Camcorder Buying Guide Washington DC

Camcorders have come a long way over the years. They used to be bulky boxes, carried on your shoulder, that were only brought out for special occasions. The relatively new technology was too expensive for most consumers. Now camcorders have become smaller and cheaper, making it easier for anyone to carry them around in their hand and record just about anything. Video quality and battery life have experienced vast improvements too.

But these improvements haven’t made it easier to choose the right camcorder. In fact, the types of camcorders have multiplied: MiniDV, HDV and DVD are just some of the available formats. How do you decide which format is the best one for your needs?

Like anything, choosing a camcorder depends on your intended application. The first thing to determine is your budget. How much are you willing to spend on the camcorder? Keep in mind that not only will you have to buy the camcorder, but you will also have to buy media for it. A case to keep it in and transport it in is nice too. You might also want to purchase different lenses and filters for it. These costs can all add up. Also consider how much recording you plan on doing. While tapes and blank DVDs can be cheap, the expense can add up very quickly if you do a lot of recording.

Most formats offer models that can record in high definition. This perhaps might be the most important consideration when purchasing a new camcorder. Everything is going digital, and most digital TVs now are capable of high definition. It makes sense to get a high definition camcorder if your budget allows.

Not all camcorders are created equal when it comes to editing and adding special effects to video on your computer. MiniDV videos are a little more difficult to transfer to a computer because the information is stored on a cassette. On the other hand, microdrive and hard drive camcorders are much easier to use with computers because they hook up to the computer directly with a cable. If you want to do a lot of video editing, make sure to plan how you will get your video onto your computer and then buy the right camcorder.

After you have decided whether or not to get a high definition camcorder, decide where you will be using it the most and under what kind of circumstances. For someone who likes extreme outdoor type activities, a hard drive camcorder might not be the best choice, as the hard drive will run the risk of failing if it is dropped or subjected to prolonged vibration. For this type of use, the microdrive camcorder or MiniDV will be the best bet.

DVD camcorders will be best suited for those who are looking for straight to DVD recording. This is handy for people that want simplicity and a no hassle way of sharing their home videos. One thing to keep in mind with DVD camcorders is the disc has to be finalized before it will play in a DVD player. It sounds simple, but you might be surprised at how many people return a DVD camcorder thinking it is defective because it won’t play in their DVD player.

There really is not a best camcorder format out there. The most important thing is to pick a camcorder that uses formats you know how to use. If you are familiar with tapes, stick with tapes. If you prefer DVDs, don’t stray from them. If you need to quickly upload video to a computer for editing, flash memory will still serve you well. The point is to minimize your downtime with the camera so you can spend more time recording the world around you.

DVD camcorders allow the user to record their videos directly to a DVD. These discs will play in virtually any DVD player, making it easier than ever before to get your videos on your television. This format is ideal for those that have no interest in editing the video that has been shot. While the video from the DVDs can be edited on a computer, it can be a more costly than using MiniDV, hard drive, or microdrive devices since most of the discs used will not be reusable and don’t record for as long.

Hard Drive camcorders eliminate the need to buy tapes. All the information is stored on the hard drive. Most hard drive camcorders can record at least 10 hours of video before needing to transfer the videos from the device to a computer or another type of digital storage.

HDV camcorders record high definition quality video. The medium onto which the video is recorded can vary from MiniDV tapes, to discs, and even flash memory. The recording format can also vary from one camera to another.

Microdrive camcorders are probably the fastest growing technology in the camcorder industry. These camcorders are tapeless, instead using flash media as the primary storage medium. This means there is virtually no possibility of skipping, as with hard drive camcorders. Most microdrive camcorders will record in Mpeg format, and will also allow the user to adjust picture quality settings.

MiniDV camcorders are the most popular format available now, and some of the most affordable. MiniDV camcorders use tapes that provide high quality digital video recording, in a compact and easy to use format. Most video editing programs available now will have no trouble working with the information captured by MiniDV. MiniDV tapes can also record high definition quality video. This is perfect for that new high definition TV that you just bought.

Take these considerations into account when deciding on your next camcorder; and remember - there may be new advances to make camcorders better.  Be sure to check back often for updates.

This site contains our camcorder reviews organized by type, including other expert reviews and user reviews.  Each product is ranked on an overall best value score and displayed in the easy to use side-by-side comparison chart.  At TopTenREVIEWS— We do the research so you don’t have to.

Click to read more from TopTenReviews.com