focus out.

  Other manual overrides and controls that are nice to have is a backlight button for quickly and easily improving an image when a bright light behind it silhouettes it. Many camcorders also offer pre-set auto exposure modes for shooting in various environments like sand & snow, landscape, portraits, sunrise and sunset, as well as sports mode. If you remember how and when to use them, these pre-sets can be useful.

  These compromise 99% of all the features that most family and home camcorder users will ever need.

  The last thing and most important to check is how does the camcorder feel in your hand. Pick it up. Does it fit your hand – not too big or too small?  Does it seem awkward and are the controls and buttons logically placed? What fits my big guy hands might be totally unacceptable for smaller and dainty fingers. Or, even more likely, what is perfect for small nimble fingers, might be unworkable in my big mitts. Play with the camcorder a bit.

  And by the way, those displays in most electronics and departments stores are very misleading. They have the video running straight from the camera lens directly to the monitor, avoiding the recording electronics.  All camcorders look great when the signal comes straight out the lens. The difference is how good the video looks when it is being played back and after being recorded. If possible, when shopping, check out the quality and playback of recorded video.

Here is something interesting - there can be a bit of quality variance between camcorders of the same brand and model number. As soon as you can, take out your camcorder and test it by recording several scenes and then watching it back. Make sure it looks as good as you thought it would. If it looks funky or there are some dead pixels, return it right away for another one.

  You should be able to easily find a wide range of good digital video camcorders for under $600. If Santa looks really hard, he might even find something great for under $500 or even $400. If you look, you are sure to find some great loss leaders on top name camcorders.

  What accessories should be in the stockings?

  Even when Santa himself goes shopping, he finds himself under pressure to buy accessories. For most retail outlets, selling camcorder extras is where the lion’s share of profit is made. What do you really need? There is nothing you can’t live without. Almost every camcorder package comes with all needed video cables, battery, battery charger, lens cap, etc. You might want to buy an extra battery. If your camcorder is the type that charges the battery while it is inside the machine, you might want to buy a separate battery charger.

A tripod is always useful – the biggest difference between an amateur moviemaker and a pro is using a tripod. It is almost impossible to handhold your camcorder steady while taping a performance or concert, especially if you are using a zoom ratio of 10x or more.

  For just a few bucks, under $10, buy a UV filter that attaches to the front of your camcorder's lens..   This cheap piece of glass doesn’t do much – except protect your lens. If paint splatters, or if grit goes flying, it will damage the UV filter, not the front of your camcorder’s delicate lens.

  Get the cheapest bag or case you can get. Remember, for most of your camcorder’s life it is going to sit in your closet, waiting for use. Personally, I love using a diaper bag with lots of pockets and padding inside. Nobody steals a diaper bag!

  The final accessories are computer related.  What are you going to do with your video after it is recorded? If you plan on transferring it to a computer for editing, for posting on the Internet, or for burning to DVD, you will need extra gear. Many computers, especially those from Apple and Sony, already ship with DV connections. If your computer doesn’t have it, DV adapter boards and cards are inexpensive and very easy to install.  By the way, the terms iLink, Firewire and 1394 all refer to the same thing - they are all DV

  See DV Cards and Adapters for your laptop and desktop computer

 Should you get an extended warranty?

For many camcorder salespeople, selling warranties is the biggest profit generator of all. In my experience, using video and camcorders for over 25 years, I have never bought an extended warranty.

If you carefully read the standard warranty that comes with new camcorder, you will find it usually is quite comprehensive and covers most possible problems for a year or more. I have found that, unless you truly mistreat your camcorder, if it works fine for the first month or so, it will work fine for the next tow or three years. By that time, you’ll probably want a new and fancier camcorder anyhow.

If Santa is truly paranoid and concerned, make sure you get a warranty that begins its coverage after the initial manufacturer’s warranty ends. There is no reason to duplicate coverage. (By the way, many credit cards do offer warranties on purchases)

Where should Santa buy? In a store or online?

  First off we must confess that many of this publications sponsors and advertisers are online merchandisers. With that out of the way, how and where Santa buys his gear is really a personal matter.

  One of the biggest advantages of buying in a local retail establishment is that there is no need to wait. Santa can pick out the right camcorder and accessories, and walk out of the store with them. There's a lot to be said for immediate satisfaction. Also, if there is a problem, it can be handled locally. They might even wrap it for you so that the elves don’t have to do it. Another advantage of buying camcorder gear in a store is being able to try out and play with the camcorder before you buy it. How does it work, does it fit your hands, can you figure out where all the important buttons and controls are? How is the sound? Can you hear a buzz from the motors or zoom? In addition, if you are lucky, there might be an experienced video sales person who can give you guidance about what to buy.

  Online is a different story. The trade off is a better pricing for less personal service and slightly delayed delivery. Because of their discounted prices gear to mass merchandising, most online stores don’t have the time to get one on one with you, to help you decide what kind of camcorder will best suit your personal and family needs. 

  In order to stay competitive, most online camcorder and video merchants offer prices similar to what you can find elsewhere. Depending on where you located, you also may be able to avoid sales tax. Many online merchants offer special discounts on shipping.

  Also, it might take a while for the camcorder and accessories to get delivered to Santa's warehouse. Unless you opt for “special” (expensive) shipping, you might have to wait weeks or more for the merchandise to show up. Always ask….

 Here’s a plug for our advertisers – in the years prior to running Internet Video Magazine, I had purchased consumer and professional video gear from various different mail order and online merchandisers. In those years, I had grown to favor B&H PhotoVideo as the best. Their prices were usually very competitive to the other online/mail order stores, and their attitude was positive. Most importantly, I never had any problems. Whatever I ordered showed up on time and per my request. That is why they were chosen as this site’s prime retail partner.

 For more info about camcorders check out some of these articles and links.

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The Sony DCR-SR40 Digital Handycam offers a pro quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, Advanced HAD CCD imager and Progressive Shutter System that can capture extremely sharp digital still images.  This camcorder comes with a variety of features, including a USB 2.0 interface and Dolby Digital AC3 audio. The 30 gig hard drive enables you to download directly to your favorite video software, without bothering with tapes.  more