| 10 Things you should know before buying a Camcorder |
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| Written by Administrator | ||
| Friday, 02 December 2005 | ||
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1. What Do You Want to Do With It?
It is also important to factor in your past experience with photography, videography, and imaging. Did you take photography classes in school? Have you shot with 35mm film cameras? Do you understand the basic concepts of imaging? Or, on the other hand, you might be looking for something easy to use that you can just "point and shoot" with. Thinking about all these factors can help in making that tough decision of which camcorder to spend your money on. Look through this list of uses and see where you fall:
Low Light Performance Vacations and Outdoors Compact and Lightweight Sports Fast Shutter Speed Plays, Recitals, and Ceremonies Tripod Family Events Low Light Performance Experienced Photographer Manual Control Easy Point-and-Shoot Usage Ease of Use Business Ruggedness Independent Filmmaking Manual Control Still Photos Still Resolution 2. Which Format you are going to cry with Currently, there are three major types of camcorder media: tape, DVD, and flash. These days, most camcorders record to MiniDV digital videotape. A second digital tape format, Digital8, was invented by Sony.
VHS-C / Tape Hi8 Digital There are three types of DVD formats that camcorders use: DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM. These formats are somewhat similar to burnable CDs. DVD-R media cannot be erased once recorded. One of the benefits of a DVD camcorder is that it allows you to do in-camera editing. You can delete scenes, move them around, and even trim them in some models. This is possible only with DVD-RW and DVD-RAM disks. The downside to these two formats is that not all home DVD players can play DVD-RW or DVD-RAM disks. On the other side, most home DVD players (except some of the earliest) can play DVD-R disks. SD It is important to note that digital stills are not recorded to tape, but to Flash media, just as with digital still cameras. Different types of flash media are used by different manufacturers, including SD, Compact Flash, and Sony's Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo. A very small number of camcorders include no tape or DVD mechanism and can record video only to a flash media card. These flash media camcorders are just starting out and haven't really caught on. 3. What is CCD and How it's important
The other key distinction is the difference between one and three CCDs. Professional camcorders always have three CCDs, one for each primary color. Until 2002, consumer camcorders typically only had one. The colors on professional three-CCD camcorders are much brighter, vivid, lifelike, and accurate than the colors of one-CCD camcorders. A three-CCD camcorder almost always beats out a one-CCD camcorder, and the difference in quality both in normal and low-light shooting is noticeable. The best part is that three-CCD camcorders are beginning to make their way into the consumer market. Whereas three-CCD technology previously could not be found for under 1,00,000, there are now three-CCD camcorders available for Rs. 25,000 (Ex: Panasonic GS75), and prices are dropping every day. Another thing to consider is the number of pixels on the CCD. The more pixels the CCD has, the sharper the image; however, this is slightly deceptive. A standard video frame has only around 340,000 pixels in it. Increased pixels have very little effect on the sharpness of the image once they exceed 340,000. Of course, video could never be that simple, and you will typically see sharper images even between 1 Megapixel and 2 Megapixel CCDs. However, this effect is subject to diminishing returns. It should also be noted that there are two measurements for CCD pixels: gross, which is the total number of pixels on the CCD, and effective, which is the number actually used on the CCD. The effective pixel count is what matters. 3. Video Quality & LowLight Performance
We believe that color and video performance are the most important factors for any camcorder, and represent the most obvious distinctions between brands and, indeed, among models within a given brand. One camcorder can make the videos of your hike look vibrant and lifelike, while another would make them dull and dreary. Some camcorders portray colors as you would see them with your eye, while others make everything look a certain hue. As such, video and color performance should not be trivialized when picking between camcorders. It is important to make clear that video and color performance vary greatly among brands and models, largely falling along logical lines. A more expensive camcorder with better specifications will usually outperform a less expensive one with inferior specs. Sometimes, camcorders do perform surprisingly either above or below expectations, perhaps crossing brand lines or model lines. These subtleties are ironed out in our comprehensive reviewing and testing process. Most camcorders produce bad looking video under low light. This video is characterized by a blurry sand-like texture, called grain or noise, cast over the darker areas of the image. The reason we emphasize low light performance is that, technically, most circumstances where you are likely to use your camcorder are low light situations. Unless you're shooting outdoors on a sunny day, you're shooting in a low light situation, and your camcorder will not be performing at optimum quality. This might seem a little extreme, but the truth is that most rooms that are lit perfectly well for the human eye will cause a noticeable amount of grain in the average camcorder. When you shoot in really dark areas - like a candlelit room, a bar, or a dimly-lit restaurant - your video may end up unwatchable unless you've used a camcorder with good low-light performance. Low light performance is the greatest weakness of camcorders, and also a place where there is the most differentiation between good models and the bad. Nowadays some camcorders can record in very low light, either with the help of an included infrared light (which you can't see, but the camcorder can) or through a special long shutter mode that makes the most of the existing light; some more expensive models offer both. These can be useful in poorly illuminated settings, such as when you're capturing a camping trip or the creatures entering your yard after nightfall. Low-light footage may be grainy, however, and camcorders that use an infrared light capture only black-and-white video. 5. Know about Lens and Zoom
6. Controls and Ease of Use
Another element that indicates a camcorder's ease of use is its array of program (or auto exposure) modes. These are preprogrammed picture settings based on specific shooting conditions. You'll often find presets for sports, candlelight, spotlight, beach, or snow. These settings are useful if the camcorder's basic automatic functions aren't producing the quality you want and you're uncertain of how to adjust each setting element manually. In addition to automatic exposure modes, some manufacturers include options like touch-screen automatic control. While some users want an easy camcorder that they can just pick up and use, others, often those who have experience with 35 mm photography, will want to be able to adjust their camcorder's focus, exposure (aperture), shutter speed, and gain on their own. The most important of these manual controls is focus, which even the most basic point-and-shoot users will want to adjust manually. One manifestation of manual control that is often overlooked is button placement. While a camcorder might have tons of manual control available, including a regiment of buttons for every feature, that's no help if those buttons are placed beneath the display, or those features are buried within the camcorder's Byzantine menu system. The father trying to adjust the shutter speed quickly to capture his son's game-ending field goal runs the risk of missing part or all of this spectacular event. Likewise, a mother reaching ever-so-silently beneath the LCD screen to raise the camcorder's exposure to compensate for the low lighting of the final act of her daughter's last chance to play Lady Macbeth before college might accidentally nudge the camcorder, causing unsightly jitter during playback. However, bad button placement might not be a problem if you're shopping for convenience. Many camcorders sacrifice a wealth of manual control options for point-and-shoot quickness. Camcorders geared towards this market often include a fast, stripped-down mode, usually called an "easy" or "quick" mode. We put a lot of weight on manual control because we believe that using it can significantly improve the quality of your videos. We often find, however, that camcorders that excel in ease of use lack in the area of manual control. What we look for are good point-and-shoot camcorders that are easy to use but offer access to manual control. This will allow a novice to grow with the camcorder, relying less on the inferior automatic control as time goes on. 7. Ability to take still images A recent trend among camcorder manufacturers is to incorporate the ability to take still pictures into the models. You're likely to see this marketed as a major feature on most camcorders, with nearly every camcorder box brightly displaying the number of megapixels available with this model. However, this is deceiving. The inherent differences between the way a camcorder works and the way a digital still camera works make it virtually impossible for a camcorder to match the quality of a dedicated digital still camera, even if they do have the same megapixel count. Furthermore, that megapixel count has very little effect on the video quality of your camcorder; it is the size of the imaging device, not the number of pixels it has, which has the greatest effect on video quality. Lastly, you get very little bang for your buck with regard to megapixel resolution in a camcorder. While a Rs. 25,000 camcorder typically includes 1.5-2 megapixel stills, a Rs.10,000 digital still camera will create 6 or 8 Megapixel stills. When you go below Rs.25,000, most of the models produce stills comparable to those of Rs.2000-Rs.5000 digital still cameras, but with quality that's much worse. The camcorders that offer truly good-looking stills cost upwards of Rs.30,000! The bottom line is that you'll save yourself money and get much better quality by ignoring the still features of your camcorder and buying a separate digital still camera. 8. Batteries & Operating Time Most camcorders won't last more than an hour with the included batteries. So factor in the cost of a higher-capacity battery that can keep the camcorder going, if you think you'll need it. A higher-capacity battery that can double the battery life typically costs Rs.2000 to Rs.5000. 9. Shutter Speed, Exposure, Gain & Image stabilization
Exposure refers to the exposure of the imager to light. While shutter speed governs the interval of exposure, the iris -- more specifically, the aperture -- controls the amount of light let in at any given interval. The wider the iris, the bigger the aperture, the smaller the F-stop (the measurement of exposure), and the more light that is let into the lens, resulting in a brighter picture. Gain refers to the amplitude or strength of the video signal. On some consumer camcorders, one can boost this signal, increasing the amplitude, or gain. This allows for better low light performance, as the image becomes generally brighter, but it's often at the expense of clarity, as noise increases as well. Gain is measured in decibels. (0 dB, 6 dB, 18 dB, etc.) Image stabilization is an important factor in performance, especially if you're not using a tripod. Image stabilization removes some of the shakiness that occurs when you are handing a camcorder. There are two types of image stabilization: optical and electronic. Electronic image stabilization uses the camcorder's internal computer to electronically shift the image in the opposite direction that minor shakes move it. It does this by slightly zooming in on the image, which gives the camcorder a little "wiggle" room. Optical image stabilization follows the same concept, but the camcorder actually moves parts of the lens to compensate for the shake. The downside to electronic image stabilization is that it sometimes degrades picture quality. Optical image stabilization is better than Electronic stabilization, just as optical zoom is better than digital zoom. Unfortunately, most consumer camcorders have electronic image stabilization. 10. LCD & Audio In some ways, the audio you record with your camcorder is just as vital as the video. However, this isn't likely to be a make-or-break area in your camcorder buying decision. Most camcorders are generally equal in the audio that their attached microphones record - equally bad, that. There are often problems with tape motor noise, problems from noise from your hands operating the camcorder... and sometimes the camcorder will simply record the wrong thing. When looking at the audio component of your camcorder purchase, look for options. We recommend using an external microphone instead of the one that is included with the camcorder, so you must look for a microphone-in jack. It is also good to have a headphone-out jack so you can monitor your audio and correct for any problems while recording. In addition, some higher-end and some middle-tier consumer camcorders include manual audio control, which allows the user to adjust the audio level of the microphone's channels; this is important when recording something like a concert, or anything very loud or soft. References: EasyCamcorder, CamcorderInfo, atozofit, Pana3CCDuser etc... (Edited for Indian Buyers)
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 08 May 2006 ) | ||
Camcorder/Handy Cam is an essential component for every home Nowadays. Here I am explaining the most important 10 things you should know before buying a camcorder. Before you set foot into your local electronics store, you should establish a clear budget for your camcorder purchase. There are around Hundred models between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 2,00,000 available for you to choose from, and the best way to narrow your search is to have a good idea of how much you want to spend. You should view your camcorder purchase as an investment: the more money you spend, the more features and better quality you are going to get. Moving even Rs. 5000 or Rs. 10,000 in your price range makes a big difference. However, that's not to say that there aren't low-priced "gems" out there. There are many camcorders that beat the pants off models that cost hundreds more. 
Look into your "camcorder crystal ball" and imagine how you'll use your camcorder. Are you going to be filming family events, vacations, or sporting events? Do you want to make short films? Is your camcorder for business use? Different camcorder models and brands are better suited for particular environments and events. 
CCD is short for 'Charge-Couple-Device', and is often referred to as a "chip." The chip converts visible light into an electronic signal, which the camcorder reads and stores to tape. Generally, the bigger the CCD the better; Broadcast camcorders often have 1/2-inch to 2/3-inch CCDs, while consumer camcorders usually have them within the window of 1/6-inch to 1/3-inch. The larger the CCD, the more light is taken in with the image, resulting in brighter pictures with better colors. CCD size becomes quite important in low light situations. CCD sizes in consumer camcorders vary with every model and manufacturer, and always should be considered. The difference between a 1/6-in. and a 1/4-in. CCD may seem small, but when those values are squared to measure the surface area, it has a large effect on video and low-light quality. 
Zoom can be classified as either optical or digital, and almost all camcorders have both. Most modern camcorders have at least a 10X optical zoom, which should be adequate for general purposes. Vendors typically advertise the maximum digital zoom, but to achieve that length of zoom the camcorder enlarges part of the image to fill the screen, leading to grainy, pixelated, and generally unpleasant-looking images. At higher digital zoom settings, the quality is so poor you can't see what you are taping. Fortunately, most camcorders allow you to turn the digital zoom off or restrict how far it can zoom in. The spec for maximum optical zoom is the more interesting figure: It denotes the maximum zoom that the lens itself can achieve without enhancement. Normal optical zooms range from 2x to 30x magnification, while digital zooms range from 10x to 1000x. While optical zooms use physical movement of the lens mechanism, digital "zoom" is simply digital enlargement of the pixels. Digital zooms result in a blurring of your picture called pixellation. 
One important buying consideration is how well the camcorder balances size and usability. The choice between ease of use and manual control is one of the most important decisions a camcorder consumer has to make. Most people find it difficult to adjust the picture settings on their camcorder to get the best looking video possible. The camcorder manufacturers' answer to this is automatic control. Automatic control is like an autopilot for the camcorder. The camcorder's internal computer controls picture functions such as focus, exposure, and shutter speed. Some camcorders' internal computers are better judges than others, and produce a better image when in automatic mode. Many manufacturers include one-touch buttons or simple slider mode selectors that will put the camcorder in full-auto mode. 
Shutter speed refers the speed of the opening, or rotation, of the camcorder's shutter. Each time the shutter opens, a certain amount of light is admitted to the CCD. Shutter speeds are measured in rotations per second: 1/60, 1/2000, 1/4000, 1/8000 etc. High shutter speeds like 1/8000 admit less light, because the opening in any given amount of time is small. Slow, or low, shutter speeds admit more light as they remain open longer. A low shutter speed recording of a fast object can result in a blurring or trailing effect; a fast shutter can capture moving objects, like athletes, crisply. Diminished light admittance at high shutter speed can be compensated by boosting the exposure / aperture. | < Prev | Next > |
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