Digital video essentials

If you are considering buying a digital video camera, there are some features that you need to make sure the camera has.This is a list of some of the essential features to look for when buying a digital video camera.

Ports-one of the most essential features on a video camera is the availability of plenty of ports.Ports are the places on the camera where you can plug accessory devices into your camera or your camera into other media devices.The most essential port might be the USB port.This enables you to plug the camera into your computer.If you have a little experience with computers you have probably discovered the USB port, which is the little port that you stick a flash drive into or attach your digital camera to look at your pictures.For your digital video camera, you will want more than one USB port if you can get it.

You will also need to have an A/V port to transfer the video to your television or other analog devices.There are composite ports, which are different shaped A/V ports used by some televisions.Check out the machinery that you plan to play your videos on to see what type of ports you are going to require.

The microphones that are built into camcorders are notably bad for recording events away from the video recorder user.If you will need to get comments from people other than yourself when shooting your video, you will need to use a cordless microphone.Make sure than there is a microphone port available on your camcorder.

In general, the more ports a camcorder has the better.

Recording media-another digital video essential is the media on which the video will be recorded.The choices are between tape, DVD, and removable memory.Each option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.The most popular (by far) choice of recording media is tape.The digital recorders that use tape are called MiniDV recorders.These cameras offer the best quality recording and there are more options available than with either of the other types of cameras.

Recorders that record to DVD are becoming more popular, mainly because of their convenience.Nobody has a mini cassette player but most people have DVD players.By recording directly onto a DVD, you will be able to watch the video on your DVD player immediately.

Using external storage devices is probably the next great thing in digital video recording.But its time has not yet come.There are more and more pure digital options available but the quality suffers in comparison with both MiniDV models and DVD models.However, recording to a memory stick is very convenient, especially for people that like the convenience of "sharing" still photographs via the internet.Digital video is just as easy to share as digital photographs are.

Software-one of the greatest advantages to digital video over analog or film video is the ability to edit your work.You will need some software to do this editing.The camera is likely to come with some software or you will be able to download software from the company's website.When finding out about the camera ask about the software.There are plenty of editing programs available.Windows Movie Maker is a popular software option that is user friendly.Serious Magic by Adobe is more expensive (about 200 dollars) but offers TV-style 3D effects and other profession quality features.

If you plan on editing your film, the software that you buy is probably as important of a decision as the camera that you buy.