How to Buy a Compact Camcorder

Compact camcorders are great for traveling filmmakers. Nowadays, there are many compact camcorders to choose from so use these steps as a guide to help you buy the compact camcorder that will fit your needs.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Set a budget. It’s no use browsing around until you know how much you can spend. Setting a budget will narrow down your choices.
2. Pick your features. How will you be using your compact camcorder? Indoors? Outdoors? This will affect the features you’ll want. Decide if you want to invest in features such as: night mode, picture effects, manual controls, external microphones.
3. Pick your media. There are pros and cons to each media type. Flash memory is compact, but has lower quality than MiniDV or DVD. MicroMV tape is 70% smaller than MiniDV with comparable quality, but expect a higher price tag.
4. Get a good zoom. Digital zoom may sound impressive, but optical zoom is where it counts. A camcorder with a 16x optical zoom is better than one that boasts 100x digital zoom. Most specifications list both.
5. Choose good controls. Many compact camcorders sacrifice ease-of-use for size. Be on the lookout for awkward controls when you test out a camcorder.
6. Read reviews. Not all camcorders are created equal. And neither are reviewers. Read many reviews from many different websites. Get as many opinions as you can on the camcorder you are thinking about buying.
7. Visit the store. Even if you plan on ordering your camcorder online, you’ll want to visit the store as your last step before buying. Try to find the model you are looking for or a similar model. Ask if you can try it out for awhile.

Tips & Warnings

• A general rule while shopping for the best performing camera: low lux rating, large CCD (or three CCDs) and many effective pixels.
• Good audio is important as well. Get a front-mounted microphone, or better yet, an external one.
• Image stabilization is important for compact camcorders, especially since you probably won’t be using a tripod. Optical image stabilization is best, but electronic stabilization is better than none.
• Are you an advanced user? Beware of camcorders tailored towards beginners. Ease of use often comes at the expense of versatility.

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