Choosing A Digital Video Camera

So you're in the market for a new digital video camera but which one's the best? Well having spent the last twenty years as a broadcast camera man and video editor I think I've found the answer. Drum roll please... because the answer is...

"It depends".

I know stunning isn't it? But please bear with me whilst I draw an analogy.

What's the best car? A Ferrari? Maybe a Porsche 911? Or a Mercedes SLK? Well yeah, they're all really nice cars but have you ever tried getting three kids (and their school friends) to football practice in a two seater sports car? Gimme a people carrier any day.

You see it depends. It depends on what your needs are and so it goes for digital video cameras. If it takes you an hour to white balance the camera, another hour to focus it and a whole day googling for the term "zebra setting" before you can start filming then you've probably made the wrong choice.

It's easy to be wowed by features and to be lured into buying expensive products but do really you need them? If you're not filming HD broadcast critical material do you need a camera that can capture HD 1080p images. Er... no... not really.

More money buys you more features, more technology and more complexity. It also buys you crisper pictures, clearer sound and greater connectivity. Get the balance right and you'll be turning out great videos in no time at all.

Pick a price point that you're comfortable with and then use the following guide to help you pick the best digital video camera for you in that price range.

Oh I should say that apart from price the next most important question to ask yourself is, "What am I going to use this camera for?".

Yes I know, you're going to video stuff with it. What I mean is will you be filming action sports or will you be interviewing people with it? Are you going to be filming mostly hand held or will you use a tripod? How portable do you want your whole camera setup to be? Are you going to want to edit the footage afterwards? Seriously think about how you will use your camera and what you will be filming because it'll really pay dividends when you come to choose one. OK here's the tech stuff.

There are currently four major recording formats for digital video cameras: MiniDV, DVD, HDD and SD. Otherwise know as DV tape, DVD discs, Hard Disc Drive recording or flash memory (those little cards you put in everything from GPS devices to Digital SLR cameras)

MiniDV. Mini digital video tapes record up to 60 minutes of footage. They're robust, relatively cheap and are used by most broadcasting companies so they have a proven pedigree.

They fit into desktop editing systems very well - not least because the majority of miniDV cameras have a firewire (or at the very least a USB 2.0) port to download footage to your PC with. They're a good, safe choice and if you need to get footage out to broadcasters or duplication houses then you won't have any problems with DV tapes.

On the down side you'll need to stock up on tapes fairly regularly which represents an ongoing cost of ownership. You can re-use the tapes but most people don't. It's also worth considering the weight, and bulk, of tapes if you're going to be filming for an extended period.

If you are looking for a high end, broadcast capable camera, then a miniDV would be the way to go. The more expensive ones have the best lenses and professional XLR audio connections for connecting good quality external mics.

DVD. These cameras record to DVD discs - mini DVDs. I point out mini because some DVD players require an extra caddy to be able to play these mini DVDs. Also if you have a DVD player that loads vertically then these mini DVDs tend to fall out before the draw shuts, which is really, really annoying. Generally speaking these cameras can record all the major DVD formats. DVD-R/-RW/+RW and +R DL (Dual Layer) compatible discs but check what your DVD machine can play back and make sure the camera can record the same format. If you're planning on sending DVDs to family members or clients then you need to check that their machines are compatible with your camera or burn new discs that will be. Each blank mini disc records up to 45 minutes and then they have to be finalized before you can eject them, which takes about two minutes.

They're not a good choice if you're planning on editing your movies because it takes longer to process DVDs for editing than any of the other formats.

HDD. Hard Disc Drive cameras. These video cameras record to an onboard hard disc drive that can be anything from about 30GB to 60GB in size. You can bank on getting 15 minutes of footage per GB of disc space - it's actually slightly more than that but make the math easy and then be pleasantly surprised. Once your disc is full you'll have to download the footage to your PC or external hard drive before you can film any new material, which can take quite a long time. Like SD cameras you have the ability on most HDD cameras to review, reorder and erase footage easily which can make managing your material much easier.

SD. These cameras rely on the small SD cards for recording. They tend to be the smallest, lightest and quietest of all the digital video cameras. Lots of people see these as the video cameras for the iPod generation. Personally I love them. You can carry enough SD cards in your wallet for a whole week of shooting if you need to and although SD memory cards aren't the cheapest the price is coming down all the time. I carry three 8Mb cards and I always have spare capacity. Like HDD most SD cameras give you the ability to easily review, reorder and erase footage on the fly which makes managing your material much easier. Battery life also tends to be slightly better for these cameras.

If you're planning on shooting for the web then both HDD and SD cameras would be good options. Check your particular model but most of them allow you to film the smaller frame size (320 x 240 pixels) that web video uses. This can be a HUGE timesaver.

OK so that's the formats what do all the other terms mean?

Megapixels: These are a bit like the GHz in computer chips. The more you have the better, right? Er almost. When it comes to video megapixels are irrelevant. They only apply to still images taken by the camera. More megapixels mean a crisper, clearer and brighter image. But you need to look closer than that because there are two megapixel numbers. The gross megapixel number and the effective megapixel number. Can you guess which is the more widely publicized and can you guess which is the more important? Ignore the gross number of megapixels and concentrate on the effective number of megapixels. Yes it will be a smaller number but it will also be a more accurate number. Any effective megapixel number above 3 will give you good results. Above 5 effective megapixels and you're cooking. Just like the GHz in computer chips megapixel numbers in cameras are going nowhere but up.

Lenses. You have two choices. Plastic or glass. Plastic lets less light through than glass - which is not an optimal choice for a lens - but glass is more expensive. Both can give good results but a glass lens will give you the best results. Pay very close attention to the zoom properties of any lens. Look at the optical zoom number only. The digital zoom number is another one of those BIG marketing numbers that makes people buy stuff but digital zoom processes the pirctures electronically which means they look dreadful.

CCD. Otherwise know as a charge-coupled device. This is the the piece of circuit board behind your lens that converts analogue light into digital video. Yes that is a simplistic explanation but mainly because that's about all I understand. More important is that they come in two sizes. You can have 1/3 of an inch and 1/6 of an inch CCDs. Bigger is better because it catches more of the available light. But quantity also counts. The more CCDs you have, the greater range of colors you can capture. If you can afford it look for a camera with 3 CCDs. One for each of the primary colors, red, green and blue. Having 3 CCDs will make your colors look more vibrant and richer.

Batteries. In my experience whatever it says on the box is a blatant lie when it comes to battery life for any electrical product. So just consider it an extra tax. You're going to have to buy some kind of extra battery power. Buy two extra long life batteries (should give you a minimum of seven hours per battery) and a separate charger with your camera. You won't regret it.

Lux. This is a strange word for light. Well low light actuallty. It's a measure of how well your camera will perform in low light conditions. You can safely ignore this number. It's just more marketing fodder to make you go "Wow!". All of today's digital video cameras peform exceptionally well in low light conditions and they all have a gain function which lets you boost the avaiable light. Do use the gain carefully though because it can make you picture look grainy - although sometimes that can be just what you want.

Audio. If you're going to be recording speech, either yourself or somebody else who you want to interview, then without exception the onboard mics of all digital video cameras are absolutely awful. Invest in a professional mic and a decent set of headphones. Mics and audio are the subject of a whole new hub so if you're interested then request a hub from me using the link at the top. If enough people ask then I'd be happy to do it.

There's no doubt that digital video is the new(ish) kid on the block. Did somebody say YouTube? Video sharing sites are popping up all over the place and even if you have no intention of posting anything on them at least go and look at some because they will give you some great ideas for you own projects.

If you do post to the video sites then you can get some amazing results. This video is some spotty teenager playing rock guitar - admittedly he's an absolute genius (and yes I am jealous) - but the quality is awful. He's still got nearly forty-million-views in two years! 40 MILLION!

Think of a rock band. A popular, well known, high profile rock band that has sold as lot of records. Oooh I know maybe the Beatles - I've heard of them. Do you think that "Love Me Do" sold 40 million singles within two years of being released? Well maybe it did. But they were the Beatles. This is spotty kid plus home web cam. 40 Million. Any TV exec on earth would sell their children and their soul for a fraction of those viewing figures.

Look if you'd like any further information about filming or editing with digital video just request a hub from me with the link at the top and I'll try and oblige. I've got some ideas in the pipeline but I'd rather write about what you want to know than some mindless drivel.

Happy filming,

Don