Digital Camcorder Review

A digital camcorder stores sound and image in digital format, which basically means that electronic signals captured by the camcorder are firstly converted into digital video, then encoded, which enables it to be recorded on to a storage medium.

Digital camcorders are very popular and with many of them within the average familys budget, they have allowed many people to record their special moments efficiently and easily. Further the ability to edit, produce, share and store make the digital camcorder a very attractive option.

A digital camcorder comes in various storage formats, the MiniDVD, flash memory, Hard disk, & HDV tape

MiniDV tape - Each tape holds a fixed amount of footage, being approximately 60 minutes of footage taken at standard definition. When you transfer the footage to your PC via a FireWire connection the transfer happens in real time, meaning that if you have an hour of footage it will take an hour to transfer.

MiniDVD - Records directly on to a mini DVD disk which is approximately 8cm in diameter. The miniDVD's hold 1.4G of data which converts to approximately 20 minutes of footage at standard definition. With a mini DVD you can easily burn a copy to another DVD.

Flash memory - Some digital camcorders come with this onboard as the storage medium whereas others use it as a supplementary storage medium. Typically the flash on board means the camcorder is quite small compared to other camcorders. Flash memory used as supplementary recording medium can hold about an hours worth of standard definition footage on a 4GB SD card or memory stick. SD/SDHC memory cards used in a camcorder need to be rated 40x (64Bps) or above to work properly.

Hard disk - A camcorder with an internal hard disk has an incredible storage capacity. For example a JVC GZ-275 Everio camcorder with a 40GB hard disk can record 9 hours of footage at high definition or up to 50 hours at ECO (1.5mbps) low definition, and anything in between depending upon your settings. A hard disk camcorder plugs into your PC via USB and your footage is quickly uploaded for storage and editing.