Will It Blend? Camcorder Episode

I think the Will It Blend? videos from Blendtec are a must-see. One of the best uses of YouTube I can think of...dangerous stuff with appliances that you wouldn't want to do at home.

Since we have camcorder reviews on ProductCritic, I thought I'd post a link up to the Will It Blend? video where they blend a camcorder. The results are amazing (as are all the results from anything they blend).

What is even funnier is that they actually brought the blended results back to the store to try and get the warranty back on it. Unfortunately, they had to remove that video from the actual Blendtec site but it can still be found on YouTube.

Does anyone know what model of Sony camcorder is he blending?

Super Cool Do-It-Yourself Tripod That's Better Than Mine

I have one of those cheap bendable tripods that you can get for your point-and-shoot camera. I've seen the Gorillapod which looks to be a pretty good improvement on my cheaper version.

I saw this video on creating a cool do-it-yourself tripod though that doesn't look as pretty but would do a much better job than my cheap tripod and would also work for my camcorder. Even better than that is that it costs about $1 in materials and about 10 minutes of your time to make (if you're not very handy with tools).

What Type Of Camcorder? MiniDV, Hard Drive, or DVD?

One question I get asked quite a bit (and one I see being asked on many forums) is what kind of camcorder to purchase? One that uses older MiniDV tapes, or the newer Hard Drive and DVD-based camcorders?

MiniDV:
These are the small tapes that are currently the oldest form of storage in new camcorders. They are quite cheap and each tape will hold about 60 minutes of footage at the highest resolution settings. The data is still stored in digital format on a MiniDV (so transferring to another tape won't degrade the original footage). My current camcorder uses this type of storage and I like it because I can keep a lot of blank tapes with me, and they are generally easier to find and purchase when you're on vacation. They store well and have a shelf life of about 10-15 years. The are two huge negatives about MiniDV's. The first is the same problem you find with any tape-based format...you can't easily jump to any footage you have recorded. The second problem is that, because the footage isn't stored as a "file", to transfer it to a computer, you have to play back the whole video in order to copy it to a computer.

Hard Drive:
The latest camcorders coming on the market contain an actual hard drive. The footage you shoot is stored as a file making it very easy to transfer to a computer. Also, this type of storage allows you to easily jump to anything you've shot. The problem with Hard Drive based camcorders is that you can't easily just take out the media and put it on your shelf for storage; you first have to transfer it onto a computer and burn it to a DVD (at which point you can erase the hard drive and begin shooting again). Finally, a problem with Hard Drives is that you can't easily switch between shooting different subjects (e.g. business and pleasure) as both subjects would be stored on the same hard drive (vs. switching in an out a tape).

DVD:
These camcorders record directly onto DVD's (of various sizes). They typically hold a lot less minutes of footage than either MiniDV's or Hard Drive-base camcorders. They share some of the positives of MiniDV's (easy storage) as well as Hard Drives (can jump to any point in the footage, video stored as files). While it sounds like DVD's save you a lot of time (in that you can give the DVD directly to someone else), practically, this isn't true as you usually won't just give someone all your raw footage (you wouldn't do this with any of the other types of media either). Finally, these types of camcorders, in order to store more footage onto the DVD, compress the video you shoot. From the reviews, typically, this means that the results from these camcorders are not as high quality as the other types of camcorders.

Conclusion:
Here is what types of camcorders I recommend people get in order of priority:
1) MiniDV
2) Hard Drive
3) DVD

Still, people should try out all three types and make their own choice as you will have different criteria than I do.

What Everybody Ought To Know Before Buying A Camcorder

One of the reasons for starting ProductCritic was that I had just bought two cameras; a digital SLR and a point and shoot (Canon 20D and SD500). Doing all the research before buying both cameras drove me nuts.

The reason that ProductCritic also aggregates camcorders and cell phones is that I was also looking to buy both of those products. I did get a cell phone but am still looking for a new camcorder because my old one feels like the picture included in this post.

I have much more knowledge and experience with cameras than I do camcorders which is probably why I still haven't found a camcorder to purchase yet. I also am not exactly sure about all the features that will fit what I want.

Like my previous post about Macworld's article on How To Buy a Digital SLR, PC World has a pretty good article on How To Buy A Digital Camcorder. It has a good breakdown of all the features to look for and even better, a prioritized list of what matters most when evaluating the features. (e.g. weight is more important than microphone placement).

I've been looking at the new camcorders with hard drives and DVD's but from all my research, it seems like camcorders that use miniDV's still provide the highest quality plus have the cheapest, easiest method of long-term storage.

If you have the camera that is pictured in this post (it's a Fisher Price camera!), leave a comment and let me know how it works. I'm interested in what kind of quality you can get out of what some would consider a toy. Does anyone have footage that their kids took? Put it up on YouTube!

Help! I Bought A Camcorder And Suck At Shooting Movies!

I must admit that my camcorder skills are kindergarten poor. My still shots with my dSLR camera are quite a bit better than they used to be after I learned some key tips such as The Rule of Thirds but I haven't learned the same level of tips for camcorders.

PC World has put up a short list of 5 tips in an article entitled "Making Movies: Tips for New Camcorder Owners". Even though I've owned a camcorder for a couple years, following some of these tips would have certainly helped me.

If you received a new camcorder for Christmas, I'd suggest investing one day going online and learning some key tips. It'll pay off hugely in the quality and watchability of your home movies.