How to Shop for a Camcorder That Uses Flash Storage Media

Camcorders with Flash storage are compact and easy to use. But even if you’ve already narrowed your choices down to Flash-media camcorders, there are still lots of options to think through before making your final choice.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet access
• Computer

1. Decide on your budget. Manufacturers make all kinds of models—high-end, low-end and professional—aimed at a variety of budgets. Set your budget now so you don’t shop out of range.

2. Decide if Flash media will meet your needs. Flash favors portability and quick access over ease of editing and quality. If that's not what you're looking for, consider other media types.

3. Decide on features. Where will you be filming? What is most important to you in a camcorder? Make a list of features that are important to you, such as performance in low light, good zoom capability, editing features, decent audio, image stabilization, battery life and durability.

4. Browse around. Visit Web sites of well known brand names and product-comparison sites. Read magazines. Start comparing models and get a general idea of what you might want to buy.

5. Read reviews. Once you have a couple of models you are interested in, start reading specific reviews. User reviews can be found on vendor Web sites, and editor reviews can be found at electronics Web sites.

6. Visit a store. You’ll want to actually hold the camcorder in your hands and test it out before you buy it. After you get a feel for it, go home and mull it over for a bit. Then you can either go back and buy or order from the Internet.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are using several types of Flash media and memory cards already, a multi-memory card read might be a good investment. It will help you quickly transfer video on to your computer.
• When checking out the specs, pay attention to CCD size (bigger is better), effective pixels (more is better), lux rating (the lower the better) and optical zoom (higher is better).
• Consider searching auction sites for used camcorders. You may be able to find a good deal on a nearly mint-condition camcorder.
• Ignore specs on digital zoom and megapixels. These barely affect the picture quality. Instead, pay attention to CCD size and optical zoom.
• Due to the compression methods, flash-media videos have slightly lower quality than MiniDV or DVD.