With the splurge of electronic items in the consumer market,it is becoming exceedingly difficult for consumers to select products that suit their needs and taste.I intend to simplify the process
of choosing a digital camcorder(digicam) in the present day by presenting my study of the same. I did this study when I was in the process of choosing the best digicam for myself recently.I will attempt to present this by dwelling on the most common features that one needs to look out for in a digicam,what the features mean and some technical specifications about the same.
My first step was to check with friends and colleagues as to what their experience with camcorders was.I limited my search to four brand names based on the number of people having the products and the general perception of these brand names.The brandnames were Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Sharp.I then proceeded to make a sheet with the product names on the left hand side and the features on the top so as to get a better idea of the digicams.
MUST HAVE FEATURES/PARTS:- miniDV RECORDING The DV standard is a consumer digital video format.A DV tape is about the size of an audio cassette but the miniDV tape (and digicam) is about half that size.DV has superior images and sound, it provides up to 500 lines of vertical resolution (compared to about 240/250 for VHS) and is about on par with DVD.DV also provides CD quality digital sound at 48Khz/16bit.As the connection to the computer is digital there is no generation loss when transferring DV data.miniDV tapes are very small which means that the digicams can be smaller.
ZOOM (OPTICAL & DIGITAL) Optical zoom is the number of times a camera can magnify an image through its lenses without sacrificing quality while digital zoom takes a portion of an image and enlarges it and can result in loss of quality.Generally the optical zoom may range up to 8x, 12x, 16x, 20x or 26x and digital zooms may even go as high as 780x (thats the highest I know of on the Sharp WD-450).The higher you zoom,more are the chances of your picture shaking(better to use a tripod stand when zooming above 50x).
NIGHTSCOPE Also known as Nightshot and requiring a 0 lux lens,this feature enables the user to shoot in the night time.Make sure the nightscope feature captures images in colour as there are some cameras where the nightscope image is not captured in perfect colour.
MEGAPIXEL WIDE CCD & SNAPSHOT Digicams with this feature give a much better sharper image.Presently, CCD (charge-coupled device) are of the ranges (in MegaPixel) 0.8, 1.0, 1.02 and upto 1.7,the higher the better.However, they still do not provide as much sharpness as Digital Still Cameras which can have upto 3.3 Mega CCD.On the same topic of still pictures,check whether the camcorder supports snapshot which enables one to take still pictures as well.These are stored in the memory (also called SmartMedia or Memory Stick).
MEMORY Memory comes in the form of a card that is inserted into the camcorder.Used to store still pictures,it can also store small video clips as much as the memory will allow in some camcorders.The sizes are 8MB(standard), 64MB and 128MB.Ensure that your model has memory compatibility.
VIEWFINDER & LCD PANEL These are the two parts of the camcorder that enable the user to see what he is shooting/focussing.Please note that viewfinders can be colour as well as black/white.Colour viewfinders help the user to see the subject more clearly.The viewfinder is a small aperture which one puts one’s eye to and views the subject. On the other hand,most digicams now have the LCD which opens out of the digicam body and can be used to see the subject.In most cases, the LCD is colour and usually comes in the sizes of 2.5’’& 3.5’’.To see whether the LCD is of a good quality,point the camera towards bright sunlight and see whether the picture is clear on the LCD.
PC CONNECTION There is the usual tendency these days to store data,files,pictures and videos in digital format on CDs or some such media.If you plan on connecting your digicam to your computer (via Firewire) and editing your own movies make sure your digicam supports DV-in as well as DV-out.One can also look for USB support which enables one to transfer pictures and data much faster.The latest technology is USB2 but that would require one to upgrade the PC to USB2 specification.
MICROPHONE Digicams are capable of capturing video as well as sound.Some digicams have inbuilt microphones whereas some also have an attachment for a zoom microphone.A zoom microphone will capture the sounds in the immediate vicinity of the focussed subject even if it is a reasonable distance away.
IMAGE STABILISER Absolutely important as it is virtually impossible to hold the digicam steady at all times. Image stabilisation eliminates the slight shaking from being recorded.There are essentially two types of image stabilisation-Optical and Digital.They are both aimed at reducing camera shake and blurry images. Optical is regarded as being superior.
BATTERY Usually the standard battery supplied can run for 1 hr duration.However,depending on need,one can buy batteries for 2hr,4hr,and upto 10hr capacity. I would suggest buying an additional battery of higher duration and also an external charging adapter so that when one battery is being used,the other can be charged simultaneously.
LENS FILTER This is another absolute necessity which helps to protect the original lens from the elements. In addition, one can buy a shaded lens filter to get sharper images when it is too bright. This has to be purchased separately in most cases.
CARRY BAG Pretty high on my list of must-haves.Insist on the original carry bag,as this will ensure that your expensive equipment is well protected.One can easily tell the difference between a fake and an original by virtue of sheer quality, external and internal.
EXTRA FEATURES/PARTS:- VIDEO CAPTURE CARD This is required to be fitted into the PC if one wants to capture the moving video using supplied codecs.It is not a very big investment and can be easily procured.
MPEG-4 VIDEO CLIPS This enables one to take small video clips onto the memory card and then the clips can be e-mailed or stored on the computer.
WEB CAM FUNCTION Some of the digicams can also double up as webcams and can be used when chatting on the internet.Do take note that the digicams tend to get quite hot if kept on for too long (the duration one is likely to sit when one is chatting) and so it may be a better idea to get a webcam for the same.
FLASH & FLASH LIGHT Some digicams come equipped with a flash light that can be used when taking still pictures.Yet others come equipped with a flash light that can be turned on when the general lighting is dim.
So,it is best that an excel (or any other) comparison sheet is made with the features that you would like to have and the range of specifications(higher the better,but then cost is a consideration)and then you can arrive at a more or less consistent decision as to which model/models you are interested in.Then on, it depends on other factors like looks,the brand name,the dealer you are buying from and whether there are any schemes running at the time.I trust that this review will help you make a better decision while buying a digicam.