10 Things to know when buying a HD Camcorder

Looking for a HD camcorder? They are proliferating like bunnies, but is it a good time to buy one yet? Not only are there more HDTV camcorders on the market today than there were last year at this time, but the variety of HD camcorders recording methods has expanded as well. Sure, you can record on tape, but wouldn't you really rather record to a hard drive, or better yet, a flash memory card? What about recording to DVDs, or even to Blu-ray discs? All these choises are available at prices that are often above RM5,000. Here are things you need to know before you plunk down your cash.

1. All HD camcorders' videos look great. Each one of the latest HD camcorders we have seen-seven in all-delivers a high quality video, almost as good as what you see on cable or satellite systems from the networks, but it does not look as clean and sharp as Blu-ray or HD DVD.

2. Know what you want to do with the camcorder. If you want to upload videos to YouTube, the easiest way to do it is using the video capabilities of point-n-shoot still camera.

3. The HD camcorders are easier to use if you plug them directly into HDTV via HDMI. Almost all the camcorders have HDMI output, so it is easy to just connect that camcorder to your HDTV and use the supplied remote. In fact, it feels like this is what the camcorder companies would prefer you to do, because the editing software included with each one of the camcorders is almost unusable. Read on.

4. Editing AVCHD footage is tricky. Many of the latest camcorders use the highly compressed AVCHD format, a variant of the H.264 used in Blu-ray and HD DVDs. Cutting HDV footage of older camcorders is easy, because it is a mature HDTV video format that has been around for three or four years. AVCHD is quite different, newer and more burdensome. While many editing software packages now support AVCHD, it is still a rather maladroit process to move the footage from camcorder to PC, though a little easier when you are dealing with a mac.

5. If you plan to edit HD footage, especially AVCHD, get yourself a mofo PC or Mac. Make that a dual-processor machine with eight cores. It is advisable to have a powerful PC, because of the numbers of tasks your computer will be dealing with as this requires a spectacular amount of power.

6. Who will you show your masterpiece video to and how? With HD gone are the days of never-ending playback devices for your videos. It would be better for you to burn your footage on a Blu-ray disc, but you would need burners and/or players sets.

7. Decide if you want a comcorder that records on hard disk, plash memory card, DVD, HDV tape or Blu-ray. A hard disk stores more footage but is bulkier and more fragile than flash memory. But a 4GB flash card only stores 40 minutes worth of footage. Recording on DVD and Blu-ray both involve spinning removable media which seems anachronistic and demode, but then your footage can be played back immediately on many Blu-ray disc players. Then there is DV tape recording HDV footage, which gets good results, but its analogue.

8. Prices are reasonable. You would be surprised how prices are plummeting with HDTV camcorders. With the advances technology and new gadgets on the market everyday, it is better to do your homework before buying a HD camcorder as prices are falling continuously.

9. Most camcorders end up gathering dust on a closer shelf. Be realistic. Are you really going to be shooting lots of video? Accurately assess whether you will actually be using a camcorder frequently, or just occasionally. Also think about whether anyone will be eager to watch your HD videos that you may not have the time or patience to edit. If you have a special event coming up, consider borrowing or renting a camcorder rather then blowing all your spare cash on an'ornament' that will be used once or twice and end up as shelf-ware.

10. Catch up on some reviews of the latest HD camcorders to get a lay of the land. Camcorder info in the USA, picked as its camcorder of the year, the Canon HV20, a HD model that uses old-time DV tapes and records in the HDV format. This is very practical as it unables you to record in good old DV whenever you want with no further rendering.