Purchase advice Camcorder

The older they become, the more valuable they become. The talk is not of good wine but of moving pictures. The right camcorder preserves memories for eternity. Magnus.de helps to find the optimal camera.


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Often it is the family growth, which moves to the purchase of a camcorder. Not infrequently, this impulse to capture the development of his child in image and sound is the beginning of an exciting hobby. Often, one's own claim increases with the film. This makes it all the more important to think about which camcorder is right before buying. To answer this question is not as easy as it sounds, because the selection of cameras is diverse.


Surely one of the key questions is how much money you want to spend. One thing you can say with certainty: for almost every purse there is today the possibility to enter digital films. The selection of different formats and media, however, increases with the price. Beginners will usually film on tape. The accompanying DV format on mini-DV tapes was the beginning of the digital revolution in 1995.


For a long time this format dominated the camcorder market. In the meantime, it is on the retreat, the advantage for filmmakers: a significant drop in prices can be recorded. So the price for the absolute entry models this season is around 250 euros. In this price class, however, there are also alternatives that are filming instead of on tape.


Up to the price limit of about 700 euros, the filmmaker is mainly found in the standard definition warehouse. However, this selection increases exponentially. Here you have the choice between SD and HD camcorders, between tape, DVD, memory card, hard drive, fixed or hybrid camcorders. As if the decision for a medium is not already difficult enough, there are still a lot of different formats.


What do you use your camcorder for?


In the HD range, the decision usually falls between HDV and AVCHD. For the film itself, it is not even so important, for which format one decides: archiving and postprocessing are therefore much closer together. Which format and medium is the right one for the film type. So it is more important to use a robust camera for an action-filmmaker, who makes rapid shots on the mountain bike than for a family filmmaker, who mainly conserves holidays and family festivals for eternity.


This guide will answer all these questions and help you find the right camcoder.


This question should be the beginning of any camcorder purchase decision. Because it sets the course for everything that comes after it.


It is not at all easy to orient yourself. For example, HighDefinition cams are offered for 99 euros, standard definition cams from Canon, Panasonic, Sony and Co. cost over 200 euros, some even 600 euros and more. Alone on a linear price scale can not explain the camcorder world. Manufacturers such as Aiptek and Toshiba equip their entry-level cams between 100 and 200 euros with HD capabilities.


The most important feature of High Definition is the resolution. It offers a three to five times more detail richness than the conventional television. HD camcorders are basically available in three different resolutions: Cheap HD cams typically use 1280 x 720 pixels at 30 full-frames per second (progressive recording).


HDV camcorders and some older AVCHD models film with 1440 x 1080 pixels, at 50 half images per second (interlaced). The full HD resolution (FullHD) of 1920 x 1080 pixels use the ever-increasing AVCHD camcorder as well as some MPEG-2 cams from JVC. The aspect ratio is 16: 9 in each case.


Most standard definition camcorders work with a resolution of 720 x 576 pixels, at 50 frames per second and thus in the PAL resolution of the television. Sometimes it is even less with progressive VGA computer resolution (640 x 480 pixels). If you do not have a high-definition TV, you do not need an HD camcorder. However, almost all HD models also offer a way to output their image in standard definition.


Be it over the analog video outputs or over conversion at the digital output, as with HDV camcorders, the HDV over Firewire synonymous than DV output. These camcorders are also capable of recording directly in DV, as some AVCHD cam also allows recording in DVD-compatible MPEG-2 compatible.


So who filmed with what? Anyone who owns or purchases a full-HD or HD Ready display will find their luck in the HD camcorder store. The HDV format is best suited for simple archiving and post-processing. Anyone who does not want to retire his old TV so soon will also be happy in the standard definition camp.


Tape, DVD or memory card? Page 2 gives you information ...