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Video: Camcorder Features 
A camcorder is a video camera with a built-in video recorder. It stores images and sound using videotape or optical disc media or hard disk drive. A tape-based camcorder operates the same way as your home VCR. It will record, play back, fast forward and rewind. The camcorder captures the video through the lens and records it to the camcorder's media. It records the audio through a microphone. After light passes through an optical lens, it is focused onto a chip that has tiny dots called pixels (picture elements). The chip converts these pixels into electrical signals that are recorded. Some of the features you should consider before buying a camcorder include: • Size, look and feel • Controls - buttons, knobs and switches • Optical system - Lens and CCD • Resolution • Format • Media • Focus • Exposure • Image Stabilization • Viewfinder & LCD screen • Microphone • Zoom • Connectivity • Batteries • Still image capability • Accessories The size, look and feel: Sleek and compact, digital camcorders are smaller than the camcorders of old. New models are so compact that many fit in one hand. They are truly "take anywhere" camcorders and marvels of miniaturization. Camcorders have gotten progressively more compact, and today's models are the smallest yet. In general, VHS camcorders are the largest and heaviest, with the S-VHS a bit smaller. The VHS-C is much more compact, but generally not as lightweight as the 8mm or Hi-8 camcorders. Digital models (MiniDV & DVD) are the smallest ones on the market; in fact some of them are even small enough to fit in a pocket.  SONY 4K camcorders record to flash memory cards (XAVC S, AVCHD, and MP4 Codecs) The FDR-AX43A records 4K and HD movies in the XAVC S format, which uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 for video compression and linear PCM for audio compression, while saving files in an MP4 wrapper, which allows for extensive record times and easy editing. Additionally, you can choose to record HD in AVCHD (ideal for HDTV and Blu-ray disc burning) or MP4 (ideal for sharing over the internet). You should feel comfortable with the size of the camera. It should feel right in your hands. Look over the camcorder and see if the controls are positioned where you would like to operate them. Controls: One important buying consideration is how well the camcorder balances size and usability. The controls on some smaller camcorders can be difficult to use because the controls don't naturally sit where your fingers fall; you sometimes have to shift the camera to reach them, or use both hands. In particular, on many smaller camcorders the zoom control can be awkwardly placed. Optical system: The camcorder's lens is one of the most important components to consider. Lens: Probably the most important part of the camcorder. Lens size: CCD Chip: Having passed through the lens, light then hits the charge coupled device (CCD), which is at the heart of the camera and responsible for translating the light into electronic signals. Often referred to as the image chip, the CCD is made up of thousands of little cells or pixels. These are arranged in a grid and each pixel produces its own electrical signal when touched by light. Generally speaking, the larger the chip, the more pixels and so the better quality the image. However, recent developments have seen the 1/3 inch and 1/4 inch CCDs which continue to offer impressive levels of detail on smaller chips. CCD size: As a general rule, the more pixels the camcorder CCD (the chip that captures the video) has, the better the image quality of the resulting video will be. 3 CCD vs. 1 CCD Charged-coupled devices (CCDs) are chips in a DV camcorder used to capture images from the lens. One-CCD camcorders capture images by interpreting RGB colors with one chip. Three-CCD cameras capture image data by assigning one color to each chip, resulting in more accurate color information. Over 90% of the consumer-level DV cameras are of the 1CCD variety. In general they are less expensive than 3CCD DV cams. Panasonic offers several 3CCD camcorder models under $1,000.
Resolution: Basically,
the higher the resolution, the sharper the picture. Resolution
ranges from 250 lines for standard VHS quality to over 500 lines
for digital quality.
When camcorders were introduced, they all used VHS tapes,
but now there are smaller formats. VHS-C camcorders use a normal VHS tape in a
smaller cassette. You can easily play back VHS-C on a home VCR
using a VHS-C-to-VHS adaptor included with most VHS-C
models. Simply place your VHS-C tape in the adaptor and slide it
into your VCR just like a standard tape.
Media: All camcorders come with an auto focus system that focuses on the most obvious part of the image, but as anyone that has used a camera or shot footage with a camcorder will tell you, you don't always want to focus on this part of the image. Also in complex shooting conditions, such as low light or when there is very little contrast in the image you are shooting, the auto focus tends to struggle to find something to focus on and it is this 'hunting' that often causes the cam to focus on completely the wrong thing. For this reason, more and more camcorders now come equipped with manual focus systems so that the user can decide just what exactly the cam is focusing on. Just how much you use this feature will depend on how serious a videographer you are and how complicated you want to make your shots. Creative techniques such as pulling or throwing focus from one subject to another is practically impossible without a manual focus control. On most camcorders the control comes in the form of a rather fiddly dial located somewhere in the region of the lens. More high end camcorders tend to have a focus ring around the lens, much like a SLR camera.
All camcorders come equipped with a selection of Program AE modes. These are variations on the cam's auto exposure mode. Each one is designed to deal with a specific type of shooting scenario to bridge the gap between auto and manual exposure. Common Program AE modes include Portrait, Sports (for fast moving subjects), Sand and Snow, Twilight (for low-lighting shooting), Spotlight (for when the subject has a bright direct light on them) and Landscape. When
you select a Program AE mode, the cam adjusts the iris which
controls the amount of light that is let into the lens, and
so, the exposure. WHITE BALANCE:
Electronic image stabilization: Perhaps the biggest problem with today's increasingly small cams is that they are notoriously difficult to keep steady, something the average audience does not appreciate when viewing your footage. With this problem in mind manufacturers have developed an image stabilizing system to compensate for the inevitable shake. The two most common image stabilization systems are digital and optical and, as always the optical option is the more preferable of the two. The digital stabilizer compares the live image with one that was taken immediately before (this is stored in the digital memory), the camcorder then works out if the picture has moved and compensates accordingly. It does this by using the sections of the image that match most closely the previous one and enlarging them to fill out the entire frame. The downside of this is that the enlarging of the image means a loss of picture quality, something that is still preferable to a shaky image. The optical solution is controlled by a pair of lens elements in the zoom mechanism that constantly adjust to the camcorder's movement to keep the image steady. There is no adjustment to the image itself and so no loss of quality. Obviously, this system is more expensive and adds to the overall weight of the camcorder. Image stabilization (or sometimes called picture stabilization) makes memories viewable without annoying camera shakes. This feature is a must for zoom shots for easy-to-view close-ups. Stabilization tip: Use a tripod wherever possible for ultimate stability. Image stabilization steadies the video, so that the shakiness with hand-held camcorders is almost eliminated. Manufacturers have different terms for this feature, such as Electronic Image Stabilizer (EIS) or Steady Shot. Electronic systems don't generally work as well as optical, though of course they're cheaper. Want to get the best result? Buy a tripod.Sony refers to this feature as Steady-shot. EIS keeps the picture from jumping around when recording with the camcorder in your hand. When you tripod mount the camera, or when you are recording television screens or PC monitors, make sure this feature is turned off. It's very useful for keeping the picture steady when using an unsteady base, but can make the picture look worse in some settings too.
Viewfinder and LCD screen: LCD: Since
Sharp launched the first Viewcam back in 1992, LCD
(or Liquid Crystal Display) screens have become
increasingly popular on camcorders and in many cases
are used more than the viewfinder. The advantages of
the screen are that it is possible to take action
without having to hold the camcorder up to your eye,
allowing for a more relaxed 'shooting from the hip'
method. The disadvantage is that using the LCD screen
as a viewfinder you will use up your battery as much
as twice as quickly. Most digital camcorders have both the traditional tilt-up viewfinder on top and a bigger flip-open color LCD screen on the side. The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitor can be used as a viewfinder or a playback screen. It comes in a range of sizes, and is often put on a swivel, so that it can be turned around for different viewing angles. Having a large LCD screen on a camcorder lets you more easily see what you're recording and facilitates playback previews. When shopping, try the screen in daylight if possible; some wash out in bright sunlight, one environment in which you'll often be using the camcorder. A viewfinder, meanwhile, is easier to see in daylight and uses less power, extending the camcorder's battery life. The ViewfinderLCD screens are usually color and are best for reviewing what you have just shot. Many camcorders incorporate both kinds of viewfinder, but remember, LCD screens are almost impossible to use outdoors in bright daylight and eat up battery life. Back in the old days viewfinders were invariably black and white, although it is increasingly the case now that they are full color. Unlike traditional still cameras, a camcorder's viewfinder does not provide a direct view of what the lens is seeing. Instead the signal from the CCD chip is transferred to the viewfinder electronically. All viewfinders have a small magnifying lens that can be easily altered according to the individual's eyesight for a clear focused image.
ZoomA camcorder's ability to magnify images is known as zoom.
Camcorders have 2 kinds of zooms: optical and digital. Optical
zoom creates a magnifying glass by increasing the focal length
of the lens. The lens provides the other possible focal lengths in-between, giving you complete control over the image's contents. The power of a zoom lens is denoted by the zoom ratio: a comparison between the widest and the most telephoto setting of the lens. To put it into more simplified terms, a camcorder offering 10x zoom has a focal length at the telephoto end 10x more than the wide end, while the wide end is 10x wider then the telephoto end. It is currently the trend in the camcorder market to offer as big a zoom ratio on a camcorder as possible, even though this most certainly does not guarantee a better image. The more powerful a zoom ratio is, the harder it is to hold the camera steady enough to get a stable picture (as any little movement is magnified). There are two types of zoom - optical and digital. The important one, as demonstrated by its popularity with professional and semi-professional videographers, is optical. Optical mechanisms use two moving lenses to enlarge images. With the digital option, the image is blown up electronically, which causes problems, because no matter how it tries, the camcorder cannot add information that isn't there. Once again, one of the side effects of a digital zoom is handling shake being increased and pixelation. Most modern camcorders have at least a 10X optical zoom, which should be adequate for general purposes. Vendors typically advertise the maximum digital zoom, but to achieve that length of zoom the camcorder enlarges part of the image to fill the screen, leading to grainy, pixelated, and generally unpleasant-looking images. At higher digital zoom settings, the quality is so poor you can't see the image. Fortunately, most camcorders allow you to turn the digital zoom off or restrict how far it can zoom in. The spec for maximum optical zoom is the more interesting figure: It denotes the maximum zoom that the lens itself can achieve without enhancement. Even though the digital zoom claims of 300x and up sound enticing, this feature lends too much magnification and images are blurred. The optical zoom is what you'll want to use, so get a camcorder with a long optical zoom range (i.e., 16x and higher). Beware of cameras that boast bigger zooms of up to 700x, as this effect is achieved electronically resulting in very pixelated image. Remember that the longer the zoom, the harder it is to keep the image steady. Optical ZoomThis
allows the viewer to focus in on far away objects with the touch
of a button. An optical zoom rated at 16X means that the
camcorder can magnify the image up to 16 times larger than
normal. An optical
zoom uses the actual lens to magnify the image, whereas a
digital zoom uses computer imaging to magnify the image.
Although, digital zooms can go much farther than optical, they do sacrifice quality at any setting above 50X.
Digital Effects These allow even the humblest of videographers to give their videos a slightly more interesting feel to their work. Effects are included on almost all camcorders now and include Sepia, Black and White, Strobe, Twilight, Mosaic, Mirror, Widescreen and Tracer. Although they tend to be fun to use, they very rarely have any practical use and are more often than not added by more serious users at the edit stage as opposed to when shooting.
Even with higher resolution options, many of the still camera options integrated into DV cameras are second rate at best. If you want great looking digital still shots, use a digital still camera. A newer class of devices has emerged, which builds both a DV camera lens and a still camera lens on the front the DV cam housing. These are slightly more expensive than standard camcorders. Digital Video Editing. With a personal computer and the right video editing tools, you can cut what you want and turn those special moments into a Hollywood production complete with transitions, titles and special effects. Connectivity. Look for a digital camcorder with a FireWire (IEEE 1394) connection, also called i.LINK and DV In/Out. Now on most MiniDV camcorders, this jack is the key to digital editing. Though you can use a video capture card or device to import video into your PC, you'll love the speed of transferring it through a FireWire or i.LINK port. Video can transfer through an IEEE 1394 at up to 400 Mbps, much faster than a standard port. The camcorder connects right to the PC for easy transfer.
All
camcorders come with a range of sockets that are vital
to getting your footage out of the camcorder and into
an edit controller, VCR or PC for editing. All cameras
have composite analog outputs (the red, white and
yellow connections) and more and more
camcorders have S-video connections. DV camcorders
also come with a DV output so that you can output your
footage to a PC for non linear editing. However, not
all DV camcorders have a DV input, this is because it
pushes the price of the camcorder up. Without a DV input, it
is not possible to get your edited footage back out of
your PC and into your camcorder. A range of companies provide accessories called widgets that will
re-enable the DV input so that you can then get your
footage back. Other sockets
that DV camcorders have that analog models don't,
include connections to PC (USB and RS232) for
downloading digital still images and MPEGs (compressed
videos usually around 15 seconds, that you can email
to friends and family) and analog inputs so that you
can digitize old analog footage. Further useful
sockets include a headphone output, so the user can
monitor sound levels while recording, and a microphone
input so that you can use a separate mic to avoid
picking up handling noise from the camcorder. This is essential if you want to use a specialist
microphone that is capable of picking up more distant sounds,
or if you want to eliminate the noise of your
camcorder. Headphone out jack This is imperative if you want to hear the sound that is actually being recorded before it is too late to do anything about it or if you want to listen to your recordings privately without disturbing anyone. The headphone will give you much better sound than any built-in speaker. Camcorder built-in speakers are very small and cannot give you good sound quality. Edit sockets Edit sockets are highly recommended if you want to use the
camcorder with an edit controller for accurately cutting your
movie and for arranging the shots in the right
order. DV-out socket Necessary for downloading digital video and sound to a suitably equipped computer or other digital device. Also known as FireWire, this super-fast transfer system is a great way of swapping your recordings between your camcorder and PC. DV-in socket Necessary for recording a movie from a computer, where it
has been edited, back onto the camcorder. This is physically
the same socket as the DV-out. However, the DV-in capability
is only available on some machines. All camcorders use rechargeable batteries that are supplied
with the camcorder. There are three main types of battery
used. Nickel cadmium, or nicad, is the oldest type. The
downside of these is that they have to be completely run
down before they can be recharged. Nickel metal hydride batteries are similar in size to
the nicad, but they can be topped up. Lithium-ion batteries tend to be smaller and lighter,
and can also be topped up when
convenient. Back in the 1980s virtually all camcorders used nickel cadmium (Nicad) battery packs. The advantage of these batteries was that they were relatively light, small, cheap and reasonably powerful, however they did have a short lived performance which tended to deteriorate very quickly when subjected to unnecessary 'top-up' recharging. The cells inside the battery rapidly acquired varying states of charge and the battery as a whole developed a so-called 'memory effect' that prevented it from storing a full charge. On some models this would mean that recording times dropped by as much as half an hour. The solution was to fully empty the battery of power before recharging. By the early '90s, many camcorders were being supplied with more efficient and almost memory-free nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. These had the advantage of a slightly higher power density (ie they pack more charge into a smaller space) and combined with more efficient electronics and deck mechanisms, were capable of lasting up to 40 and 50 minutes between charges on mid-range cams. Once the first DV cams started to appear on the market by the mid nineties, battery technology had similarly moved on. Now Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery packs have become the norm. They offer even higher power density than NiMH and are capable of running times between 60 and 90 minutes. Charging times are a bit longer and they tend to be more expensive than other batteries to replace (or should you want a spare), however, you get a more sophisticated battery with better power than ever before. All camcorders use rechargeable batteries. The type of battery can make a big difference in how long you can record and play back a tape. The InfoLithium battery is currently the best one on the market since it tells you exactly how much power is remaining and it also does not suffer from the dreaded "memory effect" that some other types have (NiCad for example).Camcorder Batteries - SONY Lithium-Ion are available online. Make sure to get a compatible battery for the camcorder. ACCESSORIES: It makes sense to have extra batteries, because they always run out when you're about to do (or halfway through) your most important shot. Carrying cases are nice, too, especially for bigger or more expensive camcorders; just dangling them from the shoulder strap lets them flop around and possibly bang into something. If you're planning to watch videos on vacation, make sure you bring along the adapter that lets you hook the camcorder into an ordinary TV. Most camcorders should come with such an adapter. Your camcorder should come with an AC adapter/charger so you can operate on house current and recharge the battery in the camera. Camcorder Strap: Low-light recording: Many camcorders can record in very low light, either with the help of an included infrared light (which you can't see, but the camcorder can) or through a special long shutter mode that makes the most of the existing light; some more expensive models offer both. These can be useful in poorly illuminated settings, such as when you're capturing a camping trip or the creatures entering your yard after nightfall. Low-light footage may be grainy, however, and camcorders that use an infrared light may capture only black-and-white video.
Shooting pictures in low light Low lux recording Most camcorders are capable of producing an image in pretty dingy situations. Although some are better at this than others, the picture quality does suffer in this mode, resulting in a grainy image with poor color. The solution is a video light. Video lights These are used for indoor shots after dark to add some
artificial light. Some camcorders have lamps built in but video
lights of various degrees of brightness and designs are
available. These are only useful for lighting objects a few
feet away. Night-vision modes Some camcorders have a special mode for shooting in
complete darkness. They use a built-in infrared light, which,
although invisible to the eye, can be seen by the camcorder.
The system is only effective over a few feet and only provides
you with black-and-white or green-and-white footage. Some models
start recording automatically when movement in front of the
camera is detected. Integrated editing system Some camcorders have a built-in edit controller. You mark the scenes that you want to keep and they can then be copied in the order you want to your home VCR. The system uses the camera's remote control handset to send the relevant stop/start commands to the VCR.
Why is digital
better for video recording? Digital Quality Stronger Source Material: As with any audio or video
electronics, the goal is to reproduce the original picture and sound as
accurately as possible. Digital recording, by reducing the effects of
interference and "noise", delivers pictures and sound that are much closer
to the original. Accessory Shoe: Ideal addition for an external microphone or flash. A 'Hotshoe' feature provides power direct to the accessory attached. FireWire / iLINK FireWire is the standard for transferring video footage from a DV camera to a PC. Depending on the manufacturer, it may also be referred to as iLINK or IEEE 1394. Analog Connectors Most DV cameras provide an analog output connection for displaying movies on a TV screen. Many also provide an analog-in path through the same connection for transferring footage from a VCR or Hi8 camcorder to DV tape or passing it through to a PC. If you don't have any old videos, this isn't a necessary, however, the analog connection on a DV camera is one of the most straight forward ways to transfer VHS tapes to a digital format. Remote Control We may have too many remote controls in our lives already, but a remote for your DV cam comes in handy more frequently than you think. Aside from previewing your movies on the TV at home, having a remote for your DV cam is useful for recording shots where you want to include yourself, mounting a camcorder in a fixed location and maintaining the ability to stop and start recording from a distance, or even just scanning the contents of a DV tape without needing to keep your finger pressed on the fast forward button on the camera body.
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