Camcorder-buying-tips
By Buster Carnelli
If you are considering a new camcorder, one of the most important choices to make is the type of storage media that you will use to store your recordings. Choosing a storage medium 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. Let's review the different types of recording medium available and provide recommendations based on expected usage.

== Tape Camcorders ==

While it's not the newest technology, tape provides the best grade recordings for camcorders. When using tape as a recording media, the image is subjected to a minimal amount of compression so the video recording preserves the best level of image quality. In addition to providing high quality images, tape-based camcorders also tend to be more cost effective than camcorders that record to other recording media.

One downside to tape-based camcorders is that the tapes are constrained as to how much can be recorded on them to somewhere in the area of 60 - 90 minutes. But the recording tapes are fairly inexpensive to buy, so carrying backup tapes is typically not an issue. An additional issue with camcorders that record to tape is that to move your movie onto a DVD (which seems to be the desired format for sharing with others), you first need to download from your to your computer. The downloading process takes place in real time. So if you need to download a 90-minute tape to your computer, it'll really take 90 minutes. With tape-based camcorders, you can't carry out any type of editing (other than backing over the tape and recording over it again); all of the editing has to occur on your computer.

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

== Hard-Drive Camcorders ==

Hard-disk drive (HDD) camcorders tend to offer the longest possible recording times. With normal amounts of compression, you can typically get as much as 10 hours of recording time on a that uses a hard drive as its recording medium. With an HDD camcorder, there is never anything new to purchase. Depending on the specific model, you can edit your video footage directly on your camcorder. And when it is time to download your footage to your computer, the upload rate will be substantially faster than when transferring video from a tape-based camcorder.

The primary knock against with camcorders with HDDs is that the recorded images are usually very compressed and this can lead to poorer recording quality. HDDs themselves are also comparatively power hungry and can be more easily destroyed by environmental extremes or drops (as can any itself). But if you drop your tape-based camcorder, while the camera may be salvageable, you still have the tape. But with an HDD-based camcorder, if it gets damaged,

you will probably not be able to get your existing recordings off the camcorder.

HDD camcorders are very versatile and they are principally meant for the home user.

== DVD camcorders ==

Camcorders that record directly on a DVD as their storage medium are a effective option for folks who want a format that is universally playable and for folks without a computer. It doesn't get much easier than filming a movie on your and popping the result directly into the DVD player.

The primary negative for DVD camcorders is the length of recording and the image quality. The length of recording available is dependent on the compression used, but for the best recording quality settings, you typically only get 20 - 30 minutes per DVD. If you lessen the quality of the compression you can get increased recording times, but then your recording quality is reduced.

DVD camcorders are an excellent alternative for those who have no computer since you never need to upload the video from of the camera; it comes off directly on the DVD. If you have a computer, and it's a model that you do not think is appropriate to the higher demands of video transfer and editing, a DVD may also be a good selection for you.

== Flash Camcorders ==

As improvements continue to be made in the flash memory arena, flash-based camcorders are becoming increasingly prevalent. Solid-state flash is small and is not power intensive, so camcorders that use it as a recording media are often lighter and smaller than other models. Flash based camcorders are also usually more indestructible and are able to take more abuse such as drops. As with other non-DVD models, flash-based camcorders require that their videos downloaded to a computer so that the recording can be recorded onto a DVD, but the transfer is typically quite quick for most models.

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

If you are seeking the smallest and lightest available, a flash-based is probably the right option.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Buster Carnelli
Buster is a recovering lover of electronics who loves camcorders, look for his camcorder ratings at camcorder-rankings.com.