Wondering What You Need in a Camcorder?

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There is a ton that has changed over the past few years in the world of camcorders. If you are like me, you prefer to have a pretty good idea of what you want before you spend hundreds of dollars on a piece of electrical equiptment.

You may wish to consider if size of the camcorder is an important factor for you. There are a wide range in sizes of camcorders that are in the marketplace at this time. Perhaps the right size for convenience is the pocket camcorders. The video quility isn't the best out there using these cameras but this is to be expected as they are so small. Larger camcorders have much better video quality and more features included with them.

Consider the type of memory that you prefer or need to use. There are no analog video recorders left, and DVD recorders are becoming scarce also. Most camcorders use hard drives and flash sticks now. Flash drives require SD cards to be used with the cameras while the hard drive models have an internal hard drive much like a computer. Ultimately the choice is personal on this one. The advantages of the flash drives are it is easy to swap them out for as long of recording time as you need. On the other hand hard drives are nice because you don't have the hassel of purchasing extra SD cards. This is ultimately personal preference.

I personally like to look at camcorders that have a high optical zoom verses a high digital zoom. This is what the lens is capable of doing verses what the computer is able to do. You will have a clear picture with a higher optical zoom then you will when you have a low optical zoom and then a high digital zoom. You really should look for a camcorder that has a nice image stabilization system. This makes the picture much less shaky when you watch it on a television.

The newest 3D options may be of interest to you but remember in order to truly appreciate these you must have a 3D option on the television. You may decide that you are not in need of the 3D option because you don't own a 3D capable tv.  You can save some money by skipping this option.