Today's camcorder market is full of new brands and changing technology, with products moving towards greater compactness and more 'cross-platform' features. Choosing the right camcorder for you need not be a daunting task provided you take the time to answer some basic questions about yourself and the technology. You can search for exactly the right product, all the way from brand through model number and vendor right here at Myshopping.com.au. It will take a lot of pressure off you.

Camcorders

What kind of camcorder user are you?

At the outset, you need to think a little about why you are buying a camcorder. There are essentially six loosely defined categories:

1) the traveller, buying a camcorder to record travel experiences;

2) the family, usually with young children or soon to be, wanting to record family lifestyle experiences as the children grow up;

3) the grandparent or retiree, often with a little time to look at the world through the lens and capture moments of life that would otherwise slip by;

4) the technophobe, a person with a genuine interest in finding the best bit of gear to make movies and record things of importance;

5) the artist, similar to the technophobe, but has a deeper interest in the pictures and less interest in the technical specification, usually wanting to make movies and document items of interest;

6) the educator or student, maybe a school or classroom teacher, or student with an interest in multimedia. We can add a seventh category: that of the "I just want one" brigade who has no real underlying purpose for the purchase.

Once you have some idea of which category your purchase might fall into, then you have some way of being guided through the maze of choices. There are possibly five basic judgements you need to make about the camcorder you want to buy.

1) How comfortable it is in your hand? Remember, if you're a traveller, you will want to lug your camcorder wherever you go. The last thing you want is a lead weight that makes your hand tired before you've even squeezed the trigger.

2) How easy is it to use? You need to be able to easily understand the basic functions of the camera and reach the controls as you need them.

3) Similar to 3 above, how convenient it is to playback your footage and copy it onto another storage medium.

4) What is the picture quality like? Naturally some picture quality is sacrificed for lower prices and added features in some of the range. But at the end of the day, you really want the best picture quality you can get for the money you are willing to spend. After all, it is picture quality-subjective though it is-that you will judge the camera on in years to come.

5) How much you are prepared to spend. Your purchase decision needs to be balanced between the features and accessories you want in your camcorder and the amount of funds you have available.

The technology

Page 1 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next