What Level of Camcorder Is Right for You?
Whether you just want a handy device for casual shooting or you earn a living producing broadcast-quality professional video, you can find a camcorder that’s right for you. You can also find something to match any size wallet: Camcorder costs range from less than $100 to thousands of dollars. Here’s what you’ll get in each camcorder class.
The darlings of the YouTube set, these camcorders are great for anyone
looking for low cost and convenience in an HD camcorder. Pocket camcorders
are popular because of their supreme convenience and portability: Stick one
in your bag or purse, shoot some video when inspiration strikes, plug the
camcorder into your PC, and upload your work to your favorite sharing or
social-networking site.
Many pocket camcorders use the MPEG-4/H.264 codec; it requires relatively
little PC horsepower, so you can pipe video into your PC very quickly. Most
pocket camcorders have a flip-out USB jack that you can plug directly into
your desktop PC or laptop; you don’t need to fiddle with a cable. One model,
Kodak’s PlaySport ($150), is weatherized and waterproof. You can take it
swimming with you and even film underwater (to depths of 10 feet).Pocket camcorders are only slightly thicker and taller than a smartphone, and they cost as little as $80, which makes them practical stocking stuffers for the holidays. Just don’t expect too much from them. Their small lenses, “lossy” MPEG-4 codec, and tiny on-board microphones yield poorer-quality video and audio quality than conventional camcorders offer.Other limitations include a lack of manual controls and skimpy memory; Cisco's Flip Video camcorders, for example, don’t have card slots, and their embedded flash memory maxes out at 8GB, which holds only 2 hours of 720p HD video. Other camcorders let you use a removable memory card to store your footage.
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