1 post tagged “handycam”
I got a camcorder for Xmas/graduation, which I researched before I bought. I've never had a digital camcorder before, and I had some very specific ideas about what I wanted.
First of all, I wanted something that would be easy to whip out at a moment's notice, since I usually don't get a lot of warning when someone's about to do something amusing. Second, I wanted something that would be very easy to transfer to my computer and edit, then publish on the web - this ruled out anything that records on dvd or mini-DVs, and especially those that required firewire. And finally, I wanted something small, compact, with lots of features, a nice zoom and a clear picture. There wasn't anything that I could quite stash in a small purse, but this is damn close.
So, this is a camcorder with a 30 gig harddrive, which pretty much solved all my problems.
The size and weight of this camcorder are very appealing. It weighs maybe a pound, and it fits into my palm very comfortably. This is something I could easily carry around all day in a bag, and it wouldn't be that much heavier than my wallet and makeup bag combined. That is, this isn't a cumbersome piece of equipment like the 1980's camcorder we had when I was little...you know the deal, 10 lbs of sheer advanced technology.
As for ease of use, I can't imagine it being any easier and not coming with a Following Instructions For Dummies book. It has a touch screen that's very easy to operate, and all the menus are intuitive.
The picture is crystal clear with good lighting. The zoom is excellent - so good that I can see individual nose hairs on the video of my brother snoring. The sound is stereo, I believe. Although I haven't watched anything on a regular television set yet, the quality of the unedited .MPEG files on my computer is fantastic. And it's very easy to transfer from camera to video - it comes with a docking station that charges your camera and transfers video through a usb port.
The drawbacks are small. First is the price: if you want a nice quality camera you pay out the nose. But you can usually find it $50-100 cheaper if you wait for a good sale at Best Buy. Second, the software it comes with sucks. It's very basic, mainly for transfering photos and video, then burning DVDs straight from the camera. If you want to do any editing at all, you'll have to invest in software either to convert MPEG to AVI format (try MOVAVI Suite), or better editing software (I'm using Adobe Premiere Elements).
You can see a sample video up there on the left. Bear in mind that the quality is low to save space, but the unedited form is extremely clear. Also, that took maybe 20 minutes, total, to transfer to the computer, edit, and upload. Not bad for anyone who wants to publish on the web!
