Surely if you’re interested in camcorders you’ve seen the myriad of formats they’re available in. They’ve been around and available to the general public for a number of years and modern day camera are capable of much more than their antiquated counterparts. The two competing formats for contemporary consumers to chose from are Mini DV and Flash Memory Cameras.
Mini DV cameras use a small digital videocassette, and have been the most widely used format of recent times. Flash cameras record onto a small SD Memory Card and are more reusable than are any cassette tape.
Usually one of the first things to consider is the price. You can usually get a Flash camera cheaper, but often times sacrifice quality in exchange. While DV Cameras are more expensive, their tapes are not usually reusable. The SD cards that Flash Cameras use are fairly indestructible and can be used over and over again.
If you need to transfer video off of these cameras the Flash camera definitely wins on the side of ease. Even Grandma can just eject the SD card and put it in the computer to e-mail to the rest of the family. With a Mini DV camera, however, one would have to attach a cable, which is often sold separately, to even consider transferring video to a computer.
Even though this all generally holds true to any camera of these formats, for a considerably higher price you can get much higher quality Flash Video Camcorders. These higher price alternatives are in some cases much better quality than some of their Mini Dv competitors.
So, by following these basic guidelines you should be able to decide which format is appropriate for your needs. If you need to make an independent film it’s typically a better idea to go with the Mini DV camera. But, if you need a camera for the ease of transferring the files for an inexperienced operator Flash is most certainly a superior choice.
Regardless of the general features of these formats, there are several that do not fall into the typical archetypes. If you have an interest in camcorders it is a good idea to do extensive research and find out which model has the features you need. After all if you’re going to make a big investment into a new camcorder the choice is ultimately yours and not the determination of a review.
