Digital video camcorders
Introduction
There are at present 2 categories of video ...
- SD (standard definition) - which uses technologies such as Freeview TV broadcast, miniDV camcorders and DVD video discs.
- HD (high definition) - which uses technologies such as HD satellite and cable, iTunes, and Blu-Ray discs.
At the time of writing, hi-definition "consumer" camcorders are evolving and replacing SD formats. There are many HD formats in terms of codecs, file formats and recording media, and it is difficult to know how to summarise and evaluate them all. You may also wish to read our article on hi-def video.
One thing is for sure, HD is the future and unless you are planning low res internet delivered video only, or are on a budget, you should be thinking about buying and using HD technologies.
Hi-def consumer camcorder models
Here are a few brief pointers. We'll return to this subject at a later date when the market is more coherent ...
- Range of recording media includes, tape, hard drive and memory cards.
- Camcorders that record to DVD should be avoided if they use the old MPEG2 codec/file format
- Your video editing software must be able to handle the file format your camcorder creates so check before you buy
- Its a good idea to buy a camcorder that can record at the full 1920w x 1080h resolution
- The AVCHD camcorder format looks very promising
Camcorder round-up (2009)
The following table shows many, but by no means all, of the current camcorder technologies. Individual manufactures are developing a wide variety of file format, storage and codec "types". See also our article on hi-def.
| Type | SD / HD | Record medium | Codec | Reso-lution | CCDs | Transfer | Device control | Edit on PC/Mac | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DVD | SD | DVD | Meg-2 | PAL & NTSC interlaced | 1 & 3 | No | No | No | Pros ... Useful if you want to watch recordings immediately on your DVD player & TV. Cons ... can't transfer to a computer to edit. |
| Flash memory | SD | Flash memory cards | Mpeg-2 / Mpeg-4 | 640x480 interlaced | 1 | USB | No | Yes & no | Pros ... Compact, easy to transfer but low quality and not compatible with all editing software |
| Hard disk | SD | Hard drives | Mpeg-2 | PAL & NTSC interlaced | 1 | USB | No | Yes but awkward | Pros ... Non linear access to recordings. Good quality. Cons ... Awkward to transfer. |
| HDV | HD DV format | DV tape sized cassette | Mpeg-2 | PAL & NTSC, 720 progressive and 1080 interlaced | 1 & 3 | FireWire | No | Yes but awkward | Pros ... Great quality. Cons ... Difficult to transfer, must be converted before computer editing, eats disk space, you'll wait a long time for rendering. In the US hi-def is much more established than Europe. For an audience without hi-def DVD players and TVs, the benefits of hi-def production are limited at present. |
| AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec Hi Definition) | HD | SD cards | MPeg-4/H.264 | PAL & NTSC, 720 progressive and 1080 interlaced | 1 & 3 | n/a | n/a | Yes | Excellent Sony/Panasonic format supported by Final Cut Pro |
| HD (high definition) | HD | Tape | - | - | 3 large chip | - | - | No | This is a professional level option at present. There are a wide range of cameras from Sony's HDCam range up to Digital Cinema cameras. |
| MiniDV (up to £500) | SD | MiniDV tape cassette | DV | PAL & NTSC interlaced | 1 | FireWire | Yes | Yes | Pros ... Good tried and tested format. It works! Computers fast enough now to offer real time rendering. Great compatibility. |
| MiniDV (over £500) | SD | MiniDV tape cassette | DV | PAL & NTSC interlaced | 3 | FireWire | Yes | Yes | Pros ... Good tried and tested format. It works! Computers fast enough now to offer real time rendering. Great compatibility. Great colour fidelity. |
| DV-Cam | SD | DV-Cam cassette tape | DV | PAL & NTSC interlaced | 3 | FireWire | Yes | Yes | Pros ... Good tried and tested format. It works! Computers fast enough now to offer real time rendering. Great compatibility. Great colour fidelity. Robust tape format. |
| DVC-Pro | SD & HD | DVC-Pro cassette tape | DV & high quality mode | PAL & NTSC interlaced | 3 | FireWire | Yes | Yes | Pros ... Good tried and tested format. It works! Computers fast enough now to offer real time rendering. Great compatibility. Great colour fidelity. Robust tape format. Broadcast quality. |
| Sony Digi-Beta SD | Called SD but effectively HD | Digi-Beta tape | Un-compressed | PAL & NTSC progressive | - | - | Yes | No | Pros ... Superb professional broadcast quality. Cons ... Very expensive and requires professional editing system. |
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