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CAMCORDERS

1. I'VE NEVER USED A CAMCORDER — IS IT TOO COMPLICATED FOR A NOVICE?


NO WAY. IF YOU CAN USE A POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERA, YOU CAN USE A CAMCORDER. EVEN FANCY CAMCORDERS HAVE LOTS OF GOOF-PROOF AUTOMATIC SETTINGS — START WITH THEM, THEN TRY OUT THE MORE COMPLEX FEATURES, AS YOU GET MORE COMFORTABLE WITH SHOOTING YOUR OWN VIDEOS.

2. I DON'T PLAN TO EDIT MY VIDEO ON A PC. CAN I STILL USE A DIGITAL CAMCORDER?


ABSOLUTELY. EDITING ON YOUR PC IS A GREAT OPTION FOR SOME FOLKS, BUT NOT NECESSARY. ALMOST ALL CAMCORDERS HAVE AN AUDIO/VIDEO OUTPUT THAT ALLOWS YOU TO CONNECT THE CAMCORDER DIRECTLY TO YOUR TV OR HOME THEATER SYSTEM FOR PLAYBACK. AND MINI DVD CAMCORDERS RECORD TO 3" MINI DVD DISCS, WHICH WILL PLAY BACK ON MOST NEWER DVD PLAYERS AND COMPUTER DVD DRIVES. THERE ARE LOTS OF CHOICES WHEN IT COMES TO SELECTING A CAMCORDER.
  3. I SEE THAT MOST DIGITAL CAMCORDERS HAVE A DIGITAL PHOTO MODE — DOES THAT MEAN THAT I
      CAN USE MY CAMCORDER AS A DIGITAL CAMERA?

A DIGITAL CAMCORDER WITH PHOTO MODE MAKES A NICE STAND-IN WHEN A DIGITAL CAMERA ISN'T AVAILABLE. RIGHT NOW, THOUGH, DIGITAL CAMCORDERS CAN'T DELIVER THE HIGHER RESOLUTION AND GREATER PHOTO-SNAPPING VERSATILITY THAT DIGITAL CAMERAS OFFER. IF YOU THINK YOU'RE LIKELY TO GET INTO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN ITS OWN RIGHT, A SEPARATE DIGITAL CAMERA IS A WISE INVESTMENT.
  4. MY DIGITAL CAMERA HAS A VIDEO MODE — DOES THAT MEAN I DON'T NEED A CAMCORDER?

YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA'S VIDEO MODE IS A GOOD SUBSTITUTE IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CAMCORDER AVAILABLE, BUT A CAMCORDER MAKES SENSE FOR EXTENSIVE FILMING. CAMCORDERS CAN GENERALLY DO A BETTER JOB OF CAPTURING DETAILED MOVEMENT, AND SOME CAN EVEN RECORD HIGH-DEFINITION VIDEOS.

  5. CAN I REALLY RECORD DIGITAL VIDEO ONTO A HI8 TAPE?

YES. SONY'S DIGITAL8 CAMERAS RECORD A DIGITAL SIGNAL ONTO STANDARD 8MM OR HI8 TAPES, DELIVERING STUNNING RESOLUTION AND VIVID COLORS. PLUS, THE VIDEO CAN THEN BE COPIED WITH NO LOSS IN QUALITY. KEEP IN MIND, THOUGH, THAT THESE CAMCORDERS RECORD AT A FASTER SPEED THAN ANALOG MODELS — A 120-MINUTE HI8 TAPE WILL GIVE YOU 60 MINUTES OF DIGITAL VIDEO IN SP MODE, OR 90 IN LP MODE.

  6. HOW CAN I TRANSFER VIDEO FROM A DIGITAL CAMCORDER TO MY COMPUTER?

TRANSFERRING VIDEO TO YOUR COMPUTER WILL DEPEND ON THE TYPE OF CAMCORDER YOU HAVE. MINI DV AND DIGITAL8 CAMS TYPICALLY USE AN I.LINK™ DIGITAL A/V JACK WHILE MINI DVD AND HARD DISK DRIVE CAMS NORMALLY USE A USB PORT. BEFORE YOU PURCHASE A CAMCORDER, BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR COMPUTER'S INPUT JACKS AND SEE WHICH INPUTS IT ALREADY HAS. MOST NEWER COMPUTERS FEATURE BOTH USB PORTS AND AN I.LINK JACK. IF YOURS DOESN'T, IT'S QUITE EASY (AND RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE) TO ADD USING AN EMPTY PC OR PCI SLOT. (TRANSFER OF DIGITAL PHOTOS, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS TYPICALLY ACCOMPLISHED VIA A USB CONNECTION, REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF CAMCORDER YOU PURCHASE.)

ALSO, KEEP IN MIND THAT MOST DIGITAL CAMCORDERS DON'T PROVIDE COMPLETE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE. BEFORE YOU BUY A CAMCORDER, DECIDE WHAT KIND OF EDITING YOU WANT TO DO, AND LOOK AROUND FOR THE APPROPRIATE APPLICATION.

  7. HOW CAN I PLAY MY VIDEOS THROUGH MY TV?

THIS WILL DEPEND ON THE TYPE OF INPUT(S) YOUR TV HAS AND THE CAMCORDER YOU'LL BE USING. SOME CAMCORDERS HAVE COMPOSITE (RCA-TYPE) OUTPUTS, WHILE OTHERS FEATURE S-VIDEO , COMPONENT VIDEO, AND EVEN HDMI OUTPUTS. IF YOUR TV HAS A SET OF A/V INPUTS ON THE FRONT PANEL, HOOKING UP YOUR CAMCORDER WILL BE EXTRA QUICK AND EASY.

AND REMEMBER, IF YOU PURCHASE A MINI DVD CAMCORDER, YOUR MINI DVD DISCS WILL PLAY BACK ON MOST NEWER DVD PLAYERS AND COMPUTER DVD DRIVES.

  8. HOW MUCH RECORDING TIME DO I GET WITH ONE CHARGE OF THE RECHARGEABLE BATTERY?

THAT DEPENDS ON SEVERAL FACTORS. POWER-HUNGRY FEATURES LIKE ZOOM, PICTURE STABILIZATION, AND LCD VIEWSCREENS TEND TO DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF TIME BETWEEN CHARGES. MOST OF OUR CAMCORDERS WILL HAVE BATTERY-LIFE. ACTUAL BATTERY LIFE WILL VARY DEPENDING ON YOUR PARTICULAR CAMCORDER AND BATTERY, AND YOUR RECORDING SETTINGS AND ENVIRONMENT.

ONE NICE FEATURE OF ALL NEWER CAMCORDER BATTERIES: THEY HAVE NO "MEMORY" EFFECT, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN THE BATTERY DOWN BEFORE RECHARGING IT. SOME CAMCORDERS EVEN INTERACT WITH THE BATTERY TO MEASURE AND DISPLAY THE REMAINING RECORD TIME. WANT TO BE SURE YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT WITH A DEAD BATTERY? OPTIONAL SUPER-HIGH-CAPACITY BATTERIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR MANY MODELS, AND A DC CHARGER CAN BE HANDY FOR RECHARGING ON THE GO.
  9. HOW MUCH RECORDING TIME WILL I GET ON ONE TAPE, DISC, OR HARD DISK DRIVE?

THIS WILL DEPEND ON SEVERAL FACTORS ON THE VIDEO QUALITY SETTING YOU CHOOSE, WHICH IS LOCATED IN YOUR CAMCORDER'S MENU. MOST MINI DV TAPES CAN RECORD BETWEEN 60 (IN STANDARD PLAY MODE) AND 120 MINUTES (IN LONG PLAY MODE). SINGLE-LAYER MINI DVD DISCS CAN CAPTURE BETWEEN 20 (IN HIGH-QUALITY MODE) AND 120 MINUTES (IN LONG PLAY MODE), WHILE DUAL-LAYER AND DOUBLE-SIDED MINI DVD DISCS CAN RECORD TWICE THESE AMOUNTS. HARD DISK DRIVES WILL VARY DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE DRIVE, BUT TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, 30-GIGABYTE DRIVES CAN TYPICALLY GIVE YOU BETWEEN 7 AND 20 HOURS, DEPENDING ON RECORDING MODE. KEEP IN MIND, HOWEVER, THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T RECORD MUCH MORE THAN 30 MINUTES WORTH OF FOOTAGE — ANY MORE THAN THAT IS TYPICALLY TOO LONG TO WATCH AT ONE TIME.
  10. WHAT ELSE WILL I NEED TO BUY IN ORDER TO USE MY CAMCORDER WHEN IT ARRIVES?

YOU'LL DEFINITELY NEED BLANK TAPES OR DISCS. AND IF YOUR CAMCORDER COMES WITH AN I.LINK PORT, YOU'LL NEED AN I.LINK CABLE IF YOU WANT TO TRANSFER VIDEO TO YOUR COMPUTER (UNLESS YOUR CAMCORDER OR PC CAME WITH ONE). CARRYING CASES AND EXTRA BATTERIES ARE NICE FOR ON-THE-GO RECORDING. A TRIPOD CAN REALLY HELP STEADY YOUR SHOTS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE PLANNING ON FILMING FARAWAY OBJECTS WITH YOUR CAM'S HIGH-POWERED ZOOM. WE ALSO OFFER INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKS, CHARGERS, VIDEO LAMPS, MICROPHONES, AND FLASH MEMORY FOR DIGITAL PHOTOS PLAN TO RECORD.

  11. HOW CAN I SHARE MY HOME MOVIES WITH MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY?

POSTING YOUR VIDEOS ONLINE IS ONE OF THE EASIEST WAY TO SHARE YOUR MOVIES, AS LONG AS YOUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS HAVE INTERNET ACCESS. MOST WEBSITES HAVE A MAXIMUM FILE SIZE, SO YOU'LL WANT TO CHECK THE SITE'S REQUIREMENTS BEFORE YOU TRY TO UPLOAD A VIDEO. YOU MAY HAVE TO DECREASE THE VIDEO FILE SIZE, AND A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT EDITING PROGRAMS CAN HELP YOU DO THAT. ANOTHER CONVENIENT METHOD OF SHARING VIDEOS IS DUBBING TO RECORDABLE DVD (OR VHS TAPES). AS DVD RECORDERS GROW IN POPULARITY, DVD-RS AND DVD-RWS ARE AN INCREASINGLY CONVENIENT WAY TO ARCHIVE THOSE HOME VIDEOS. (PLENTY OF PCS NOW HAVE DVD-R/W DRIVES, TOO.) A SINGLE BLANK DVD IS CAPABLE OF STORING TWO HOURS OR MORE OF STUDIO-QUALITY VIDEO, AND MORE AND MORE TYPICAL HOME PLAYERS CAN PLAY RECORDABLE DVDS.
  12. WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF STORING MY VIDEOS?

BECAUSE TAPES CAN WEAR OUT, DVDS CAN SCRATCH, AND HARD DISK DRIVES CAN CRASH, YOUR BEST BET IS TO MAKE MULTIPLE COPIES OF YOUR MEMORIES IN HOPES THAT ONE COPY WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME. SIMILAR TO STORING DIGITAL PHOTOS, IF YOU KEEP YOUR FILES IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE, THEN YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THEM FOR YEARS TO COME. AND DON'T POSTPONE MAKING THOSE ADDITIONAL COPIES — IF IT'S A PROJECT YOUR PLANNING "TO GET AROUND TO," YOU MAY BE ONE HARD-DRIVE CRASH AWAY FROM LOSING ALL FOOTAGE OF YOUR FAMILY'S EARLY YEARS TOGETHER.

  13. WHAT KIND OF BATTERIES DO I NEED FOR MY DIGITAL CAMCORDER?

THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF DIGITAL CAMCORDER BATTERIES ARE NICD (NICKEL-CADMIUM) AND LITHIUM ION. IN GENERAL, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES ARE BETTER BECAUSE THEY DON'T TAKE AS LONG TO CHARGE. ADDITIONALLY, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES DON'T HAVE THE MEMORY EFFECTS THAT REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NICDS OVER TIME. BUY BATTERIES BASED ON HOW MANY HOURS THEY TAKE TO CHARGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR RECORDING TIME FRAME.

  14. WHAT KIND OF TAPE FORMAT DO I USE WITH MY DIGITAL CAMCORDER?

MOST DIGITAL CAMCORDERS USE MINI DV TAPE FORMAT BUT SOME CAN USE TWO DIFFERENT KINDS. DIGITAL-8 CAMCORDERS STORE DIGITAL VIDEO ON HI-8 TAPES AND CAN ALSO PLAY HI-8 AND 8MM TAPES. MICROMV CAMCORDERS CAN ONLY PLAY MICROMV TAPES. DVD-RAM CAMCORDERS CAN RECORD RIGHT ONTO A DISK.

  15. HOW DO I CONNECT MY DIGITAL CAMCORDER TO MY COMPUTER?

FOR TRANSFERRING STILL IMAGES, DIGITAL CAMCORDERS COME WITH A SERIAL PC PORT OR USB PORT. SERIAL PORTS PROVIDE LOW-SPEED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOUR PC AND CAMCORDER. DUE TO SLOWER SPEED, SERIAL CONNECTIONS ARE NOT AS POPULAR AS USB. USB IS A "PLUG AND PLAY" INTERFACE BETWEEN A COMPUTER AND A DIGITAL CAMCORDER WHICH LETS YOU PLUG IN A DEVICE WITHOUT ADDING AN ADAPTER CARD. USB IS ONLY USED FOR TRANSFERRING STILL PHOTOS. FOR TRANSFERRING FULL MOTION VIDEO TO YOUR COMPUTER I.LINK PORT IS NECESSARY. I.LINK, ALSO KNOWN AS IEEE 1394 OR FIREWIRE, IS A STANDARD FOR HIGH-SPEED TRANSFER OF DIGITAL INFORMATION. IT IS USED IN DIGITAL CAMCORDERS BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE FEW CONNECTIONS CAPABLE OF QUICKLY TRANSFERRING FULL-MOTION VIDEO. ALL CURRENT DIGITAL CAMCORDERS HAVE ILINK PORTS.

ALSO YOU WILL NEED FIREWIRE (I.LINK) PORT ON YOUR COMPUTER. IT COMES AS STANDARD ON SOME MACS AND SONY COMPUTERS. IF YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT HAVE A FIREWIRE PORT, YOU'LL NEED TO BUY A FIREWIRE CARD.