Camcorders are awesome! A camcorder is a combination of two separate pieces of equipment, a camera, and a tape recorder.

Two for one. Today virtually all video cameras are camcorder.

Ages ago, the camera and recorder were separate and connected with a 16-pin cable. To combine the two was a giant technological leap. At the National Association of Broadcasters convention in 1982, I played with one of the newest sensation on the market…the camcorder.

The damn thing weighed a ton. I told the guy hawking them that I liked the old way. Distribute weight on both shoulders. On the right, a twenty pound camera and on the left, a fifteen-pound recorder.

Not a fifty-five pound monster all on the right side of my poor feeble body. Fortunately, everything today is significantly smaller and the cheapie camcorder I use weighs about two-pounds. One tiny little marvel that holds an entire hour of tape and takes awesome, clear shots even when the light is low. I love it more than chocolate.

Camcorders range from $200 to $200,000. I spent about $450 in 2001 on a Panasonic PVDV-100. Buy what your budget allows. Even the cheapies get a good shot. Some of the new High Definition cams make me sweat. However, if most of your video is going to be seen on the internet, you probably don’t even want HD, no matter how cool it sounds. Video files are HUGE and the higher the resolution of your picture, the bigger your file. So (relatively) poor resolution video is actually what you need for the internet. The opposite is true for video that won’t be on the net.

What Features Do I Look for in a Camcorder?

The lens is going to be a major factor in how good a picture a camera gets. Look for a quality macro feature and be more interested in having a good wide angle than a really long telephoto. Wide-angle is more practical.

Experiment in the store with how quickly the auto focus of your lens works. It’s annoying to have a slow one.

Check the macro of your lens by putting your finger one-inch in front of the lens and seeing if it’s in focus. It should be. Macro enables you to get awesome close-ups.

TIP!

To get a good close-up, don’t zoom in from far away. Walk right up to your subject, zoom all the way out to the widest portion of your lens, and use your macro feature.

Why? Two reasons. Zooming in from far away will exacerbate the shakiness of your shot, plus it’s much harder to keep a telephoto shot in focus than a wide angle shot. With today’s cheapie automatic camcorders, placing an object very close to the lens with it zoomed all the way out will automatically switch the lens into the macro focusing feature. Macro close-ups make me drool!

Another way to check out the lens in the store before buying is to see how much of the room can you see if you pull (zoom) all the way out. Having a good wide angle is really more practical than having a long telephoto lens.

Why? Using the widest portion of your lens makes life easier. Wide angle shots have looser focusing demands. They also look brighter with less light. Keeping your lens zoomed out is the #1 tip in how to handhold a camera steady without using a tripod.

Don’t be impressed with a long digital zoom. Digital zoom is a totally worthless feature the sales folks like to hype. Digital zoom gives you nothing more than a blur of pixels. An optical zoom on the other hand means the glass elements of the lens are rearranging themselves to see in close. Optical zooms look nice, digital zooms look hideous.

More expensive cameras will allow you individual control over focusing and exposure. With most cameras for the consumer market, focus and exposure are automatic. Automatic has its pros, but also lots of drawbacks. It’s nice to be able to control those things if you want to and as camera increase in price you get those options.

If audio will be important to your productions, look for a camera with an additional audio input so you can plug in an extra microphone. Most viewers consider quality audio essential, which means you need to pick up sound better than what you can achieve simply relying on your on-camera microphone, although that has its uses.

Many moderately inexpensive cameras will have an additional audio input, but the very cheapest won’t.

As camcorders get more expensive, they’re likely to have more than one audio input. As price rises, the audio input connectors will go from a small stereo-like plug-in to a three pronged connector called an XLR.

Why would you need two audio inputs? Professional photographers often run at least two microphones in order to pick up different types of sound. For example, say you’re video taping a classroom. Put a wireless microphone on the teacher. Then have a long range shotgun microphone attached to pick up the brat, uh… student at the back of the room who unexpectedly blurts out something funny.

What Format of Video Camcorder Do I buy?

The many formats of video cameras can be confusing. Mini-DV, DVC, DV-Cam, DVC Pro, Beta, Disc, etc. It’s a pretty long list and always growing.

All formats have their pros and cons and what you buy depends on what you need to be compatible with. Mini DV is what I use right now.

TIP!

The new trend in cameras is recording onto a disc instead of a tape. If you're planning on doing lots of editing, it will save you GOBS of time! With all your video on a disc, transferring it to your computer is just like transferring any file and can be done in minutes. If you shoot on tape, the only way to get the footage to your computer is to play it in real time. So if you shoot an hour of tape, it takes an hour to transfer to your computer.

However, these disc recording cameras are still quite new so all the kinks haven’t been worked out yet. It’s a giant leap in technology to go from recording on a tape to having a laser cutting the images onto a disc. The latter requires a stable environment, which isn’t what you have with a camera bouncing around taking pictures. So until they get all the kinks worked out, be prepared for some hassles if you choose this feature but the rewards can be hours saved in transfer time.

Image Sensor Chips, the Heart of a Video Camcorder

One of the main components in determining the quality of a camera's picture is how many, and what kind, of image sensors it has. Today's technology is the CCD chip. Years ago, vacuum tubes were used as image sensors. The image sensor is the heart of your camera. CCD chip means: Charged Coupled Device. Groovy!

Cheaper cameras have one CCD chip. Three chips will give you better color and clarity. I’ve never known a camera to have more than three chips. They’re broken down into the color spectrum. One chip is for red, another for green, and another for blue. In addition to cameras either being a one-chip or a three-chip, the quality of the chips matter. Chips can get pricy but if you’ve got the budget, indulge in chips.

Camcorder Accessories:

If nothing else, the simple use of a tripod can catapult your project from a C- grade home movie to at least a B+ Quality-Pro. Seriously. Tripods can be a pain to lug around but there's nothing like steady video. Plus, if you're going to hold one shot for any length of time, a tripod will save your back!

Did you know that extremely shaky video can actually cause motion sickness in susceptible people? It's true! Compelling, quality videos and informative vignettes do not make customers feel like puking. (That excellent tip was thrown in for no extra charge! No thanks required.)

Camcorder Batteries

Today’s lithium-ion batteries are marvelous. I recommend buying two per camera. You never want to have to stop shooting because your battery runs dead.
I’ve heard arguments about whether to buy a camcorder with a separate battery charger or one where the camera can also charge the batteries. Go for separate. Here’s why. You can charge and shoot at the same time. Plus, if your charger dies, you spend a pittance to get a new charger, you don’t have to toss out the entire camera.

TIP! Label your batteries #1 and #2 to help keep organized.

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