Camcorders are awesome!

A camcorder is a combination of two separate pieces of equipment, a camera, and a tape/disc/hard drive recorder.

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

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.  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 $100 to $200,000. I spent about $450 on a Panasonic PVDV-100.  As you can tell by the picture, it’s small enough to get into any spot and the LCD viewfinder pivots 180 degrees so you can see what shot you are getting even if you can not physically get your eyeball behind the camera.

Buy what your budget allows. Even the inexpensive camcorders get a fairly good shot. Some of the new High Definition cams make me drool.

What Features Do I Look for in a Camcorder?

The lens is going to be a major factor in how good a picture a video camera gets. Be more interested in having a good wide angle lens than a really long telephoto. Wide-angle is way more practical.

Look for a quality macro feature too.  Macro is a lens characteristic that allows you to get within an inch of something and still get it in focus.  With a macro lens, you can take great close-ups.  Use your macro feature when the lens is zoomed all the way OUT.

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.

Most camcorder will have auto-focus lenses.  You want it to be fast.  Experiment in the store with how quickly the auto focus of your lens works. It’s annoying to have a slow one.

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 it is a wide angle shot. With today’s inexpensive 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 are awesome!

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 zoom all the way out. Having a good wide angle is really more practical than having a long telephoto lens, especially if you are taping indoors a lot.

Using the widest portion of your lens makes life easier.

• Wide angle shots have looser focusing demands.
• Wide angle shots look less shaky.
• Wide angle shots look brighter with less light.

Keeping your lens zoomed all the way out is the #1 tip in how to handhold a camera steady without using a tripod.

DIGITAL ZOOM VS. OPTICAL ZOOM

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 in order to see in close. Optical zooms look nice, digital zooms look hideous.

More expensive cameras will allow you manual 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. The more comfortable and experienced you are with a video camera the more you will want to have manual control.  Video cameras increase in price as you get more manual control options.

AUDIO FOR VIDEO

If audio will be important to your productions, (and it almost always is) look for a camera with an additional audio input so you can plug in an extra microphone. Most viewers consider quality audio essential, in fact they are usually pickier about audio quality than video quality.  That means if you have someone speaking on camera, you need to pick up sound better than what you can achieve simply relying on your on-camera microphone.  Your on-board mic is best used for general ambient sounds, not someone speaking.  If using the on-board mic is your only option, you can make it work by turning off ALL room noise, speaking loudly and standing no more than five feet from the camera.

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 1/8 inch stereo 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 lavalier microphone on the teacher. Then have a long-range shotgun microphone attached to pick up the brat, excuse me, 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, HD, SD, 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.  It slips right into editing programs and I edit almost everything I tape.  Some of the newer cameras that record onto a disc will NOT be compatible with video editing software.  Instead, they are compatible with DVD players, which is MPEG2 format.

The new trend in cameras is recording onto a hard drive instead of a tape. If you’re planning on doing lots of editing, it will save you GOBS of time! (Assuming it is a compatible format)   With all your video on a hard drive, 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.

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. High quality video cameras have three chips.  Three chips will give you better color and clarity. Chips are broken down into the color spectrum. One chip is for red, another for green, and another for blue. (RGB) In addition to cameras either being one-chip or three-chip, the quality and size of the chips matters too. 1/3 inch is considered big and 1/8 inch small.  Chips can get pricey but if you’ve got the budget, indulge in three large chips.

Camcorder Accessories:

If nothing else, the simple use of a tripod can catapult your video project from a C- to at least a B+. 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 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. They last a long time, charge up quickly and do not develop a memory.  I recommend buying two batteries 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 acts as the charger. Go for separate. Here’s why. With separate components, you can charge and shoot at the same time.  What a drag to have to stop taping because your camera suddenly has to become a battery charger.  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 with a permanent marker to help keep organized.

There are so many video cameras available that people get confused.  That’s very understandable.  Just remember that modern video cameras ALL get good looking shots.  Some better than others of course, but none of them take lousy video.  Your most important consideration beyond budget is compatibility.  If you want to edit your video, make sure and buy one that shoots in an edit-ready format.

Thanks for reading Video Production Tips

Lorraine Grula

Internet Video Gal

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