How To Choose A Digital Video Camera

You have a choice of four major camcorder formats. MiniDV, DVD, HDD and SD. So which one suits you?

MiniDV cameras. These cameras record on to miniDV tapes. You get up to 60 minutes on each tape. If you're aiming to get your footage on TV then miniDV is the way to go. Two reasons for that.

One, all broadcasters have DV capabilities so you'll never have any problems with distributing footage on miniDV.

And two because - if you're prepared to spend the money - miniDV cameras have some pretty decent lenses and the ability to use professional external mics. Professional mics connect via an XLR plug. XLR circuitry is designed to cancel out line noise so better sound quality.

MiniDV is the oldest of the digital camcorder formats so it has a pedigree and a good level of market saturation. It also fits very well into desktop editing systems.

The tapes do represent a ongoing cost of ownership. You can re-use the tapes but most people don't. If you're planning an extended filming trip then you're going to have to factor in the weight and bulk of tapes.

DVD Camcorders. These cameras record onto DVD discs - fairly obvious really. However I should point out that they record onto mini DVD discs. Is that important? It can be because some DVD players will require a caddy to play these mini discs. Also if you DVD player has a vertical loading bay then the mini DVDs will fall out as you try to load them. This is really annoying.

These DVD cameras can usually record all the major DVD formats. DVD-R/-RW/+RW and +R DL (Dual Layer) compatible discs but it's a good idea to check that your DVD player is compatible with your camcorder.

If you're planning on editing your footage then DVD digital video cameras are not a good choice. You can edit the footage but it takes extra processing.

HDD Camcorders. These are hard disc drive camcorders. The drives normally range in size from about 30GB to 60GB. You can store about 15 minutes of video per GB - it's actually a bit more than that but this makes the math easy. Once the disc is full you'll have to transfer the material to your PC or another external drive. Like SD camcorders HDD camcorders give you the ability to erase and re-order footage very easily. This can be a huge time saver. If you do get an HDD camcorder ensure that it comes with some kind of on board shock absorber so that if you drop the camera the hard disc and recording heads aren't damaged.

SD Camcorders. These cameras rely on the SD cards (also called flash memory) that many stills cameras use. Like HDD cameras SD camcorders allow you to re-order and delete footage very easily. Although the SD cards aren't cheap they are coming down in price all the time.

Dubbed the camcorder for the iPod generation SD cameras are becoming increasingly popular. They are the smallest and lightest of all the formats and extra SD cards can be carried in you wallet making long video shoots much easier to stock for. I think you'll see SD camcorders become the dominant choice over the next year or so. They're ultra portable, have great features and give brilliant results.

Megapixels. When it comes to shooting video megapixels are irrelevant. They're only useful when talking about photos. So why are they so widely publicized? Well they have a great name - MegaPixels - and they're a big number which marketers love. It's true that most video cameras can capture stills so if you're going to do this then those megapixels may be of interest. But no video camera can compete with a dedicated stills camera when it comes to taking photographs.

Lenses. When it comes to lenses you've got two choices. Plastic or glass. Plastic is cheap but not as good as glass. All decent camcorders will come with a glass lens. Usually you'll see two numbers for the zoom properties of a lens. The digital zoom and the optical zoom. Ignore the digital zoom - this produces awful pictures. The optical zoom is a true reflection of a lens's capabilities.

CCD. CCD or charge-coupled device is the piece of circuitry that converts the light coming into the lens into a digital video signal. They come in two sizes. 1/3 of an inch and 1/6 of an inch. Bigger is better because it will catch more of the incoming light. A camcorder will either have one or three CCDs. With three CCDs you will get richer more vibrant colors because the camera is digitizing each of the primary colors (red, green and blue) separately. The new challenger to CCD is CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) which in essence does the same job but is easier on your battery.

Batteries. It's a fact of life that you never get the advertised run time on batteries for any product. So when you get your camcorder buy two additional long life batteries, a separate charger and just accept it.

Lux. A strange word for low light or rather how well your camcorder performs in low light. Ignore it. Marketers love to try and impress you with big numbers and strange words the fact is that all modern digital cameras perform exceptionally well in low light conditions. If you are struggling to get a decent picture then it's time to invest in some decent lighting.

Audio. The onboard mics of all camcorders are dreadful. Harsh but true. If you're just capturing atmos or incidental sound then fine but if you want to interview somebody then you will have to invest in a decent external mic. Whilst you're at it get a pair of closed cup headphones too so that you can monitor the interview as you record. Trust me it's upsetting when you get back to base with your interview only to find that the mic was turned off. This won't happen to you if you monitor the sound whilst you're recording.