UNDERSTANDING YOUR CAMCORDER

courtesy www.witness.org

Camcorders come in different shapes and sizes. Camcorder actually stands for "camera" and "recorder". Camcorders are usually categorized by the type of videotape that they use. For example, two of the most common types of camcorder are VHS-C and Hi8: the VHS-C camcorder uses a VHS-C videotape, while the Hi8 uses a Hi8 tape.

There are a few types of video cameras: VHS and VHS-C, aswell as Video8 and 8mm.
Higher quality video cameras include: S-VHS, S-VHS-C and Hi8.
Even better quality are the digital video cameras: Digital8, DV and DV-Cam. If you can afford one, we recommend you get yourself a digital video camera.

Each of these types has different characteristics which are discussed below.

VHS
VHS camcorders use the standard VHS tape that is used in videocassette recorders (VCRs) to record footage. This means you can take the videotape out of your VHS video camera, and place it immediately into a home VCR for viewing purposes. VHS camcorders were the first type of consumer camcorder used in the market.
Because VHS camcorders use the relatively larger VHS videotape, the VHS camcorders are larger and heavier than other camcorder formats.
The larger size and weight of the VHS video camera makes it more difficult to be mobile or inconspicuous with your camera. A VHS video camera is generally twice as big and heavy as a VHS-C or 8mm video camera. The positive aspects of the weight of the VHS video camera are that the camera is quite durable and may provide a steadier picture when you are not using a tripod.

VHS-C
The "C" in VHS-C stands for "compact". "Compact" refers to the size of the tape cassette: the tape size of VHS-C is the same as VHSs, but cassette that holds the tape is half the size of the VHS cassette.
Consequently, a VHS-C camcorder is a compact version of the VHS camcorder. A VHS-C video camera is approximately half of the size and weight of the VHS video camera.
Since VHS-C tapes come in a smaller cassette, you cannot view them in a VCR without putting them in an adaptor, which has the effect of making the cassette of the tape the same size as that of a VHS tape.
The adaptor usually comes with the VHS-C video camera, and can also be purchased separately in video stores.
VHS-C tapes generally play for shorter times than regular VHS tapes.

8mm
The 8 millimeter video camera is one of the most popular formats. It is extremely lightweight and offers superior picture and sound quality to both the VHS and the VHS-C formats.
The 8mm video camera uses an 8mm tape (which is much smaller than the 1/2 inch size used by the VHS and VHS-C).
8mm is a different tape format than VHS. Therefore 8mm cannot be viewed in a home VCR. To view an image from an 8mm video camera on a home VCR, the 8mm tape must be copied or dubbed onto a tape. Although dubbing generally reduces image quality, the superior quality of the 8mm tape means that a dub onto a VHS tape will result in roughly the same image quality as an original VHS tape made from a VHS video camera.
Alternatively, you may try connecting your 8mm camcorder directly to your VCR or television monitor to watch your 8mm footage. To do this, you simply need to attach a cable from your camcorder into an outlet which should be found on the back of your television.

Hi8, S-VHS, S-VHS-C
The Hi8, S-VHS, and S-VHS-C, are the best consumer camcorders available. They provide superior image quality and sound.
The Hi8 uses a Hi8 tape which is 8mm in size, but superior in quality to the regular 8mm tape. A regular 8mm tape can be used in a Hi8 camera, but it will not provide the superior image quality of a Hi8 tape.
A Hi8 video camera can be described as a superior 8mm video camera. With the S-VHS and S-VHS-C, the "s" stands for "Super". These video cameras provide superior images and sound to their counterparts, the VHS and the VHS-C.

Digital 8, DV, DV-Cam
Digital 8 is, as the name suggests, a higher quality version of HI-8. Many Digital 8 cameras are equipped with a digital FireWire port, which enables to dub, edit video footage without any loss of quality. It is possible to playback an ordinary HI8 tape in a Digital 8 camcorder. Try it out, you'll notice the superior quality of image. DV and DV-Cam cameras offer the highest quality for amateur or semi-professional usage. Their digital video format enables clear audio visual reproduction.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL VIDEO & TV STANDARDS

Videotapes throughout the world can be recorded on different standards: ntsc, pal or secam.

Each country in the world uses one of these video standards. Australia uses pal.
Bear in mind that these three standards are not compatible with each other. For example, if your country uses the pal standard, you will not be able to view video footage recorded using ntsc equipment, unless
(i) you have equipment which will convert the ntsc to pal for you, such as a multi-system videocassette recorder and monitor; or
(ii) unless you make a pal "dub" of the ntsc footage, which means you make another videotape of the ntsc footage, in which the footage is converted to pal. However, converting between standards can be costly and it also results in a slight loss of image quality. Nevertheless, this is the common method for viewing footage of another standard.

What do these standards mean? The different standards actually refer to the number of lines on each frame of footage on which an image can be recorded.

ntsc: this standard was created in the United States. The letters actually stand for the american "National Televisions Systems Committee", which was the committee in charge of creating television in the U.S. "ntsc" was the first video standard in the world, created in 1941 during the second world war, and setting a 525-line frame for black and white television. By 1954, the U.S. improved its technology so that television could also receive the ntsc system.

pal: these letters stand for "Phase Alternating Line" system. The pal system was created in 1961 in England, and it uses a 625-line, 25-frame rate. Pal is used in many countries around the world and is considered to have a better colour reproduction than ntsc.

secam: stands for "Sequential Colour with Memory". Secam was created in 1967 in France. However most secam countries have converted to pal.

 

NTSC Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bolivia Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Curacao Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guam Guatemala Hawaii Honduras Japan South Korea Mexico Nicaragua Panama Peru Philippines Puerto Rico Taiwan Trinidad & Tobago USA Venezuela Virgin Islands	PAL Afghanistan Algeria Andorra Angola Argentina Australia Austria Azores Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Brazil Bosnia-Herzegovina Croatia China Denmark East Timor Finland Gibraltar Great Britain Hong Kong Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Jordan Kenya North Korea Macedonia Malaysia Mozambique Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Paraguay Portugal Serbia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Thailand Turkey Uganda Uruguay	SECAM or PAL/SECAM Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bulgaria Czech Republic Congo Egypt Estonia France Georgia Germany Greece Haiti Hungary Iran Iraq Kazakhstan Latvia Lebanon Libya Luxembourg Moldova Monaco Mongolia Morocco Poland Rumania Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Slovakia Switzerland Tajikistan Tunisia Turkmenistan Uzbekistan West Bank/Gaza