Nearing the completion of a video camcorder recapitulate with countless reviews of manufacturer specs, tech site reviews and forum posts, it has come to be very clear what things certainly matter. Like many aspects of technology today, many of the features provided on camcorders are never used. Camcorders are categorized agreeing not only to the use for which they are applied by the end user, but also to the degree of automation desired.
Consumer Camcorders - are the light, handheld cubes with point and click convenience. Just don't expect me to read more than 4 pages of the manual.
Prosumer Camcorders - are for those consumers who want to enlarge their filming environments and need manual override settings for aperture, focus, zoom and light control. Prosumer camcorders are often used by wedding videographers, and corporate presentations.
Professional Camcorders - these are the big heavy guns with shoulder mounted, external microphone, and low-light film-like quality. These are the documentary production camcorders. Out of all the features, the following have stood out as being the most important to the Prosumer. Although I have attempted to put these in order of priority based upon the user feedback reviews, I accept this is very subjective issue.
Manual operate quality - since Prosumer is about more quality, the need to manually set focus, aperture and light are critical. Low Light - with most Prosumer camcorders having 1/3? 3Ccd chips, features that merge light and render more color and saturation are preferred. Low light is very variable in the middle of camcorders and is generally very poor in most buyer models. Button Positioning & Size - its all very well having manual operate features, but if the entrance to these features is too difficult, so too is filming. manual buttons on the casing are preferred to Lcd touch screen buttons tasteless to Sony Camcorders. Image quality - this is commonly the base image quality, without manual intervention. As manual operate is approved at Prosumer level, the approved auto image quality does not rate as very as the quality to manually manipulate it. Size and Handling - Prosumer camcorders are much bigger than the buyer handheld models. Most are tube like in dimensions, except the very favored Panasonic Ag Dvc30 which is more cube like. Balance in the hand is important, although most Prosumers recognise that for quality video, using a tripod is essential. Night Function - night function was previously managed by slowing the shutter speed. This may have been fine for still landscapes, but add a diminutive request for retrial and you add a whole lot of blur. Other Ir options resulted in a greenish/yellowish tinge to the film. Again the Panasonic Ag Dvc30 has triumphed here with a totally dissimilar approach. Inbuilt Audio - whatever serious about video quality is also serious about audio quality. No camcorder is going to give you top quality audio from a built in microphone. But of these models - the one that has the microphone furthest away from the noise of camera operations is again, the Panasonic. Getting an idea that this model came up on top? Price / Value - prices vary significantly from store to store. For example the Panasonic Ag Dvc30 can cost as low as 00 up to nearly 00. There are plentifulness of comparison sites but check first on availability - what they state online is not always accurate. The Prosumer models that came up tops, in order were:
Panasonic Ag Dvc30 Sony Dcr Vx-2100 [although technically a pro camcorder, its price is comparable] Canon Gl2 Sony Dcr Trv-950 The top two were quite close in scoring [13 and 15] and the lowest two were equal but a long way down the points [26]. The points were awarded in terms of ranking 1 to 4 surrounded by the models, and then totalled. Not scientific or weighted, but it does provide a relative scoring base in the middle of models.
| Price : $16.60 | Post Date : Feb 26, 2012 11:02:57
