Camcorders

Analog vs. Digital

There's no question that digital camcorders are the way to go. Picture quality is better, the cameras themselves are smaller and lighter, and manufacturers can pack more features into smaller bodies. The biggest advantage to digital camcorders is that they can be connected to a computer. Footage can be downloaded and edited extensively on the computer, and you can add music, titles, chapter settings and special effects by using movie-creation software. You can then transfer the finished product to a DVD (if you have a DVD burner on your computer). In addition, many digital camcorders have a feature called analog-to-digital passthrough. This means that if you have analog tapes you’d like to preserve on DVD, you'll be able to convert old tapes to digital. The least expensive digital camcorders record on miniDV tapes.

Some digital camcorders now record video directly to eight-centimeter miniDVD discs in the camera. With DVD camcorders, you can edit footage in the camera, deleting and rearranging scenes and adding features, then burning the video to a miniature DVD without ever going through a computer at all. The miniDVDs can be played in most home DVD players. This makes DVD camcorders a good choice for those who don’t care about editing on a computer, as well. DVD camcorders currently start at about $500. Additional digital camcorders can record on an internal hard drive or memory cards. For more information on these models, see our separate report on digital camcorders .

As with still digital photography, the whole process of downloading and editing digital video can become daunting and time consuming, and some people buy digital camcorders only to immediately transfer the footage to a VHS tape anyway, eschewing most of the main benefits of digital.

Analog camcorders, on the other hand, have limited options for editing. You can transfer video to a VHS tape, and if you have a dual-deck VCR, you can edit, rearrange and re-record footage to a second VHS tape. Analog camcorders cannot be connected to a computer, so unless you use another technology (such as a video capture device), you won't be able to transfer your video to a computer.

Analog camcorders do have some advantages. If you don't own a computer or don’t care about editing your video footage, they are an inexpensive choice. VHS-C camcorders are easy-to-use, and fewer features translate to a shorter learning curve. While it's true that analog camcorders will be obsolete within a few years, none of them cost more than $250. Mainstream digital camcorders are priced between $350 and $700, although you can find basic models for around $250 or less..

Available camcorders

We saw few professional reviews for analog camcorders. The Sony CCD-TRV138 (*est. $400) received good scores. This model has been discontinued, but you might find a used model on dBay. Reviews said the Sony camcorder had good autofocus capabilities, so you could capture good video without fiddling with a lot of controls. The camera produced very little noise, so you wouldn't hear the motor whirring in the background of your recordings. The Sony camcorder has a swiveling 2.5-inch LCD screen in addition to a monochrome viewfinder and a video light. Although the CCD-TRV138 has a long 20X optical zoom, it does not have an image stabilizer -- that means close-ups and zoom shots are more susceptible to camera shake. The Sony camcorder weighs two pounds.

JVC is the only manufacturer still producing analog camcorder, and there are two currently available models in the lineup. The JVC GR-AXM18 (*est. $150) has a 2.5-inch LCD screen and a 20X optical zoom. A slightly pricier model, the JVC GR-SXM38 (*est. $190) has higher S-VHS-C resolution of about 400 lines, an included video light and a longer zoom range of 25X. Both models have image stabilization. Only the GR-SXM38 comes with the VHS cassette adapter you need to play tapes in a VCR. Both models have built-in special effects and scene transition effect (like fades).

We found good reviews at Amazon.com for these two JVC analog camcorders, but only a handful of owners have rated them. For the money, the JVC GR-SXM38 looks like the best choice. Unlike the Sony camcorder, this model has image stabilization, which can help your footage turn out less jerky. It also has an included video light to help illuminate interiors. Plus it has the higher S-VHS-C resolution and an included cassette VHS adapter for easier playback.

Important Features: Camcorders

• Picture resolution is the maximum number of lines counted horizontally across the television screen. Resolutions of analog camcorders range from 240 to 400 lines per inch. The higher the resolution, the better the picture. TV broadcasts have about 340 lines. Hi8 and S-VHS offer 400 lines and VHS comes in at 240 lines. Digital camcorders get about 500 lines of resolution.

• Image stabilization is important. Camcorders are fairly lightweight, which can make holding them steady while shooting a challenge. Digital image stabilization helps compensate for any shakiness by steadying the video.

• Look for optical zoom. This uses the actual lens to magnify the image. A digital zoom can go much farther, but it's completely different, because it uses an internal computer to approximate the image. This "fake zoom" effect significantly reduces picture quality. "Digital zooms are useless for anything except special effects," says Toronto Star video writer Don Long.

• Video is always smoother when it's recorded at faster speeds. Some camcorders promote longer recording capabilities at the slowest recording speeds, but expect the picture quality to degrade noticeably.

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of Picks	Model (with Retailer Links)	Details from Amazon.com
2	Sony CCD-TRV138 (Discontinued)	details
1	JVC GR-AXM18 (*est. $150)	details
1	JVC GR-SXM38 (*est. $190)	details

We did not see any professional reviews for current analog camcorders. We think the JVC GR-SXM38 is the best option. Unlike the now-discontinued Sony camcorder, it has image stabilization. Compared to the slightly less expensive JVC GR-AXM18, it has higher S-VHS resolution, an included video light and a cassette VHS adapter.

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