How to Buy a Digital Camcorder

Which Format Is Right For You?

Tapes used to be the only game in town, but no longer. If you can't quite decide whether your camcorder purchase should be based on tape, mini-DVD, hard drive, flash storage, or SD/SDHC card, be sure to consider the following pros and cons of each camcorder type.

MiniDV tape camcorders: Tapes may be old-school, but they do offer a range of benefits. They're easy to archive, as long as you have the shelf space. Tape-based camcorders are usually cheaper than Mini-DVD or storage-based models, as well. Outputting your footage to a computer for editing is also easier, as DV and HDV footage works with any modern editing program--and on slower PCs. For the time being, tape offers better video quality than any other camcorder type. That may change very soon, though; newer storage-based camcorders record high-definition video at a bit rate of 24mbps, which translates into more recorded data per frame of video and sharper footage. The main drawbacks include the cost of repeatedly buying tapes; the fact that footage is recorded linearly and can't be accessed at random, as it can be on DVD and storage-based camcorders; the bulkier size of tapes; and the fact that tapes degrade over time.

Mini-DVD camcorders: DVD camcorders are typically a little larger than MiniDV camcorders and significantly larger than storage-based camcorders. Several video editing applications will now let you import or edit video recorded with a DVD camcorder. The advantage, of course, is that you can pop the disc out of the camcorder and into a DVD set-top player—but bear in mind that if you have a slot-loading optical drive on your laptop, these smaller discs might not fit. Mini-DVD discs are usually harder to find than MiniDV tapes, as well as a bit more expensive. You also won't get the same video quality as you get with most MiniDV- or storage-based camcorders.

Hard-drive and flash-drive camcorders: Tapeless (and DVD-less) camcorders are the wave of the future, as more and more major vendors are switching to hard-drive- and flash-storage-based models. The main benefit here is not having to repeatedly buy tapes or DVDs as storage media, although you'll need plenty of PC storage space to offload your footage from the camcorder. Storage-based camcorders are also handy when it comes to accessing (or deleting) clips at random. Hard-drive-based models offer more storage capacity, but are also more susceptible to long-term wear and tear than flash-storage-based models due to the drive's moving parts. Another consideration: It's sometimes more convenient to have a tangible medium such as tapes or DVDs if you plan on archiving your footage.

SD and SDHC card camcorders: With removable flash storage beefing up to astronomical gigabyte levels, many major vendors are also switching to SD- and SDHC-card based camcorders, as well as offering SD/SDHC card slots as a secondary form of storage for hard-drive, flash-drive, tape-based, and DVD-based camcorders. This is a useful option if you already have a high-capacity SD card or a computer with a card slot or card reader: You can just pop the card out of your camcorder and transfer footage without hooking up the camera itself. What's more, many new HDTVs, digital photo frames, and home-entertainment components have SD/SDHC card slots built in, so you can watch your footage without connecting your camcorder via cables. Not all SD-compatible devices are also compatible with SDHC cards, however, so make sure that any devices you plan to use an SDHC card with are specified as SDHC-compatible. You'll also want a Class 4 or Class 6 SD card, which have faster data-write speeds than Class 2 cards.