Camcorders, what does this all mean?

Question

My husband and I just received out tax refund and one of the things we need to get with it is a new Camcorder. We just had our first baby and I rely don't want to miss his first steps and all those other things... The only problem is I have been kinda out of touch with technology lately so I have no idea what all this c**p means anymore!

Suddenly I'm looking at a huge list of stuff like Recording Formats like HDV, HDD, Mini DV, Hi-8, MD Digital, S-VHS-C, S-VHS, DV, Micro MV, VHS-C, Digital-8, Flash Media, Blu-ray, ect...

Recording Speeds, Image Stabilizers, MPEG Movie Mode Resolutions, Memory Card Types, Output and Imput Interfaces...

Saying to myself WTF is all this and what the heck does it mean. I googled it and read some stuff but wiki and these other sites speak a different language sometimes to me. They assume I'm all hight tech and leave me scratching my head looking dumb...

The last thing I rely want is to go into the store and know nothing. I was a salesmen...

Answer 1

I would recommend you to spend time on http://www.wikipedia.org for clear and authoritative answers. You have to learn from the beginning, and Wikipedia is a good source of that.

Answer 2

It sounds as though you don't want to spend very much for anything you won't understand how to use. In this case, I would recommend either Mini-DV or Flash Media. In general stay away from things like Hi-8 and Blu-ray because they really can be difficult to work with.

Mini-DV stands for Mini-Digital Video. It records onto a small tape that you put in the camera. It is good for simplicity, reliability, and video quality. Generally you can record about 60 minutes on one tape. When you want to put the video on your computer or a DVD, you hook the camera to the computer with a cable and use a special program to import the video. Usually a program for this comes with the camera. Then you can use a program (sometimes the same program) to edit it if you want and burn it to a DVD that you can then stick into a DVD player and watch on the big screen!

Flash Media just means the camera records onto a small flash stick, like those usb sticks or "flash drives" you always see. This format is a little more complicated than mini-dv, because it depends on what kind of flash stick you use. For instance, there are memory sticks, sd cards, compact flash, etc. I wouldn't recommend this format unless you are willing to dive into all this.

It also sounds as though you don't have any idea where to start looking in terms of companies and models. Here is where I can help you. For Mini-DV cameras I can highly recommend the Panasonic PV-GS320. I own the slightly higher end version of this, the PV-GS300, and can attest to its ease of use and quality. Other than that I can recommend the Elura line of camcorders by Canon. They are pretty much made for people just like you who need ease of use and simplicity. They are very popular.

All that other stuff you mentioned like recording speeds, image stabilizers, mpeg movie mode resolutions, bla bla bla... You really don't need to worry about any of that except for image stabilizers. Image stabilizers simply stabilize the image that is being recorded to the tape or flash stick or whatever. In other words, they take most of the natural hand shake out of the video. All cameras have some kind, whether it's Electronic of Optical. Optical is superior to Electronic, but usually means you pay more too. So it's up to you.

People make a big deal out of HD (high definition) these days. You really don't need to worry about it. SD (standard definition) works just as well. If you don't have an HDTV you won't see it anyway.

I hope I didn't confuse you more. I'm more into the higher end of the camcorder thing, like the ones they use on movie sets for big productions.

Google is a wonderful resource for this too. Here are a few links:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Beg...

http://reviews.cnet.com/camcorder-buying...

http://www.easycamcorders.com/content/Be...