How can you tell [looking at it] if a camcorder has a manual focus ring and is a focus ring always better & ..

Question

easier to use than any fiddly dial tucked away somewhere?

also, is it only the more expensive cameras that have a manual focus ring...or are there some inexpensive models that have this too?

Answer 1

If a camera has a manual focus ring, then you will see, well, a ring around the lens barrel, like so:

http://www.cnet.com.au/story_media/33927...

However certain cameras like the HV20 have focus dials:

http://images.camcorderinfo.com/images/u...

Or some cameras simply stuff it in a menu so that you have to use a joystick or buttons to focus. Focus rings are certainly the best, but the next best thing is a focus dial. If manual focus is important to you, don't buy menu driven manual focus cameras. Usually it is the expensive cameras that have focus rings, but some cameras such as the Panasonic PV-GS200 are cheap and have focus rings as well. However, if you plan on buying a camera, I would recommend the Canon HV30 as it has a decent focus dial and HDV recording. Hope this helps!