Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced?
Digital camcorders can be classified by their level of functionality and sophistication, which is generally in direct proportion to the cost of any given model.
If, for example, you are a beginner, or someone who wants to shoot occasional footage at weddings, graduations or school sports` days – but, nevertheless, wants to produce reasonable results, with a minimum of fuss – you`ll probably be quite happy for a camcorder to do most of the work for you. Basic digital camcorders, with automatic controls to remove most of the `guesswork` from setting up your shots, are available from under £200.
At a slightly higher, intermediate, level you may be interested in getting closer to your subject, so a better optical zoom, say, `20x`, or `25x` may be more appropriate, as may a little more manual control over focussing and exposure. You may also be interested in doing at least some editing, or manipulation of your footage, so look for a model with a USB (`Universal Serial Bus`), or `FireWire` port, for connection to your computer. Digital camcorders of this type are likely to cost in the region of a few hundred pounds.
If you are an experienced home movie maker, you may be looking for an advanced consumer digital camcorder, with full manual control of aperture and shutter settings and focussing, as well as automatic control, if desired. This type of digital camcorder typically includes a colour viewfinder, an LCD (`Liquid Crystal Display`) screen of, at least, 3 inches, measured diagonally – perhaps also with touch screen capability – `Bluetooth` or other networking features, and optical, as opposed to electronic, image stabilisation. Expect to pay up to £1,000, or perhaps a little more for this type of camera.
Things to Think About
Zoom capability is often quoted as `optical` zoom and digital `zoom`. Concentrate on optical zoom, which involves the physical movement of the camcorder optics – that is, the lens assembly – to produce a close-up, rather than digital zoom, which is a – largely unsatisfactory – software effect.
Similar comments apply to optical versus electronic image stabilisation, although electronic stabilisation is obviously better than no stabilisation at all. Once again, optical image stabilisation involves conventional lens movement to counteract `camera shake`.
Digital
cameras & camcorders are obviously designed to be portable devices,
and the life of their batteries is therefore important. Lithium ion, or
`Li-Ion`, rechargeable batteries are becoming the batteries of choice;
these are more expensive, initially, than NiMH, or NiCad, batteries, but
hold up to 40% more energy, on a single charge then their competitors.
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