If a digital camera is your best bet for capturing stills, a camcorder is ideal in capturing video. The falling prices of camcorders have brought it within the reach of many consumers who'd love to preserve their precious moments forever.
However, when you go to the market to buy a camcorder, you suddenly find yourself confused by the extraordinary choice of models that are available. And with each model advertising something more than its competitor, the buying decision only becomes more difficult. This is where we come in. In this article we have listed ten things that you need to look for before buying a camcorder. We are sure that after reading this, you will surely be in a position to make an informed buying decision. Please note that we are only considering digital camcorders and not DV or DVD camcorders.
1. Image stabilization
Image stabilization is a feature in most camcorders today. What it does is, it reduces the effects of shaky hands while shooting a video, thus producing a comparatively stable result. Image stabilization comes in two flavors: optical and electronic. While electronic image stabilization attempts to compensate for shaky camera by using electronic algorithms in conjunction with the CMOS sensor, optical image stabilization does it by actually slightly shifting the position of the lens elements. Naturally, optical image stabilization achieves a much more effective result than its electronic counterpart. The gist of this story is to look for optical image stabilization (rather than electronic stabilization) because it helps a lot in making a watchable video, especially when using zoom.
2. Ease of use and comfort factor
Ease of use and comfort factor must be taken into account as it does make a very big difference if you are shooting for long durations. The camera controls should preferably be placed well within the reach of the fingers and thumb of the hand that holds it (usually the right hand). Certain cameras have touchscreen only controls and not everyone will find it easy to use them. The grip of the camera and the strap that harnesses your hand to it should be comfortable and adjustable. The camera should not be too heavy, as it becomes difficult to shoot with a heavy camera for long hours. It should not be too light either, as that takes away some of the stability that weight can give it. Check out different review websites for information regarding this before buying.
3. Storage capacity
Expandability of storage should be possible. This is a non-issue these days because most camcorders have memory card slots and there usually exists no size limit. But be sure to check the specifications of the camera to find out if it supports large capacity memory cards.
4. Inbuilt memory or external?
Many camcorders come with internal memory, but some may not come with any memory at all. It is always the case that the ones with internal memory are a lot more expensive than those without. The point here is that if the camcorder does not come with any internal memory, there is nothing to be alarmed. It can be easily seen that if you simply buy a memory card in a camcorder without any memory, it is found to be a lot less expensive than the one with the same amount of internal memory.
Class 4 SD HC memory card
The only thing to keep in mind here is to make sure you buy a high speed memory card such as the SD HC Class 4 and above. The class rating of an SD card indicates the speed at which data can be dumped onto it. So, a Class 4 card supports 4 MB per second, which is sufficient for most purposes.
5. LCD display and viewfinder
After proper adjustment of white balance, the image colors on the LCD screen should appear to be the same as that of the subject being shot. The LCD should be bright enough to be viewable in broad daylight and if that is not the case, or in any case, it is always better to have an optical viewfinder as well. An optical viewfinder is also beneficial as it helps save battery power, especially when you are going on a trek where you cannot hope to recharge the batteries.
6. Zoom: Optical or Digital?
Pay attention only to optical zoom; digital zoom can be safely ignored, so we won't mention it any further. Do not be awed by high optical zooms as zoom levels above 10x are generally useful only when the camcorder is mounted on a tripod. And in case you still want optical zoom and are going to use a tripod, it is useful to have optical image stabilization as well.
7. Audio capture quality
Audio capture quality is something people usually do not take into account when it comes to a camcorder, but it is a very important parameter. This is something you may not be able to find out instantly at the shop, but you must research about it by reading different reviews online before deciding. You can instantly find out the audio capture quality though, if the camcorder supports headphones.
8. Still photography
Although the primary function of a digital camcorder is to shoot videos, an increasing number of camcorders support still photography at resolutions rivaling those of digital cameras. While the still image quality has improved a lot, it is still not quite as good as you would get from a digital camera dedicated to still photography. This is due to the absence of the complete set of functions for still photography and also due to the awkward holding angle of a camcorder, which is not suitable for digital photography (a tripod may eliminate this problem). Thus, if you want to make use of the digital camcorder for casual still photography, you can certainly go for it, but for serious still photography, it is better to stick to the digital camera.
9. Add-ons
Some camcorders come with an option to attach accessories such as a boom microphone, additional flash, or even to attach a DVD/Blu-ray burner to directly burn the captured content to the media. Look for these factors while choosing a camcorder from a future-proof point of view.
10. Battery options
While the camcorder you buy will come with only a single battery, it may support a higher capacity battery as well. This information is usually mentioned on the accessories page of the camcorder model on the manufacturer's website. A higher capacity battery will give you a longer battery backup.
