Comments on: Camcorder Buying Tips

By: ipodish

ipodish — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:14:22 +0000

Thanks for going over this chris, my school a while back bought a whole bunch of camcorders for the video editing class,the camcorders had a decent picture quality and so I looked up their specs and found out they were 1 megapixel cameras,. Since I didn’t know then that megapixels didn’t really count, I was like Huh!? Now I finally understand, Thanks Chris! -ipodish-

By: nanciesweb

nanciesweb — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:13:00 +0000

I really have to disagree with the hybrids comment. I really like my Kodak and it suits my needs just fine.

Of course, I mostly record for YouTube. It’s pretty good in low light and it uses an SD card. And of course the camera takes pictures as well. Great for a parent like me.

By: nanciesweb

nanciesweb — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:07:37 +0000

Ahahahaaa! Front page.

I guess I shouldn’t talk. I have Dreamweaver 4…

Still.

That said, I’m trying out something called “Nvu”. Seems promising.

By: Shutterbug

Shutterbug — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:40:51 +0000

I have had camcorders and digital cameras from practically day one.
Even after 10 years my JVC mini DV camcorder with (only) one megapixel
still camera works just fine. Of course since then I purchased two more
newer digital cameras as recently as 2 years ago. I recommend at least
7-10 OPTICAL magnification.

Digital cameras are light hungry and you NEED to use a tripod under low
light conditions or you will have a fuzzy unstable picture. I recently shot a
xmas tree close up and had to use the tripod to achieve the right picture.
Lens systems and CCD are very important for a true quality image. One should read camera reviews for a complete shakedown before you buy.
Why? To learn about your intended camera and its functions and the pro and con of your model.

Unless you intend to blow up your pictures greater than 8 X 10 I do not
see the attraction for a camera beyond 6 megapixel. Even if you could blow up your picture to 2 or 3 times that size you can’t print it without
a professional photo shop. Also it will take a lot more space on the storage media and your computer.

Keep it simple and buy what you need for your intended use. Whatever you purchase will be obsolete in 3-5 years. Good luck.

By: Adam Reyher

Adam Reyher — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:48:21 +0000

Just a minor correction: the megapixel count does NOT have an impact on the quality of your still pictures. There is only one image sensor in the camcorder and it can only record at a certain number of pixels. With HD camcorders, the image sensor is typically 1.4-2.2 megapixels. However, some camcorders advertise 4-6 megapixel stills. While the output will indeed be 4-6 megapixels, this is only because the original photo was resized, which will cause a stretching or pixelation effect.

While there are still cameras that do awesome photos and decent video, unfortunately there’s really no camcorder that does awesome video and decent stills. My advise is to figure out which is more important to you: video or picture quality. I myself prefer still quality, so I just use the video on my still camera.

- Adam

By: Godusesamac

Godusesamac — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:04:43 +0000

It’s compatible with imovie & Mac which was important to me in this case.

By: livvidd

livvidd — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:34:35 +0000

Yeah but the software, Is that model compatible with decent editing programs?

By: MrBuzz

MrBuzz — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:04:18 +0000

I’ve been looking for a camcorder for some time now; trying out friends’ cameras and browsing the internet and local shops. The only new thing I’ve learned from my weeks of searching is that a good camera isn’t cheap. What I do notice is that the quality of the video from camera to camera never varies much (there are the odd ones that are particularly sharp). The main things that attract me are the memory capacity, the build quality and the speed at which the camera responds to imputs.

By: Walrusgoat

Walrusgoat — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:08:25 +0000

Good tips. Got me thinking.. DV cameras have become like VCR’s, no one uses them anymore almost everyone has a dvd player. I believe everything will be in HD in the next year or so.

By: DJ124

DJ124 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:56:38 +0000

hey Chris i must say fallowing this guide is important for the normal tech users because i know the felling of getting convinced that the besybuy or other tech store gets you to buy the most expensive product and then finding out that its not that good of a camera and feeling stupid. I bought a canon and got convinced that it was a great camera to use for normal user . but it turned out i spent over $800 for a simple camera that had nothing special about but camera and video options. and only a 5.0mega pixels camera were for the some price i could have got a higher mega pixel camera with more options for a normal users. that brings me to something that is also very important is that WAIT!!! a few months for the camera if the price its to high. chances are the price will go down by a lot. then camera i got was $200 cheaper 3 months later. i tried to return it but they said no SO WAIT!!!. if the price doesn’t go down anywhere you go and you want to buy it, make sure you know what it will do for you if its to much for you to handle then go for a downgrade and find something more you.

By: EXel

EXel — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:33:00 +0000

About that warranty stuff… Creators design technical stuff, give them warranty (say… 1 years)… Usually it means that this device will brake after about 1.5 – 2 years… Sad… But that’s the truth!

By: ccubsfan94

ccubsfan94 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:58:36 +0000

That is true about take your camera along on what seems boring adventures. one time i wnet to my grandpas just thought to take it along and i got some great recoring of 2 bald eagles and about 20-30 deer in one area. on of the deer had a broken leg. you never know what your going to see. i also suggest if you are going to take it on a airplane use like a backpack because to other people a camera bag seems too tempting to steal.

By: newyorkfish

newyorkfish — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:58:50 +0000

It’s not too late to return it.

Seriously, the HD tapes are better.

By: JayzChang

JayzChang — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:37:51 +0000

damn

By: Godusesamac

Godusesamac — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:47:52 +0000

Yeah it was. I should mention it was a Sony with a 40 GB HDD. It was originally listed at around a thousand dollars and is still on Amazon for over 800.