What should I look for when buying a digital camcorder?

Question

what is a hybrid comcorder.

what questions should i ask the salesperson when i go and buy one.

I am looking to spend no more than $600.

any suggestions??

thanks

Answer 1

Key Features

Screen: Having a large LCD screen built into the camcorder lets you more easily see what you're recording and facilitates playback previews. Be careful when considering a camcorder's screen, though--some don't work well in bright sunlight, an environment in which you'll often use the device. Most camcorders come with both an LCD screen and a viewfinder, giving you the option to use either. The viewfinder can be useful if you can't see the screen in bright light; it also uses less power than the screen, extending the camcorder battery's life. Also, if you are considering purchasing a camcorder that can shoot in wide-screen (720-by-480-pixel) format, look for a camcorder with a wide-screen LCD, which won't crop your view of the video you're shooting.

Lens: Every camcorder comes with a zoom lens that lets you get closer to your subject. Camcorder manufacturers don't always distinguish clearly between digital and optical zoom. The spec for maximum optical zoom is the more interesting figure: It denotes the maximum zoom that the camcorder can achieve by moving its lens elements. Most modern camcorders have at least a 10X optical zoom, which should be more than adequate for general purposes. A digital zoom, on the other hand, magnifies after the optical zoom is fully extended, and the camcorder then enlarges part of the image to fill the screen. This method leads to grainy, pixelated, and generally unpleasant-looking images. At higher digital zoom settings, the quality is so poor that you often can't see what you are taping.

Image stabilization: All camcorders offer one of two types of image stabilization--optical or electronic--to reduce jittery video caused by shaky hands. With optical stabilization, the camcorder's lens mechanism moves to compensates for external movement. With electronic image stabilization, the image captured by the lens "floats" on the CCD, and the camcorder uses internal circuitry after the image has been captured to interpret the video. Optical stabilization usually provides the best results; in the past it was typically found in more expensive camcorders, but these days some moderately priced models have it too.

Batteries: The amount of recording and playback time you get out of a battery varies, but most camcorders should be able to record for at least an hour with the included battery. Additional higher-capacity batteries typically cost from $50 to $100.

Microphones: Sound is almost as important to a video as the images. We've found that camcorders with microphones mounted in the front tend to produce better sound than those with microphones on the top of the unit; top-mounted microphones often pick up the voice of the person operating the camera, drowning out everything else. Some camcorders offer zoom microphones that emphasize the subject's voice when the zoom lens is used, and some also come with a socket for plugging in an external microphone. Either type of microphone can be very useful when you're recording presentations or speeches.

Still photography: Many digital camcorders can serve as digital cameras, saving still images to a memory card or to tape. Some can save images at the same resolution as a 5-megapixel camera (but watch out for models that produce interpolated high-resolution images from lower-resolution CCDs). However, none of the camcorders we've tested has performed as well at taking still pictures as a dedicated still camera--they don't provide the same level of control or the same image quality.

Controls: We have found that smaller camcorders can be a little more difficult to use because their controls don't naturally sit where your fingers fall, particularly if you have large hands. Of course, heavy, bulky models can get tiring to carry, so strive for a balance.

Low-light modes: Many camcorders have the ability to film in very low light, whether with the help of an infrared light (which you can't see, but the camcorder can), a special slow-shutter mode that makes the most of ambient lighting, or built-in illumination from one or more LEDs. Some models offer all three methods. These modes can be very useful in poorly illuminated settings, but video captured with these tools enabled won't be as good as video captured in well-lit settings. For example, slow-shutter modes may cause moving subjects to smear or ghost.

Format: Most camcorders use the MiniDV and DVD formats, but models that capture to small onboard hard drives are becoming more common; others write to flash memory. MiniDV models still capture the best-quality video.

Hard-drive models: These camcorders' main advantage is that they give you near-instant access to any footage on the drive. Rather than having to fast-forward or fast-reverse to find the scene you want, as with a tape-based camcorder, you can go to a scene by clicking on a thumbnail in the camcorder. But once the drive is full, you must stop shooting until you can offload the footage (with a MiniDV- or DVD-based model, you can just pop in another tape or disc). Also, like DVD camcorders, hard-drive models capture in MPEG format, which requires much more computing horsepower to edit; in addition, not all editing applications will accept MPEG footage.

Wide-screen shooting: Several camcorders now allow you to shoot in the 16:9 aspect ratio used by HDTVs, even if the camcorders still shoot in standard-definition resolution. Note that some camcorders use a CCD with a native 16:9 orientation, so you get the full resolution of the CCD when you shoot in wide-screen format, whereas others use a CCD with a traditional 4:3 orientation and use only a portion of that CCD when shooting in wide-screen.

High-definition recording: Several models record in either the HDV or the AVCHD high-definition format. Because both are highly compressed, they require a very powerful computer to decode their files and a compatible video editing application to edit them. (AVCHD is a newer format; only Pinnacle Studio 11 and Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11 recognize it at this writing.) Even a powerful computer will take much more time--hours, not minutes--to render HDV or AVCHD files than standard-definition, DV-format files.

Answer 2

buy the panasonic GS 320

you should see the specs of the chip size

larger chip size is better quality picture

Answer 3

You need to identify what your recording needs are.  This will determine the camcorder you will want to get.

visit http://motionpicturecentral.com/forums/f...

- Start with Camcorders and your Needs http://motionpicturecentral.com/content/... and Camcorder Formats http://motionpicturecentral.com/content/...

* a Hybrid camcorder has the ability to record to two different formats on the same camera.  Hitachi is well known for their hybrid creations such as the Hitachi DZHS500A DVD Hybrid Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom & 30GB Hard Disc Drive http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LWW...