Read our Camcorder buying guide to find the perfect model whatever your budget. Compare Camcorder prices, features and reviews to help with your decision.
Camcorders Buying Guide

Camcorders Buying Guide

We're here to help you buy a new camcorder. We've got advice and information about all the latest digital camcorders. We discuss tape and hard-disk models, and all the features and specifications you need to look for.

For years families have recorded special events as home movies, but for a long time the quality of "home-made" films was relatively poor, so anything really important needed the help of professionals with very expensive kit. However, over the last few years camcorders have improved to the extent that you can buy one online that will do just what you need, whether you want to record your child's first steps or create a high-quality business video.

You can buy camcorders for less than £50 or spend hundreds of pounds, but whether you want an entry-level model or something much more powerful, it's worth making sure you spend wisely. To make it easier, we answer the questions you should ask yourself before you buy:

Click on any of these links to get some valuable advice, and tips on how you can use PriceRunner to find the perfect camcorder.

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What's my budget?

It may surprise you to learn that you can get a camcorder for as little as £50 and that there's quite a lot of choice even below £100. Clearly, though, at this price the features you will get are limited, so if you can spend more, do so and you should get a more flexible model that produces better quality videos.

But before you get carried away looking through what's on offer, set your budget. Decide how much you want to spend in total and then take into account any extras you might want so that you can find out how much you have left for the camcorder itself. Some accessories you may want to price up are:

  • bag (as few camcorders come with a suitable one)
  • cables and adaptors for downloading to your PC (see Firewire later in this guide)
  • media, such as tapes or DVDs, for recording, plus any DVDs or videos to copy the final films on to
  • video editing software
  • tripod
  • external microphone

What quality of videos do I want?

The quality of images produced by any camcorder will be affected by several features, including:

  • recording format
  • the number of sensors, and their type and size
  • the lens
  • zoom types
  • image stabilisation
  • white balance
  • control over exposure and compensation for backlighting.

The best way to get an overview of any camcorder's quality is by reading reviews, which you can find on PriceRunner. Beyond that, you need to understand what each feature does and how.

Format

There is a wide choice of recording media formats in the camcorder market, and one of the factors that should affect which you opt for is the quality of output you want. Analogue formats are generally lower quality than digital formats, and are prone to losing quality as you make copies (that is, copies of copies). Find out more in "Should I choose analogue or digital?" later in this guide.

Sensors

Images are captured on a sensor (a CCD or CMOS chip), which converts light into pixels. The more pixels the sensor has, the better the resolution, and if everything else about two camcorders was equal, the higher resolution would mean a higher quality image. However, no matter how many pixels it has, if the sensor is poor quality, you are liable to get a poor image. It's not necessarily true that you get what you pay for (that is, that sensors on cheap camcorders will be low quality) but you can certainly expect sensors on high-end camcorders to be superior.

Some of the pixels on the sensor are used to filter the image, so you'll see a figure in the specifications for the number of effective pixels – these are the ones actually used to capture the image. Compare these figures to get an idea of relative output quality.

The size of the pixels also affects the quality of a sensor. Very tiny pixels capture less light, so they aren't as sensitive and not as good at capturing detail in low light. They are also more affected by what is called "noise", which can be due to the camcorder's circuitry and the need to amplify the signal more from smaller pixels. A larger sensor with larger pixels: if this is important for you look for 1/3 or 1/2 inch rather than 1/6 inch sensors under "Sensor size" in the specifications.

Some camcorders have three sensors – one each for red, green and blue. This design usually costs more but does produce better colours. Anyone wanting a camcorder for professional or semi-professional use should look for three sensors, although a larger single sensor may be better than three smaller sensors in very low light conditions.

Lens and zoom

The size of the actual lens (the glass or plastic element, not the housing) and how much you pay for it can make a difference to the images captured on any type of camcorder. Smaller, cheaper lenses are less likely to produce images that are as good as those from larger, more expensive ones, for a whole host of reasons. Manufacturers aim to counter this by using software to eliminate the problems, but if you want top quality images, you'll need to pay for it.

You also need to look at the zoom options on the camcorder. A camcorder's optical zoom lets you zoom in on, or magnify, a portion of your image by moving the lens in relation to the sensor. This means that all the pixels on the sensor are used to record information about your chosen section of the image, and therefore the quality remains the same no matter how far you zoom in (presuming the camcorder is held steady and the lighting is OK). Optical zooms are measured as multiples of the standard image you can take, so 10x shows that you can magnify part of the image up to 10 times with the lens.

A digital zoom enlarges a part of the image using software but this is captured on the same portion of the sensor as it was originally, and is therefore made up of fewer pixels than the whole. To fill in the gaps, new pixels are added based on the colour values of the surrounding image, but this can results in blurry, low quality images, so concentrate on the figures for optical zoom.

The focal length of the lens affects how much of what you can see with your eyes will actually be captured through the lens. As lenses and camcorders vary in their design, the absolute figures (listed as "Focal length (wide-tele)" in the specifications) aren't necessarily comparable, but they will show you how wide the range is. If you see any figures listed under "Focal length (35mm equivalent)" this is equivalent to the range you would get on a traditional 35mm film camera. On these 50mm represents a standard lens, so in the range shown in the PriceRunner specifications, a figure less than 50mm indicates a wide-angle setting suitable for landscapes (the smaller the figure, the more landscape you fit into the shot), while higher figures indicate a telephoto option suitable for magnifying images.

The ‘filter size' shows what you should buy if you want to attach filters on to the front of the lens for special effects.

Image stabilisation

It's hard to hold a camcorder steady while you are filming, and any movement will only get magnified if you are zooming in on your subject. So almost all camcorders feature some level of image stabilisation, either optical or digital. Again, optical stabilisation is best if you can afford it. Consider getting and using a tripod for shots from fixed positions as this will help enormously in getting stable images.

White balance and exposure

Options to control the white balance and exposure are not to be sneered at, even if you really just want a point-and-shoot camcorder. Once you start to produce videos you are likely to notice when you aren't getting the right effects in terms of colours and focus, so it's useful to be able to correct these aspects.

Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the recording medium, and so is affected by the available light. Whites are affected by the type of lighting, so look for the option to select among presets for different kinds, such as sunny, cloudy, fluorescent and incandescent. To get even greater control you need to be able to set the white balance and the shutter speed manually.

Should I choose analogue or digital?

As with many technologies, analogue is disappearing fast in the camcorder market. This is largely because users want the flexibility to edit their recordings on their PCs. You can still buy analogue camcorders though.

When comparing the formats, remember that you will always get the best quality videos if you record in normal or standard modes. Also, you can buy many of the removable media in different sizes, so any figures quoted are the maximum known options.

Analogue

Analogue formats include:

  • VHS-CM
  • 8mm
  • Hi8
Standard Description Record time Horizontal resolution
VHS-C Smaller version of standard VHS video tape 30 to 45 minutes in normal speed or up to 90 minutes in long play (LP) mode Around 250 lines
8mm 8mm wide tape (smaller than VHS-C). Records sound using HiFi multiplexing so sound is OK in LP mode. 90 or 120 minutes (normal) or three or four hours (LP) 240 lines
Hi8M Higher quality version of 8mm standard – best quality analogue format. Video quality less affected by editing and copying than 8mm. 90 or 120 minutes 400 lines

Digital8 camcorders (see below) can play analogue 8mm and Hi8 tapes, but Digital8 recordings can't be viewed on an 8mm or Hi8 model.

Digital

Digital formats include:

  • DV
  • MiniDV
  • HDV
  • DVC
  • DVD
  • Hard drive
  • Solid state (Compact Flash, SD/MMC)
  • Digital8
  • MicroMV
  • XDCAM

Digital video generally lets you record at a horizontal resolution of 500 lines, although the HDV (high definition video) standard resolution is 720 or 1080 horizontal lines (720 progressive scan or 1080 interlaced or progressive). DV audio is 16bit CD quality, although some camcorders also let you record two channels in 12bit audio, so you can use one channel for audio dubbing while retaining the original sound.

Standard Description Record time
MiniDV (includes DVC) Tape – most commonly used digital format. Signals are encoded using the DV codec so high quality video and CD quality stereo sound. 60 or 80 minutes (standard play, SP), 90 minutes or two hours (long play, LP) and sometimes two hours (extended standard play, ESP) or three hours (extended long play, ELP)
DV Same quality audio and image as MiniDV but tapes are twice the size. Varies but can be three hours (or double in EP/LP mode)
HDV High definition version of DV, using MPEG-2 compression. Output may be subject to artifacts and errors due to compression so check reviews. You need an HD-ready TV to get the most out of these, but results can be stunning. Recording media can vary. Usually records on to tape but hard disk, DVD and solid state versions are possible
DVD Uses smaller versions of standard DVD disc. DVD-R discs can be used once only whereas rewriteable DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM discs can be reused and videos on edited on the disc. Uses MPEG-2 standard encoding. Usually around 20 to 30 minutes but varies
Digital8 Digital version of Hi8 format using same tapes but encoding audio/video signals using the DV codec, so CD quality audio. Digital8 camcorders can play analogue 8mm and Hi8 tapes but Digital8 recordings can't be viewed on an 8mm or Hi8 model. 60 or 90 minutes (standard play), 90 or 135 minutes (LP)
Hard drive (HD) A small hard drive, so no removable media. Uses MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 encoding. Easy to copy across to a PC using a USB connection. Varies according to the size of hard drive. Can be up to several hours at top quality.
Solid state (includes SD/MMC and Memory Stick) Very small and light removable media. Use MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 encoding. Look for recommended cards as they need to handle fast data transfer. Varies
MicroMV Uses very small tapes so allows very compact camcorder design. MPEG-2 compression. 60 minutes (standard)
XDCam Professional Sony optical disk professional system. Uses multiple compression methods including MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DV25 and can record HDV footage. 60 to 120 minutes

Bookmarking tapes

Some tapes (including some MiniDV and MicroMV tapes) include built-in memory chips that can save information about the recorded footage and act as bookmarks to help you find specific clips when viewing and editing the tapes. You need to check this when you buy the tapes and make sure the camcorder model can use this feature.

Interlaced or progressive scanning

If images are recorded using interlaced scanning, the odd numbered rows are recorded first and then the even numbered rows. When all the lines are recorded at once this is known as progressive scanning. Generally progressive scanning gives a very smooth image on a display that supports it, but it may not be as good for fast-moving footage.

How am I going to use my new camcorder?

You need to think about how you will use your camcorder in order to know what features to have on your shopping list. Some things you might want to consider are:

  • ease of use
  • LCD screen
  • recording time
  • how the camcorder focuses
  • how the camcorder records sound
  • lighting conditions
  • action shots

Ease of use

Whatever kind of filming you plan to do, you should try to ensure it's as easy as possible, so that you make as much use as possible of your new purchase.

Make sure that the camcorder is comfortable to hold, taking into account:

  • the handstrap – is it right for you, and easy to adjust if more than one person will use it?
  • weight – can you hold it easily, especially if you don't plan to use a tripod for long shoots?
  • size – does this match your hands (this is as true for those with large hands considering small camcorders as the other way round)?
  • controls – are they easy to reach and use during filming? Are they big enough for you to use easily (including touchscreen controls, if they have them)?
  • viewfinder – is it colour or black and white (black and white viewfinders can save on battery life but don't let you see the colours you are recording)? Will it show any special effects you are adding as you film?

LCD Screen

Check the LCD screen, considering its resolution and size (the size in the specifications is measured diagonally from corner to corner). In some cases this will be what you use as you review and even edit your videos, so make sure it's something you are happy to use for an extended period. If you are planning to use it instead of the viewfinder as you record, check if it can be used in a number of positions, to offer maximum flexibility. Also make sure it can be turned off if you have a viewfinder and want to conserve battery power.

Recording time

The time you can spend recording is affected by a number of things, including the batteries, camcorder format and how much you use the LCD screen, if it has one.

Batteries

There are three main types of battery used in camcorders: nickel cadmium (NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium ion. Generally speaking NiCad, the oldest type, weighs more for the same amount of power and needs to be looked after carefully to get the most out of it. NiMH batteries are a step up in both respects, with lithium ion usually offering the best performance.

You should check any battery life figures in the specifications against reviews, if possible, but remember that the actual battery life depends on a number of factors, such as whether you use the LCD screen. Always consider investing in a second or longer-life battery if you tend to shoot a lot of footage away from a mains power source.

Format

You can see the recording times for each format in the tables earlier in this guide. The key thing is that individual DVDs offer a short record time, while tape formats tend to offer longer recording per tape. You can extend this by using long play (LP) options on some camcorders, but this will lower the quality of the video. And, of course, you can always take spare media out with you.

Focusing

Camcorders can either focus on their subjects automatically or you can choose what's in focus by focussing manually. When a camcorder is set on auto-focus you are at the mercy of its design in terms of what remains in focus as the subject moves and changes, but you don't have to remember to change anything. A manual focus option offers more flexibility and is particularly important if you wish to change what's in focus without either the camcorder or subject moving (such as changing the focus from someone in the background to someone in the foreground).

Recording sound

All camcorders have a built-in microphone but these will record everything, including the toddler sitting next to you at the school Christmas play and the wind blowing as you film outside. If you care about this, look for the option to attach an external microphone using a mount or via a cable. Also read the reviews to find out what the general sound recording quality is like. The specifications can show you if the audio is recorded in mono or stereo.

Other things to look for are audio level controls and an XLR port or adaptor for attaching professional audio equipment.

Lighting conditions

It's unlikely that everything you video will happen outside in perfect daylight conditions. This means that you need to consider how you can adjust your camcorder to get the best pictures, whatever the lighting conditions. Options to adjust white balance and exposure are among those to look for, but you may also want a camcorder that has a specific setting to compensate for too much light behind your subject (backlighting) and a built-in fill-in flash or light. If there's no light built in, look for a connector or shoe so that you can attach one.

A night shot feature lets the camcorder record images using infra-red technology, although you should check any reviews to find out how good the resulting images are. Images will be in mono, not colour, and may have green tinges, depending on how this feature has been implemented. Other exposure features allow for low lighting, spot lighting, dusk and glare.

You should also check the aperture range of the lens. The smaller the aperture, the more light can pass through the lens at the same shutter speed, so low apertures are better for low light conditions.

Action shots

If you're going to shoot fast action shots, you need to look for fast shutter speeds, although you need good lighting. Conversely, a low shutter speed lets more light in but results in a blurry image if anything moves too fast.

What am I going to do with the videos I've taken?

The design of your camcorder affects what you can do with your videos after you've taken them as well. If you want to view them directly, you can usually play them on the camcorder and watch them on the camcorder's LCD screen or on a television. You'll need an S-video or composite output to do the latter, depending on what sockets your TV has, or may be able to use Firewire, although this is less common on televisions. You may need to buy an extra lead for any of these, depending on what comes as standard with your camcorder.

Other than this, your options depend on the recording format of your camcorder. Most DVDs used in DVD camcorders can be played back in a standard DVD player, as long as you've ‘finalised' the disc in the camcorder first, with the exception of DVD-RAM discs which are less widely supported by DVD players. VHS-C tapes can be played in a standard VCR player using a special adaptor. All other types need to be copied across onto DVDs or VHS tapes.

If your videos need some editing first, then you may be able to do some on your camcorder. Look for an audio dubbing option if you want to do this.

Normally, though, you'll want to copy your recordings on to your PC or Mac to edit them. Once you've checked your computer is a high enough specification and has plenty of free hard disk space, you need to check what connections you have. Firewire (IEEE 1394, also called iLink) offers the best download option and you can buy an adaptor for your PC quite cheaply if you don't already have a Firewire port. USB is the next best option and is found on virtually every PC as a standard port. The wireless Bluetooth connection is another option, though not commonly found yet.

To edit video recorded on DVD simply put them in a DVD drive, unless you've used single-use DVD-R discs, in which case the video will need to be copied onto your hard drive and the discs can't then be reused. The DVD menu system can make it easy to select clips for viewing, reorganising and deleting. However, MPEG-2 compression used on DVD and hard disk models means editing may not be as easy as it is with DV tapes.

You'll also need some editing software. Some camcorders come with bundled software or you can use the free Windows Movie Maker on your PC or iMovie on a Mac. Other than that, there is a wide range of video editing software available. In all cases you need to check that the software you are considering will work with the video format you're using.

Some camcorders will let you upload videos back onto them from a PC if they have a Firewire in port.

How flexible do I want my camcorder to be?

Many camcorders can also act as digital cameras, taking still images. You need to check whether these are stored on separate media (usually a removable solid state device, like Compact Flash, or built-in memory) or recorded on the same media as the videos. The latter is not always convenient when you want to find the images later on.

You should check the resolutions on offer for still pictures as low resolutions won't allow you to enlarge the picture very much without the results being grainy. However, if all you want to do is capture occasional pictures for the web or to send via email, low resolutions will be fine and will keep file sizes small.

Some camcorders are also designed to act as a webcam, but you need to check what you get with them to make sure you can use them as a webcam out of the box rather than needing to buy anything else. With webcams being so cheap, though, it's questionable how much of a benefit this feature really is.

Some camcorders offer a range of special effects, such as fading in and out, recording in modes like sepia, black and white or solarised, or adding custom or standard titles. These can be fun but some are only needed if you are going to edit the videos on the camcorder itself.

You may want to look for the option to record in widescreen format (16:9) as well as the standard 4:3 format, especially as more televisions are now widescreen models.

What else should I care about?

Converting old analogue videos to digital

Some digital camcorders will let you input analogue recordings and record them on to the digital media. You need to look for appropriate input sockets if you want to do this.

Headphone socket

This will let you listen to your recordings as you make them and when you play them back on the camcorder.

Remote control

A remote is particularly useful if you want to record images from a distance using a tripod or for playback later on.

This buying guide was last updated on 15 April 2007 by Dan Blows.

Dan Blows is the CRM Manager at PriceRunner, and is a big gadgets fan. You can ask him a question by sending him a message in the forum).