Camcorder Selection Suggestions

When considering a new camcorder, one of the most important choices to make is the storage media that will store your recordings. Selecting a storage media early in the process will greatly reduce the total number of camcorders you need to consider, so decisions made afterwards will be quite a bit easier. We'll review the types of recording medium out there and provide recommendations based on expected usage.

== Tape Camcorders ==

While it's not the newest technology, tape results in the highest quality recordings for consumer camcorders. When recording to tape, the image goes through the least amount of compression so the video recording maintains the highest possible image quality. In addition to providing best images, tape-based camcorders are usually more cost effective than camcorders that use other recording media.

One downside to tape-based camcorders is that the tapes are limited as to how much can be recorded on them to between 60 - 90 minutes. However the tapes themselves are relatively inexpensive to buy, so carrying additional tapes is usually not an issue. Another consideration with tape-based camcorders is that to get your recordings onto a format you can share with others (a DVD for example) requires that you upload your movie to a computer first. The uploading process takes place in real time. So if you are going to download a 90-minute movie to your computer, it'll actually take 90 minutes. With tape-based camcorders, you can't carry out any sort of editing (other than backing over the tape and recording anew); all of the editing has to take place on your computer.

Tape-based camcorders are ideal for two types of users: people who want higher quality recordings, and people on a budget.

== Hard-Drive Camcorders ==

Hard-disk drive (HDD) camcorders usually give the longest possible recording times. With typical amounts of compression, you can usually get up to 10 hours of recording time on an HDD camcorder. With camcorder using a hard disk, you never need to purchase additional tapes. Depending on the specific model, you can edit your video footage right on your camcorder. And when it is time to transfer your recordings to your computer, the upload rate will be substantially faster than when transferring movies from a tape-based camcorder.

The primary knock against with HDD camcorders is that the recordings are typically highly compressed and this results in reduced recording quality. HDDs themselves are also comparatively power hungry and can be more easily destroyed from drops or environmental extremes (as can your camcorder itself). But if you drop a tape-based camcorder, while the camcorder may be dead, you can still extract your recording. In the case of an HDD-based camcorder, if the camcorder is ruined, you are unlikely to get your existing movie off the camcorder.

HDD camcorders are very versatile and they are primarily designed for the home user.

== DVD camcorders ==

Camcorders that store directly to a DVD as their storage media are a effective option for folks who want a format that is universally playable and for those without a computer. There's nothing simpler than filming a movie on your camcorder and placing the result right into the DVD player.

The primary problem with DVD camcorders is the recording quality and recording time. The length of recording available is dependent on the compression used, but at the highest recording quality settings, you typically only get 20 - 30 minutes per DVD. If you reduce the quality of the compression you can achieve increased recording times, but then your image quality is decreased.

DVD camcorders are a good alternative for folks without computers since there is no need to download the video off of the camera; it comes off straightaway on the DVD. If you have a computer, and it's an older model that you do not think is appropriate to the increased demands of video transfer and editing, a DVD camcorder may also be a good selection for you.

== Flash Camcorders ==

As improvements continue to be made in the field of flash memory, flash-based camcorders are becoming increasingly prevalent. Solid-state flash takes up very little space and is comparatively low-power, so camcorders that use it as a storage media are usually smaller and lighter than other camcorder models. They also tend to be more indestructible and are able to absorb abuse such as drops. As with other non-DVD models, flash-based camcorders require that their recordings uploaded to a computer so that the video can be put onto a DVD, but the download is usually quite quick for most models.

As with other camcorders that do not record to tape, there may be issues around image quality and compression. Also, depending on the size of the flash memory obtainable, there may issues around the amount of the recording time available.

If you are searching for the lightest and smallest camcorder available, a flash-based camcorder is probably the right way to go.

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Buster is a recovering lover of electronics who loves camcorders, view his camcorder ratings at camcorder-rankings.com.

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