Recently in Camcorder Category

"My Sony HandyCam recorded DVD was not finalized, now i don't have the HandyCam. How can I recover the data from the camcorder DVD?"

There are two types scenarios where DVD camcorder disks are not finalized. The easy one is you simply forgot to finalize the disk. The slightly more challenging scenario is that the camcorder failed to finalize the DVD. Depending on which scenario you have I recommend a slightly different course of action.

"Everytime I record videos of my dog playing in the snow, they come out looking washed out. What can I do to make my snow videos look better?"

Shooting movies of your pets outdoors, making nature videos, shooting outdoor sporting events, and shooting scenic movies all require special attention to the details, but one of the most challenging outdoor moments is shooting video in the snow. Here are a few tips (followed by a YouTube video from Videomaker magazine) to make shooting video in the snow a little easier. Follow the steps here and I guarantee your dog videos will look better.

Manual White Balance Gives You More Control - Most camcorders have preset configurations for shooting movies both indoors and outdoors. There's a color temperature adjustment in each case that's great for "normal" enviroments, but the outdoor one isn't necessarily optimized for snow. The generic Auto White Balance can sometimes deal with snow, but you'll get the best results using the manual over ride and dialing in the white balance yourself. If your camera offers the option to save presets, you can save this white balance setting and use it during your day outside in snow environments.

Lighting in the Snow is Tricky - Often the most comfortable times to be outside are in the middle of the day when the sun is high in the sky. This is also when shooting snowy video is the worst because strong sunlight makes everything look too white and washed out. Save shooting snow video midday for those overcast days. As a general rule, try to shoot your snow videos during sunrise times and sunset times, which gives you richer colors and more vibrant looking video filled with great pink, orange and purple colors.

Neutral Density Filters - Using a neutral density filter can be a great way to take the harsh edge off the snow. You can typically find one that will fit your camcorder at the local photography store or online at Amazon. The thing you need to know is the ring size of your lens, which you can generally find right on the front of the lens like the one pictured here (which is a 43mm).

Capture the Spirit of the Outdoors - We generally associate snow with cold, so be sure to find shots that help identify the viewer with cold weather. Get video of the kids in a snowball fight. Pan tightly past icicles or rushing water in a snowy stream. Shoot snowboarders carving through the powder on the way down the slope or you dog leaping through drifts. You can warm the audience back up with indoor shots including sips of hot cocoa with your dog in your lap, or a crackling fire before closing out your video.

For more on shooting video in the snow, watch the video:

"I don't like spending time capturing high definition video from tapes I record with my Canon HV20, but I also don't like the video quality I get from hard disk camcorders. Can I bypass the tapes in my Canon HV20 and record direct to my hard drive?"

Any camcorder with a FireWire connection can be used to capture directly to a PC hard drive, as long as you have software that supports capture. As you point out, this is a great way to save a step and avoid capturing video from tape after you record. In some cases, this is also a good way to reduce noise your recorded audio, because you won't get bleed over from the tape mechanism.

Chris writes, "I have a Sony DCR DVD403. I purchased the camcorder with the understanding that video editing was, to say the least, more difficult that most other forms of media. At the time, however, video editing was a non-issue. Shooting footage of my new baby girl was priority and being able to pop the DVD out and take it to the grandparents superseded any need for video editing capabilities.

Now, however I wish to edit the content of some of the DVD(s). Tell me as much as you will. Is this possible, what's the best program, best connection type for the camcorder, etc. At this point, I can't even get the DVD content to my PC because "Picture Package" is the only program I have that came with the camcorder and it seems to be relatively useless, but it might just be me. Any help would be appreciated."

I've lamented the lousy experience in editing DVD camcorder movies for almost as long as the format has existed. Using the Windows XP version of Windows Movie Maker requires a third-party MPEG-2 decoder and lots of luck. Copying the video files from the camcorder DVD to your hard drive and re-naming the file works with several applications. But all of this requires too much guesswork to be efficient. Roxio Easy Media Creator finally provides the best solution I've seen so far.

With the DVD from your camcorder in your computer's DVD drive open VideoWave, the editing application bundled as part of Easy Media Creator and click on the Capture/Import.

You'll be able to import your video in a matter of a few simple steps.
1) Choose your DVD drive as the capture/import source

2) Select either specific chapters or the movie you want to capture from the DVD

3) Choose a video import setting (I recommend sticking with the MPEG default, which is compatible with the video on your DVD).

4) Choose a place to your hard drive to save the files.

5) Click Import Now to start importing video from the DVD.

Depending on how much footage you're importing from the disk, you may have to wait anywhere from about 60 seconds to several minutes.

When it's finished, click Done and then add your imported video to the editing timeline to make cuts, add effects and transitions, add titles and music and author a finished video project.

Easy Media CreatorDownload Roxio Easy Media Creator

Steve writes, "I have recently purchased a Sony HDR-SR8E with USB2 input/output. I have just purchased Pinnacle Studio v11 Plus (Ultimate). I cannot get Pinnacle to see the camcorder as a capture device, nor will it import the m2ts files generated by the camcorder. Any advice on how to resolve this so that I can maintain the 1080i (AVCHD) output would be appreciated."

It seems that some of the AVCHD files are more compatible than others with various video editing applications. After struggling with this new format for months, most of the kinks are worked out, but there are still steps you can take to get better results. One method I've found to be almost fool-proof is to take the Sony software that ships with these camcorders out of the mix completely.

The new hard disk based camcorders don't need fancy software in order to work with the files on the disk. You can simply mount the video camera as a hard drive using a USB cable. Browse to the camera in Windows Explorer under My Computer and find the files with .MTS extension on the camera.

After locating the correct directory, copy the .MTS files to your hard drive. Then go back to Pinnacle Studio (or any other video editing app that supports AVCHD) and import the .MTS files.

One additional step may be required for everything to work smoothly - depending on what mode you used for recording audio in your video, you may have multichannel surround sound audio in your file, which doesn't work well with some applications. To get around this, install freeware app AC3Filter, which down-mixes the multichannel audio to stereo.

If you're in the market for an ultra-portable, highly affordable camcorder, the Flip Video and slightly improved Flip Video Ultra may be two of the best choices you can make. I was highly skeptical about the Flip even after reading rave reviews in places like the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. You can't possibly shoot decent looking video for under $150; at least that's what I thought.

At just thicker than an iPod, the Flip easily fits in your pocket meaning you have no excuse to not take it with you. The $120-$150 price makes it not the end of the world if you ever drop or lose your Flip. And for that price, the Flip shoots video I'd put up against any of the DVD camcorders on the market and some of the low-end MiniDV camcorders. I'm not about to replace my Canon HV20 (or a Canon GL2) with the Flip, but for many situations, it's the perfect camcorder for catching impromptu moments.

The people that designed the Flip have the novice in mind, integrating a USB connector right into the camera body and including rudimentary editing software on the camera's internal drive. You can even upload straight to YouTube without ever using other software. TV Out right from the camera over composite makes it easy to connect to the closest screen to show off your footage. The Flip Video cameras use 2 AA batteries for power, with approximately 2 hours of life for standard AA batteries and up to 5 hours using the lithium AA batteries.

As with anything at the low end of the price spectrum, there are a few tradeoffs: no optical image stabilization and no optical zoom are two missing pieces; the microphone isn't the best at filtering out noise; there's no tripod mount on the original Flip Video (the Ultra has one). There is a 2x digital zoom, but quality deteriorates fast. Still, if you recognize these limitations in advance and want a camcorder that you're not afraid to take anywhere, you won't go wrong using the Flip.

You can see some sample footage below. If editing with the onboard software is too limiting, most other video editing apps also work, including Windows Movie Maker.

Click To Play

Find the Flip Video camera on Amazon

"I unintentionally recorded in HDV mode on my Canon XH-A1 on DV tapes (instead of DV) and now cannot transfer the videos into any software I have. Is there a way of overriding the software? If not, which program will accept the HDV."

Most of the HDV footage I've seen from the XH-A1 looks amazing, so hopefully you'll be pleasantly pleased with your unintentional results. If you recorded in HDV mode then what's on your tape is HDV, not DV (the tape doesn't matter, the HDV and MiniDV tapes are the same with different packaging). HDV is reasonably mature as a format, with widespread support from most of the major video editing packages. Here are several options for capturing your HDV footage.

If you have a Sony camcorder, one of the best things you can do to improve your home movies is to invest in the Sony ECM-HW1 wireless microphone. People are much more likely to watch video with great audio than they are video with mediocre audio. The biggest limiting factor in getting great audio for video is the proximity of the microphone to what you're trying to record. The ECM-HW1 solves the proximity problem for Sony camcorder owners because it's a clip-on solution that puts the microphone where the action is - not where the video camera is. The actual microphone body is just larger than the two AAA batteries used to power it, which makes it a little clunkier than a traditional lavaliere microphone. The bulk of the microphone body is more than made up for by a lack of wires you need to run through someone's shirt. What makes the microphone interesting is the wireless used is Bluetooth, which seemingly translates to better range and less noise than I get from traditional radio frequency wireless microphones. Another key advantage is the integration of the receiver with the camcorder. Normally a wireless microphone receiver is a bulky affair involving a power pack that gets wired into the microphone line in on the camcorder. The wireless receiver for the ECM-HW1 fits neatly in the hot shoe found on most of Sony's camcorder line, with no additional wires required. I picked up one of these microphones around the same time I got my Sony HDR-SR1 hard drive camcorder and find it to be indispensible. The wireless microphone works both for stereo audio and the 5.1 surround touted on many of Sony's camcorders. The only word of caution here is that the 5.1 surround on most of these camcorders is typically AC3 audio, which isn't supported by several of the consumer video editing suites. List price is $199.00, but you can typically find the ECM-HW1 for less with some thrifty shopping.

Find the best price on a Sony ECM-HW1 Bluetooth Wireless Microphone

Search ebay for a Sony ECM-HW1 Bluetooth Wireless Microphone

Rosa writes, "Students recorded a movie project at home with camera using a DVD as a recording. Now they want to edit at school in Windows Movie Maker. They cannot import their movie to Movie Maker."

There's no guaranteed method for importing DVD camcorder movies into the Windows XP version Windows Movie Maker and editing them. Windows XP doesn't include the required DVD decoder software by default. Many of the consumer DVD software solutions available don't consistently work with every camcorder because some of the software packages don't include both the necessary video and audio decoders. The most reliable solution I've found for editing the files created with DVD camcorders in Windows Movie Maker is Elecard MPEG Player. Even if you already have another DVD playback solution on the computer, this method may fail without installing the Elecard software.

"Do I need to buy tapes labeled HDV for my HDV camcorder, or will the MiniDV tapes work in my HDV camcorder too?"

While people have differing opinions on the quality of various MiniDV and HDV tapes, in general, the tape cartridge format and the tape used in MiniDV and HDV tapes are exactly the same. Putting the HDV label on the packaging is a marketing gimmick. You could buy tapes labeled HDV and use them in a MiniDV camcorder. Or you could buy tapes labeled MiniDV and use them in an HDV camcorder. The one thing you want to be careful about is consistently using tapes with the same type of lubricant.

There are two types of tape lubricant: wet lubricant and dry lubricant. Sony uses a wet lubricant for Sony brand tapes. Virtually everyone else uses dry lubricant. The reason you don't want to mix and match these lubricants is you'll gunk up the heads on your camcorder when the two lubricants mix. It's like making little mud pies in the internal workings of your camcorder. The easiest way to avoid mixing the two lubricants is to pick a brand and stick with it. If you do happen to mix tapes with differing lubricant types, be sure to clean the heads on your camcorder to prevent any permanent damage.

"Is there a place to download a driver for my Sony camcorder for Vista? I upgraded to Windows Vista, and found that my Sony video camera no longer works. I need a new driver in order for my computer to recognize my video camera."

Some of the Sony camcorders support transferring video from tape over USB or iLINK. The USB connection requires a special driver for each version of Windows. The iLINK connection typically conforms with the standard FireWire transfer common to most digital video cameras. If you were previously using the USB connection to transfer video from your Sony camcorder to your computer, that feature probably no longer works with Vista because Sony doesn't have an updated driver for the USB support. Sony has a list of supported camcorders, with very few including Vista support for USB.

Larry writes, "How do I change a file extension from VOB to MPEG?"
Presumably you're looking to rename a VOB file to .MPEG or .MPG so that you can edit the file in a software video editor that doesn't recognize the .VOB file extension as valid. To change the file extension on a .VOB file to .MPEG or .MPG you simply need to rename the file.

You can't rename the .VOB file on a DVD because DVDs are read only, so the first thing to do is copy the VOB file from the DVD to your hard drive. Right click the VOB file on your hard drive and choose Rename from the menu.

Bennett asks, "How do I upload a camcorder tape to my computer? I want to upload my daughter's video I took with my camcorder to the computer. What do I need to do?"

Since you mention that the camcorder uses tape, I'm going to assume that your camcorder is some sort of digital video camera using MiniDV. This means you need a FireWire connection in your computer and the correct cabling to connect your camcorder to your PC. You also need to have software for capturing the video from your camcorder - assuming you have Windows XP or Vista, you can use Windows Movie Maker to capture your video from tape.

Amit writes, "How do I convert Digital8 tapes to DVD?"

Digital8 is Sony's alternative to MiniDV and remains available only in limited camcorders in the Sony product line. Fortunately, the capture process is identical to what you'd expect from a MiniDV camcorder. You connect the Digital8 camcorder from the iLINK (aka FireWire or IEEE 1394) connection on the camcorder to the FireWire connection on your PC and import the contents of the tape. You can then edit the footage with your favorite video editor and author a DVD.

For a tutorial on capturing video from a Digital8 Camcorder follow the steps here:

Capturing video from a Sony Digital8 Video Camera

Once you capture the footage from the Digital8 camcorder, here's a number of tips for editing video:

Video Editing with Windows Movie Maker

For authoring DVDs, my favorite solution is Sonic MyDVD. You can walk through the process of making a DVD here:

DVD Authoring Step-by-step

"I recently purchased a JVC camcorder that records video as .MOD files. I can't seem to edit the files or play them on my PC. Is there a way to convert .MOD files to .MPG or something that works on my computer?"

.MOD files are JVC's implementation of MPEG-2 transport streams, similar to a VOB file on a DVD or the M2T files used on Sony hard drive camcorders. You don't actually need to convert the files to .MPG in order to make them playable on your computer, you can simply rename them in most cases.

Brian writes, "How do I know when my digital video camera needs maintenance. What kinds of maintenance can I do myself? Or do I need a professional to service my camcorder?"

In general, leave any serious maintenance issues to a trained professional. For one thing, having an authorized repair outfit do the maintenance will keep you from invalidating the warranty on your digital video camera, while also avoiding the risk of doing permanent damage. The one simple thing you can do yourself to help extend the life of your video camera is to use a head cleaning cassette, coupled with some good storage and usage habits.

As a rule of thumb, doing a simple head cleaning with a MiniDV cleaning cassette once every three months is likely often enough. The cleaning cassettes are available at most electronics stores or you can find them with a quick search for MiniDV cleaning cassette at your favorite online shopping site.

Once you have a cleaning cassette, the steps for cleaning are fairly straightforward. Insert the cleaning cassette, press play record, let the tape run for about 10 seconds. This gets any gunk off the heads in your video camera, while not overworking the heads with the abrasive nature of the cleaning cassette.

If you have one of those newer touch-screen viewfinders, it's a good idea to keep a supply of monitor cleaning cloths around to get the greasy fingerprints off the screen. If you don't keep the LCD screen clean, the protective coating will wear off over time.

The only other thing you should clean yourself is the lens. This is easily done with a combination of a can of compressed air, one of those non-abrasive brushes you find at camera stores and when necessary, a non-abrasive cloth.

Keeping Your Camera Clean Between Cleanings

There are a number of things you can do to help extend the life of your camera and reduce maintenance headaches in the future. The biggest one is avoiding switching between wet and dry lubricant tapes. Sony tapes use a wet lubricant. Every other tape manufacturer on the market uses a dry lubricant for tapes. If you switch from wet to dry lubricant tapes, you risk gunking up your tape heads when the residue from the two types of lubrication combine inside your camera.

If you opt to switch tape brands, you should definitely clean your camcorder heads before making the switch.

Proper storage of your camcorder is also a good preventive step in keeping your camcorder working smoothly. Keep your camcorder in low humidity, in a dust-free environment. Storing your camera in a camera bag is a good way to accomplish the dust-prevention.

Download HDVSplit

All of the video apps supporting HDV suffer from the same problem - if the app barfs on your video, you waste a bunch of time recapturing the content. There's also the issue of having all your files trapped in your video editor's format, with no easy way to work with clips and segments of the video somewhere else. Enter HDVSplit, a app specifically designed to capture HDV video, split the video based on scenes, and provide custom labeling for the clips. This provides the flexibility to use only the segments you need in your video editing app, while also allowing you to circumvent any of the glitchy sections of your video tape (if any exist). The software only officially claims support for the HDV camcorders from Sony, although it should work with any of the HDV camcorders currently on the market. If you have several m2t files already on your hard drive, HDVSplit will process all of them and do scene detection as a batch. [Windows XP/Vista $0.00]

Find a MiniDV Tape Rewinder

If your camcorder uses MiniDV tape, one of the best things you can do for it is spend something under $30 on a tape rewinder. Basically, it's a simple device that does nothing other than rewinding or fast forwarding MiniDV tapes used in both HDV and MiniDV camcorders. The mechanism that turns the tapes in your camcorder is one of the most likely parts to break down and can be prohibitively expensive to fix. You can give it a break by offloading the rewind task to a rewinder, which is a great way to prep your video for ingesting into your editing application of choice, or simply applying some tension to the tape before storing it away for months. My preference is for the type that runs on battery power with optional AC input, so that I can easily take the rewinder in my bag without needing a second AC adapter. Of course, if you've got money to burn, the Sony GVD-1000 is a nice option for off-loading rewind duties and previewing your video at the same time.

As I work with consumer level High Definition camcorders more regularly, I'm convinced they have a long way to go before people will really like the video result. MiniDV options for standard definition recording are at least refined to the point of consistent results, even if those results are often limited by the skill of the person shooting the video and editing the footage. Video output from the consumer HD cameras tends to have quirky results. Consumer HD editing solutions are somewhat limited and often don't work consistently for all formats. Publishing options seem limited to either DVD or Blu-ray disks, with virtually nowhere to put HD content online.

Many of the HD camcorders have potential. I own both a Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1a and the Sony HDR-SR1. I like features of both camcorders, but find many aspects of the entire consumer HD workflow frustrating. I love the portability provided with the Sanyo Xacti line. The same guys who headed up the Canon Digital Elph line of products are steering the future of the Xacti. The Sony HDR-SR1 takes better images than the Xacti and has potential to be a solid video solution in another generation.

The Xacti VPC-HD1a records MP4 files to an SD card, making it easy to shoot short movies and upload them. It's biggest downside is a 400 ISO, which performs poorly in low light. The Sony HDR-SR1 is more too my liking for creating published content, although not without a few quirks. Sony did something brilliant in offering a Bluetooth wireless microphone, with incredible range and none of the noise you sometimes get from a traditional radio frequency wireless microphone. The CMOS image sensor in the Sony HDR-SR1 camera seems to have issues, making it frustrating to get consistently great video.

The big downside to the HDR-SR1 is the AVCHD format recorded by camera. It requires some convoluted editing at the moment, because Sony released the camera without a supported editing workflow. The camera was quite popular during the holiday buying season, at least in the San Francisco and Seattle areas where every store was completely sold out, so I can only assume there will be many frustrated camera owners trying to edit movies.

I remain hopeful consumer HD camcorders are on the verge of getting better imaging and improved support. Sanyo showed off an updated version of the Xacti at CES, with support for HDMI output, better low-light recording, and a handful of minor tweaks to the design. Panasonic is shipping a 3CCD camcorder with AVCHD support in March, which records to SD cards. And a number of software vendors will finally ship their AVCHD supported products, as well as supporting h.264 natively. Blu-ray support is a standard feature in most of the DVD authoring tools, which hopefully means HD-DVD isn't too far behind.

Unless you have a real need to record in HD, or unless you have the budget to buy a camcorder in the $3000 and up range, I'm recommending that you stick with buying a 3CCD SD camcorder for the time being and wait a few more years for the consumer HD market to mature.

Recording video straight to hard drive using an AVCHD camcorder should speed up your video editing workflow. It is not without some frustration in the editing process. Two years after the first AVCHD camcorder hit the market, a handful of tools now work well for editing AVCHD files created with Sony's camcorders and the AVCHD camcorders from Panasonic. I strongly recommend using:
either Pinnacle Studio Ultimate or Sony Vegas

The Sony Vegas option probably makes the most sense considering many of the AVCHD camcorders are made by Sony. Nero Ultra Edition ENHANCED is an additional solution for editing the AVCHD files, however, I find other aspects of Nero frustrating and don't use it for my own editing needs. Pinnacle wins on ease of use, but it's more limiting than Vegas if you're willing to learn the interface.

Back when webcams first came on the scene, if you had a choice between a CMOS based cam or a CCD based cam, I always recommended the CCD cam because images were simply better. CMOS was the cheap alternative and it often produced these weird blocks in images when it didn't put the image data together correctly. Apparently some things never change. The new Sony HDR-SR1 High Definition camcorder uses a CMOS sensor to collect image data instead of a CCD, presumably to keep the cost down. When the camcorder takes good pictures, it takes great pictures. When the CMOS sensor gets confused, it resorts to the blocky badness just like its much cheaper CMOS webcam cousins. Based on that frustration alone, I'm highly inclined to swap my HDR-SR1 for the Panasonic HDC-SD1 when it ships. Panasonic is sticking with 3CCDs while recording to the same AVCHD format used in the HDR-SR1.

For an example of what I'm referring to, here's a blocky headshot of Elizabeth Del Sol taken with the HDR-SR1. Yes, the lighting in the shot is lousy, but it was taken in the neon-lit valet parking area of the Sahara casino, so I didn't have any control over the environment.

Here's a frame two frames earlier in the footage where Miss Del Sol looks normal.

For what it's worth, this problem seems to occur less when there's better lighting and when the camera isn't compensating as much for motion, but that's still a lousy image experience. Using a camera with CCDs will still produce bad images in less than perfect conditions, but at least your shots don't look like your trying for one of those jumbled image puzzles on every other frame.

Mack asks, "When using a DVD video camera are you able to edit on the disk or reuse it?"

The short answer to both questions is almost always, 'yes'. Most of the DVD camcorders offer limited on camera editing, which generally amounts to choosing sections of video to either keep or delete. The sections you keep can then be copied to a new DVD, imported to your computer, or finalized as a finished movie.

The most common disks supported by DVD camcorders are DVD+RW, which are re-writeable disks. These disks can be re-used and re-recorded over multiple times. In practice, I almost never re-use DVD+RW or DVD-RW disks because the blanks are cheap enough that I find it more practical to keep the original data on the disk in case I want to refer back to it at a later time.

Lauren writes, "I was reading your site about still image capture from video...is there a video format available that is able to generate an image at 300 dpi? Is there special video (professional stuff I would guess) that would truly give you a good quality image for printing in a magazine?"

While Hollywood film productions shot with 70mm film (and even 35mm) can be converted to printed stills without too much deterioration in image quality; video looks best on screens. Video results in a dramatic deterioration in image quality when you try to print it. Some editing tricks in Photoshop can beef up the effective DPI of a still video frame, but it still won't look as good as an equivalent shot taken with a still camera and standard definition video is almost never print worthy. If you truly need to shoot video that can be printed in a magazine, HD video at 1080p is your best bet. The equivalent of a 4x6 still image can be cropped from a 1080p frame to achieve approximately 300 dots per inch. A 720p image will get you a 4x6 print image with approximately 200 dpi equivalent print resolution.

Sony, Panasonic and JVC all offer camcorders with 1080p video output, although you need to be willing to spend several thousand dollars to get it. Panasonic's AG-HVX200 (pictured above) is one of several options with 1080p recording for under $10,000.

Unless you have an unlimited budget, buying a digital video camera involves a series of tradeoffs to get the best possible features you can afford. By planning ahead before you make your purchase, you can better anticipate where your camera will get used and extend its functional life in the process. The most important thing you can do before making a decision is to sit down and make a list of the 10 most likely scenarios your new camera will be used for. As digital video camera buyers, most of us fall into one of the following categories:

A) Travelers who want to capture our trip experiences

B) Parents or expecting parents who want to record the kids

C) Filmmakers/hobbyists who want to record the world around them

D) Gadget freaks who need the latest and greatest toy

E) Retirees or Grandparents who often exhibit traits of A or B (or both)

Depending on where you are in life, you might cross over into multiple categories and the reasons for buying a camera will exhibit some similarities. After you look at when and why you might want to record events, take a look at my list of 10 things to watch for when buying a digital camera.

Ignore Digital Zoom

Digital zoom is the measure of a cameras ability to magnify pixels in an image. You don't get a close up shot with digital zoom, you get an enlarged version of the best optical zoom your camera supports, which ultimately results in grainy looking video. This is the same effect as blowing up a digital image to 500% (or more) in image preview mode on your computer. The bigger the image gets, the worse it looks. While digital video cameras attempt to compensate for this by smoothing the edges of pixels, you still aren't getting a better close up. Optical zoom performance is the number that matters when choosing a digital video camera. Optical zoom measures a camera's ability to magnify an image to give you great looking close-up shots. If zoom is important to your digital video recording needs, either spend the money on a better optical zoom or buy an after market add-on lens that further enhances your cameras optical ability. Both options will give you better looking video than turning on digital zoom.

Mexapixels Don't Matter

All the marketing materials related to camcorders boast a number of mexapixels in the camcorder. This number is only meaningful in relation to still images taken with the camcorder. If you're really concerned with the quality of your video image, look at how many chips are in the camcorder and how big the chips are In general, a 1CCD camcorder won't give you the same depth of color as a 3CCD camcorder. And in most cases, a 1/3-inch CCD will give you a better image than a 1/4-inch or 1/6-inch CCD. More recently, CMOS censors are competing directly with CCD in the camcorder market and offer another alternative. Like CCD, with CMOS, the size of the censor matters more than the mexapixels. Lens size and quality also play a part in overall image quality of digital video, but mexapixels don't matter.

See a comparison of 1CCD and 3CCD digital video camera images.

Wide Angle Shooting

One often overlooked feature of digital video cameras is the native ability of a camera to shoot wide angle shots. This determines how far away from your subject you need to be in order to capture a clear image. It also determines how well you can shoot great video in close quarters. The first time this became obvious to me was when I was trying to shoot video of people sitting next to me on a tour bus and I couldn't back-up far enough without climbing out the bus window to get them both in the frame. While this won't make as much difference if you only plan to shoot video of your child's soccer games, be sure and test out the wide angle ability of any camera before you buy or be prepared to make compromises later.

Low Light Performance Matters

How well your digital video camera performs in low light is as much about how well it shoots video in your house with normal interior lighting as it is about how well it shoots in the late evening hours or in a dimly lit basement. In most cases, low light for a camcorder means anything that's not outdoors on a sunny day. If you're buying a camcorder from a large electronics store, ask them to let you demo the camera back in the area where they have the HDTVs with the lights turned down - this will give you a better idea of how the camera really performs away from the bright lights on the sales floor.

Make Sure the Camera Fits

Getting the right features in a camera is important. It's also vital to make sure the camera you are buying fits you. Can you hold the camera steady while shooting video? Is the video camera comfortable in your hand? Are the buttons placed in a way that makes them easy to press without jostling the camera during recording? Is the camera a size you're comfortable taking with you, or is it too big so you'll never use it? Will the camcorder fit in your purse or do you need a separate bag? All these are questions that help determine whether a digital video camera is a good fit for your needs.

Understand Recording Formats

While there are a number of consumer cameras now offering you the option of recording HD video or what we commonly think of as standard definition, the recording format I'm referring to is the medium used to store the video. There are currently 4 main formats to choose from in consumer digital video cameras: MiniDV, DVD, hard drive, and flash memory.

MiniDV is the most common format for recording video. Each tape records 60-90 minutes of video depending on the record mode. The tapes are affordable at $3-5 per tape. The downside is if you want to edit your video, you need to import it in real-time to your computer. For every minute of footage, you wait one minute for the footage to import. If you're busy, this means you end up recording a ton of footage that never gets used because you never have time to edit.

DVD is becoming a common format for recording. Camcorders that record to DVD typically use either standard sized DVD+R or DVD-R disks, with mini DVD becoming commonplace in Sony's DVD camcorders. Mini DVD camcorders record approximately 20 minutes per DVD. While DVD media is slightly cheaper than MiniDV tape, it comes with a few different quirks. DVD camcorders are a good option if you don't plan to edit your footage, but become a hassle if you want to extract the video from the DVD. In most cases, if you go this route, be sure you also invest in Sony's Vegas Video, otherwise you can plan on jumping through hoops to edit your movies.

Hard Drive based recording is popular for many of the same reasons outlined in Flash Memory below. By recording directly to a hard drive, recorded video is easily transferred to a PC for editing in faster than real time. The big downside is being limited in how much video a hard drive based camera can store (although this is typically 1 hour per 1GB of storage). When you run out of space, you need to delete everything on the drive in order to keep recording.

Flash Memory is becoming more common as a storage format for digital video cameras. Much like digital still cameras, a number of camcorders are using SD cards to store video. For standard definition, you can typically get 1 hour per 1GB of storage. The advantage of this type of storage is ease of file transfer. You simply copy the video file to your hard drive in order to edit. The price of large storage cards is still somewhat expensive, especially if you need to keep several cards on hand.

Test LCD Brightness in Sunlight

If possible, take a demo unit of the digital video camera you plan to buy outside before making a purchase. Many of the LCD screens on camcorders don't perform well in bright sunlight, making it next to impossible to see what you're recording. There are little visors you can get to shade the LCD screen from the sun, but that's also one more thing to carry. If you can find a camcorder with a great LCD screen, you'll be better served.

If you find the LCD isn't performing up to par in bright light, the Hoodman LCD sun shade is likely your best alternative.

Image Stabilization

Most digital video cameras have some form of image stabilization. The quality varies widely from camera to camera. Image stabilization quality becomes a key factor in the way your shots look when shooting video without a tripod. Stabilization really comes into play when zooming because little shakes are magnified along with the image. In most cases, consumer digital video cameras use electronic image stabilization, which is software in the camera that attempts to correct for a shaky hand. If you can afford it, optical image stabilization is better because it's actual mechanical components in the camera making adjustments for shake to keep the lens stable. When choosing between two cameras at a store, turn on stabilization on both cameras, zoom in by an equivalent amount and hold them out at arms length. While this isn't scientific, the one with the smoother looking image is likely to have better stabilization.

Avoid Hybrid Cameras

The current range of digital video cameras with digital still camera functionality is inferior to almost all digital still cameras. The idea of a combined camera is better in concept than it is in practice. If taking digital stills is important, get a camera designed for taking digital stills. Focus on the core video features when buying a digital video camera and think of the digital still functions as a convenient bonus if they happen to work well. If you're dead set on getting a camera with both features, get a digital still camera with video functions - the still cameras take better video than the video cameras take still images.

Buy a Tripod

If you buy a digital video camera, you need a tripod to go with it. There's no other accessory, outside of a longer life battery, that will improve your video recording experience. The key here is to get the right tripod. It's tempting to get the off-the-shelf options at the electronics store, but they always fall short. Look for a fluid-head. Make sure the tripod extends high enough to shoot effectively - 72-inches is a good starting point, because anything less often leaves you shooting the backs of people's heads in a crowded area.

eBay offers a great selection of fluid-head tripods at competitive prices.

When Buying Online Beware

I do most of my electronics purchasing online and I still occasionally run into situations where companies try bait-and-switch type tactics in selling digital cameras and camcorders. There are many companies offering what seem like bargain prices on video cameras. What they don't tell you is that in order to get the low price, they will try to upsell you on many things you might not need. Watch out for companies trying to bundle things like tapes, tripods, camera bags and other accessories with your purchase. It's not that you don't need these items; it's that the bundles are often low quality stuff that makes the company a ton of money. You'll remain happier in the long run by sticking to your guns and saying no to these add-ons or by simply shopping elsewhere when a sales rep attempts to stick you with stuff you didn't order. One key indicator that you're about to get the hard sell is the Website requiring you to either call in your purchase or accept a callback from a sales rep after ordering through the site in order to finalize the purchase.

When the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1 first shipped, it was panned for being lousy at image stabilization. A shaky image is never pleasant to look at, but a shaky HD image is almost enough to make you sick. Sanyo made some improvements and recently released the VPC-HD1a. I got to see the the VPC-HD1 and VPC-HD1a side-by-side and compare the image stabilization at the Portable Media Expo. The revisions to the HD1a make it a functional highly portable video camera. The revised Xacti camera still boasts 10x optical zoom, 5.1 megapixel still images, 1280x720 (aka 720p) video resolution and on-the-fly MPEG-4 encoding to allow about 40 minutes of video to fit on a 2GB SD card. While I wouldn't consider a pocket sized camcorder a replacement for many of the larger handheld models, especially for shooting any kind of serious HD video, the Xacti VPC-HD1a shines in an area dramatically underserved in the digital video camera market - portability. By making the improvements to image stabilization, Sanyo is now doing for the digital video market what Canon did for digital still cameras when they launched the Digital Elph line several years back. The Xacti VPC-HD1a leaves you no excuse not to take a video camera with you everywhere. If you plan to only shoot for iPod viewing, there's a mode that automatically records at 320x240. The still images are good enough you could even dump your pocket-sized digital still as well. While the price makes portability a little spendy at $699 (the lowest price I could find as of this writing), it's the most affordable way to dip your toe into HD video and the only way to get HD video in your pocket (at least for now). The next time you see me, you can almost guarantee I'll have one of these in my pocket.

Find the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1A on Amazon

Bob asks, What do you recommend for a video camera for video blogs at a reasonable cost?

No matter what video recording solution you currently own, the real key is to just get out there and start creating. You can always purchase the perfect tools later. Having said that, it's important to consider several factors (including cost) when you're planning to video blog. Recommending a particular video camera or style of camera depends greatly on the subject and style of your video blog. If you are always providing talking head commentary with very little on screen action, camera options more open than if you plan to shoot a weekly video serial with several participants and scene changes. Here are the key things to think about:

1) Who is your target audience?
2) How is your video blog staged?
3) How big is the video camera?
4) How much time does it take to import and edit the files?
5) What format do you plan to distribute the files in?

Who is your target audience?

Target audience is one primary factor in determining which type of camera to use. If the audience is anyone who might stumble on to your work, the bar is lower than if you are trying to convey a specific message to corporate clients or using your video blog as the pilot project showcasing a certain set of video skills.

How is your video blog staged?

Whenever you shoot video, you might spend 5 seconds or 5 minutes preparing to shoot. This is staging. Think about whether your video blog will be completely ad hoc using a handheld camera at arms length with your smiling face starring, whether you have a basic set and tripod mount, or whether you are truly staging a production of some kind with multiple participants and scenes.

In the ad hoc scenario, the video function on a digital still camera might work great. For tripod mounting, virtually any digital video camera might work and for complex productions, you want to be sure you are using a 3CCD digital video camera.

How big is the video camera?

Camera size is important because if you video blog on the go, you want something portable. A larger form factor digital video camera almost always results in better looking video with more color depth, but is more likely to stay at home when you don't want to be encumbered by extra bulk in a pocket or bag. A pocket-sized camera, like one of the newer digital video cameras that record to SD or a small form factor digital still camera like the Canon Digital Elph series easily goes everywhere you go. If you shoot in a stationary location, video camera size doesn't matter, but factors like image quality might.

How much time does it take to import and edit your video?

The more time required to import and edit your video, the more a video blog starts to feel like work. In many cases, when something is too much like work it gets abandoned when there's no clear advantage to continuing. Recording to a digital card like the JVC Everio pictured here means faster than real time transfer of files. If you are a one take wonder, this means the raw footage is immediately ready for upload with no waiting to import tape and output a file. If you require minor editing, the time investment is minimized because you aren't waiting the same number of minutes importing you just spent shooting.

Keep in mind that I'm not referring to the SD cards used by digital video cameras to record still images. I'm specifically referring to video cameras that record video direct to SD.

What format do you plan to distribute the files in?

The standard in video blogging is 320x240 video in Flash, WMV, MOV or MP4. Flash is fast becoming the online streaming standard for video with MP4 h.263 video becoming the standard for downloads because of universal iPod and PSP compatibility (let's hope Sony adds h.264 someday soon). Depending on which camera you select for recording and the list of other factors above, you might be able to simply record and upload a file direct from your camera. For instance, my cell phone records MP4 video compatible with both iPod and PSP form factors, although the image size is smaller than I would like.

Recording format is important for simplifying distribution. Camcorders with record-to-DVD support cause headaches for many people by dramatically increasing the hassle of working with video during editing. For widest compatibility, starting with a miniDV tape or hard disk based recorder and importing DV-AVI requires the least conversion hassle when you're saving files in multiple formats. If you use a digital still camera, the format is typically AVI, MP4, MOV, or WMV. The trick here becomes figuring out which software will convert your video to the format you need for publishing.

I have a Sony DCR TRV-640 Digital8 camcorder. How can I get video from my camcorder into my computer?

Sony created Digital8 primarily to address backward compatibility with all the 8mm video people created with their Hi8 camcorders for years leading up to digital video hitting a consumer price range. With a Digital8 camcorder you can playback old Hi8 tapes from the Digital8 camcorder or to record in digital using the same tape blanks. You get an advantage of FireWire capture (or as Sony calls it, i.LINK) with any of the Digital8 camcorder models, just like you would if you purchased a MiniDV camcorder.

Without know which video editing software you currently own, I'm going to walk through the process with free video capture application WinDV. WinDV is one of the best apps for video capture because it has a larger than average buffer queue to help prevent dropped video frames during capture. Whether your digital video camera is Digital8 or the more standard MiniDV variety, I highly recommend stepping through the list of recommendations to prevent dropped frames before beginning your video capture.

Download WinDV

Connect your Digital8 camcorder to your PC using a FireWire cable. The i.LINK connection on the Sony Digital8 camcorders is always a 4-pin connector. Most desktop PCs, with the exception of Sony computers use 6-pin FireWire connections. Sony uses 4-pin connectors on their desktop PCs as well. On a laptop, the FireWire connection is almost always 4-pin. Make sure you get a FireWire cable to match your needs. For most desktop systems, this means you need a 4-pin to 6-pin cable. For laptops and all Sony computers you need a 4-pin to 4-pin cable.

With both ends of the cable connected, turn on your camcorder in VTR or VCR playback mode. Make sure the tape is rewound to the point you want to capture from. Launch WinDV. Create a name for the video capture file by clicking the ... button next to Capt. file.

The software shows your camera as Paused...Press for Capturing.

Press the Capture button in the software and then press play on your camcorder. Other software applications integrate play controls, which is useful, but WinDV is one of the single best apps for preventing dropped frames, which makes me willing to put up with this shortcoming. When capture is finished, press the capture button in WinDV again and stop playback on your camcorder.

This file is now ready for editing in any video editing application. A great free video editor is VirtualDub.

Digital Media Thoughts Review of Sony HDR-FX1

Compare Prices on Sony HDR-FX1

On a discussion list I actively participate in several debates erupted over the potential hazards of HD video cameras reaching a price point where consumers might seriously consider replacing there home movie camera with a high definition unit. The attractiveness of your relatives being inversely proportional to the level of detail presented by the camera means we will all be examining flaws with a Lilliputian eye. In other words, no more hiding those blemishes behind a little cover-up; the cosmetic coating will stand out loud and clear. On the other hand, budget pricing could turn every kid on the block into a wannabe Discovery channel adventurer with the ability to capture mating grasshoppers at a level reserved for corporate equipment buyers. Sony is rapidly bringing prices down into the enthusiast range. The HDR-FX1 isn't priced for home users, but it may mean seeing the Bride walking down the aisle at 1080i before too much longer. The camera offers true 16x9 aspect ratio at 1080i and does it with 3CCDs, unlike most of the "budget-priced" HD cams which only have 1CCD. Digital Media Thoughts offers an excellent in depth look at this great new Sony HD cam.

Normally it would be grossly unfair to compare a 3CCD DV camera against a 1CCD DV camera, because the playing field is anything but level. With Panasonic's recent foray into consumer-friendly pricing on 3CCD DV cameras, I decided to put my Canon ZR70 to the test against the Panasonic PV-GS70.

In a nutshell, CCD stands for Charged Coupled Device, which are the chips used by a DV cam to capture image information. 1CCD camcorders capture images by capturing one of the three RGB color values and interpreting the other two. 3CCD cameras capture image data by assigning one color to each chip, resulting in more accurate color information. This is one instance where more is almost always better.

At the time I purchased the ZR70 last year, it was still priced around $700. With a new model year on the horizon, the ZR70 is currently priced under $450, with its generational equivalent, the ZR90 priced at just under $600.

Panasonic's entry level 3CCD DV cam, the PV-GS120 sports the same lens/CCD configuration as the PV-GS70 I tested and may be found for as low as $665. Because I didn't want to wait for the PV-GS120 to become available, I picked up the PV-GS70 for $699. The extra $35 got me MPEG-4 recording (in addition to uncompressed DV), Webcam functionality, and a wired external microphone/remote control. I point out these differences only to illustrate the pricing proximity of the 1CCD and 3CCD DV cams being discussed here.

For my testing, I set each of the two DV cams on tripods positioned as close together as possible, in order to approximate the same angle from each camera. I'll let the images speak for themselves.

1CCD images are displayed on the left - 3CCD images on the right

Outdoors Mostly Sunny

Outdoors Cloudy with a Slight Haze

Indoors Basement Incandescent Lighting

This comparison is obviously unscientific in nature, but it's fairly clear which DV cam produces better images, especially in low-light situations. 1CCD cameras with larger lenses would probably fare slightly better, by allowing more light to hit the CCD, but the color information will still be lacking.

There are many 1CCD cameras priced well below the Panasonic PV-GS120. Quite a few cost several hundred dollars more. Unless you are looking for a professional level camera, like the Canon GL2 or XL1, until Canon and Sony offer competing 3CCD models, I won't be recommending anything but the Panasonic 3CCD line for home and small business users for the foreseeable future.

Buy the Panasonic PV-120 from JandR PANASONIC PV-GS120 MiniDV Camcorder