Best Camcorder

Focus on the Right Features when you Select your Camcorder

Considering the number of options available, camcorders will make the list of the top ten hard to choose gadgets along with mobile phones and laptops. The variety is astounding with so many features and options to choose from and new technology and options coming in every few months. With so many brands and models and aggressive advertising adding to this confusion an average person will have a hard time selecting the right one. Here we give you a list of features that you should consider or look for besides the price when you decide on the best camcorder to buy.

Sophistication level:

Camcorders are available from inexpensive pocket type camcorders to professional camcorders which cost several thousand dollars. The first thing to think about is the sophistication level of the camcorder that is required for your purposes.

Pocket camcorders are for casual impulsive personal use. However due to the basic optics and high level of compression the video quality is not much better than what you would get in a high end mobile phone. For shooting quick videos for YouTube or social networking sites this could be a useful option.

In these days of HD, SD camcorders may be looked down upon by some, but they produce good quality video and are available for bargain prices. These are good for personal use, but not recommended if you prefer state of the art technology.

Portable HD camcorders are the future and they give excellent video, good optics and sufficient features for most personal uses. For most people this will be the best camcorder category to go for.

HD professional and semi professional camcorders and 3D camcorders are available at higher prices but then they are not the most portable or easy to use for the average person, so it may not make sense unless you make videos to earn a living and need top notch quality and options. SLRs with good video capabilities are also available but could be overkill unless you need to take professional quality still photography.

Memory and storage:

Camcorders using tapes are obsolete and these days most camcorders come with either flash memory or hard drives as storage media. Camcorders using flash drives are preferable because they are lighter and the media is usually removable, so you can plug it into your computer’s card reader for video transfer. Camcorders using hard drives however have huge capacities which can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on how you use it. You will also need to hook it up to a computer to transfer the video. When you pick one that uses an SD card do pay attention to the type of SD cards that it supports.

Size and weight:

This is a big factor when it comes to actual use. Huge and heavy camcorders tend to be left in the house because nobody wants to carry them along. So take this into account when you decide on the size. The smaller ones have smaller displays and controls and usually smaller lenses so this is an area where some tradeoff has to be made between ease of operation, video quality and portability.

Microphone placement:

This is an important one. Try to get one with a front facing microphone rather than one which has it located on top. If you have to settle for one with microphone on top it is better to pick one which allows an external microphone to be connected.

Zoom:

Best camcorders have both optical and digital zoom. Digital zoom is achieved by stretching the image out and is not really useful. Pay attention to the optical zoom. An acceptable figure is 10X optical zoom. This should be available in most midsized models.

Night mode:

This is a good feature to have if you wish to shoot in very low light. The night mode uses infrared light which allows you to shoot in near total darkness. Good for outdoor areas with no light at night. To do good night photography an external video light is required. Built in video lights give very limited performance. So look for connectivity for external video light if you intend to do a lot of night video shooting which should be available in the better camcorders.

Screen size:

It may seem to be an advantage to have a big LED display, but bigger displays use more power and so the battery may run out faster. These days many models don’t have a conventional viewfinder so this could be of importance. If you are a fan of touch screen controls then a bigger display may be better as they will be easier to operate. Bigger displays mean bigger camcorder sizes as well.

Geo tagging of video files:

If you have old video clips and you can’t remember where it was shot then you could consider this feature. Some camcorders come with a geo tagging feature which uses GPS to find the shooting location. This is not really necessary if you give a proper file name to the video, but then those who frequently shoot videos may find this useful.

Recording format:

The video compression method that is used by a camcorder decides the playability of its files on certain devices like mobile phones, portable players and by certain software. Compression format also called codec defines the method of compression. The most popular codec is the MPEG-4. Another codec called AVCHD is now becoming popular. Pay attention to this if you intend to play the videos on portable devices.

Image stabilization and in camera editing:

Image stabilization is useful for good quality video when shooting without using a tripod. In camera editing features are useful for making small cuts or minor quick editing jobs. Most editing is intended to be performed on a computer, but the best camcorders do support in camera editing.

Connectivity:

Most camcorders come with USB2 and HDMI ports. Unless you are buying a low end model these are the minimum you should look for. An S-video connector or plain old style composite connectors are also desirable. Whatever you buy, make sure that it can hook up to your TV and computer. Some camcorders have the ability to play HD video on SD TVs. This is also a useful feature.

As you can see from the above discussion, there are a lot of factors to consider when buying a camcorder. The above is not the complete feature list but the most important factors that you should look at when you are looking for the best camcorder to buy.