Digital Camcorders

There are hundreds of digital video cameras, or camcorders, on the market today from manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon. Most of them use what are known as MiniDV tapes like the one shown here:

The MiniDV tape is used in most digital camcorders.

Just about every camcorder based on the MiniDV tape format includes a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port on the camera so that you can load the video onto your computer quickly and easily. The following three cameras are typical of digital camcorders on the market today.

This is perhaps the least expensive digital camcorder on the market today. It uses Hi-8mm tapes instead of MiniDV tapes, but records on them digitally. This kind of camera is very handy if you have a lot of analog 8mm or Hi-8 tapes that you want to load into your computer. The camera will convert an analog tape and run it out through the FireWire port on the camera, or record in digital format onto new tapes. The only problem with some of these cameras is a fairly low resolution.

A typical MiniDV camcorder -- it has a 1-megapixel CCD that gives it great image quality. Consumer camcorders now have up to 1.5-megapixel CCDs.

This is an entry-level professional camcorder with three CCDs. It records onto DV-CAM or MiniDV tapes. It can produce broadcast-quality images and has professional features like XLR inputs and zebra stripes.

Whichever type of camera you pick, it needs to have a FireWire connection so you can hook it to your computer. A FireWire connection normally looks like this:

This sort of FireWire connector is common on digital camcorders. You attach a FireWire cable to this connector, and attach the other end to your computer.

Next, we'll learn about computer requirements and the software.