Home > FAQ's

What kind of camcorder should I buy? What is the difference in all the formats available? What is SD and HD? What is Low Lux? What is Night Vision? What is Steady Shot? What is Firewire? Is USB the same thing as IEEE1394 (Firewire, iLink)? I have heard the term 'bad caps', can you explain? How do I know if my camcorder is worth fixing?

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What kind of camcorder should I buy?  ^ Top
So, you want to buy a new camcorder... There are some factors that will help you determine this. Budget and whether you'll be viewing on your computer or your TV will probably help you to determine which camcorder is for you. Here are the existing formats for consumers that are available for purchase today: Mini-DV Mini-DVD HDD- Hard Disc Drive Flash Memory SSD Yes, the days of shooting video with your trusty camcorder and popping it in the VCR, are a thing of the past. Not long from now, and the DVD will be on it's way out. Yep, time flies. Next big thing is SSD - solid state drives. HD is here it stay - say goodbye to SD.

What is the difference in all the formats available?  ^ Top
Mini-DV - Use to be the standard of the day, and the choice of many a professional. It's 500 lines of horizontal resolution puts it on even par with broadcast quality. The tapes are small and convenient, as are the camcorders themselves. The picture quality and clarity is governed only by the front end, which is comprised of the lens and the CCD imager. Mini-DVD models are digital, and do have a good picture. You won't find a model that does HD... if you do - it's rare and very expensive. HDD, Hard Disk Drive - These are the most common camcorders for quality recording. You have to handle them gently, as you can damage the hard disk with too much rough handling. A good choice if you want to go tapeless. Most of these are now in HD - the SD camcorders are getting harder to find. Flash Memory - Once considered the cheapest of camcorders that would only record really, really small pictures suitable for YouTube. However, there are name brand camcorders that actually do a good job. You will have to pay for the good quality ones. The cheap ones are just glorified digital cameras. SSD camcorders are in the works, but haven't come out in consumer camcorders as of yet. Mostly these drives are for laptops or a heck of a start up drive for your computer. Watch for these soon. A word about HDD and Flash Memory Camcorders You should download your footage often. All it takes is one accident, and you'll loose everything you've recorded. We've seen many of these units that were taken to Sea World with hours and hours or precious memories, that were lost forever.

What Is SD and HD ?  ^ Top
HD is High Definition and SD stands for Standard Definition

What is Low Lux?  ^ Top
Lux is a measurement of light intensity. The term 'Low Lux' means that the camera can 'see' in very low light. The Lux measurement is usually in candles, foot-candles to be precise. Usually the lower the number the better, but when you start getting in to the decimals, the point is moot. Years ago, before solid state devices like the CCD were available, pickup tubes were used for the imaging device. Terms such as "saticon, newvicon, plumbicon, vidicon" are used to describe the type of tube used as the imaging device. Each tube has it's characteristics. Some were better in low light, and others, HAD to have lots of light to produce a descent image, hence the Lux value was important. Suffice it to say that as long as it's 1 Lux or less, you'll be fine. But lets do get real here, how many people do you know that would take their camcorder into a room and shoot video holding a candle in there hands for a light source?

What is Night Vision? ^ Top
Is it a gimmick? Sure, you flip a switch and the picture turns green, but does it really work? The answer is YES!, it does work, and quite well. The digital imaging and processing of today really make a huge difference over the cameras and camcorders that were available just a few years ago. With a camera that has 'night vision', one can easily see into a dark area, which cannot be seen by human eyes. There is not enough light for color information, so it will be in B&W, or should I say, "green and white". If you're going to be doing some shooting at night time, or surveillance work, or in a poorly lighted area, and don't mind not having color, then 'night vision' is a must for you. Of all the brands that are available, Sony by far has the best night vision.

What is Steady Shot or OIS?  ^ Top What is that? Simply put, it's special electronic circuitry that compensates for the movement, or shaking, of your hands. When you don't have a tripod, and you would like a lot less motion sickness when watching what you have recorded, then steady shot is a definite must. The difference is night and day, really. It is worth the expense. Most good camcorders have this built in, these days.

What is Firewire?  ^ Top
Firewire is an old term employed by Apple. It is also referred to as iLink by Sony. It has been replaced by the term IEEE1394, which is a transmission standard. The term IEEE means, "International Electrical and Electronic Engineers" and 1394 is the standard of transmitting digital information between electronic devices, through cables. Not any ordinary cables mind you, but special, twisted pair cables, similar in design to Cat5 cable. IEEE1394 allows sharing and communication of digital information between devices that have the special IEEE1394 ports. There are special cards that you can buy at the computer stores that you can insert and configure in your computer, which will allow your computer to communicate directly with a device that supports IEEE1394. If you camcorder is digital, then it WILL have an IEEE1394 Port. Something else about firewire you won't hear from the manufacturers is something you should take seriously: The firewire cables. It is all too easy to inadvertently insert a 6 pin firewire cable backwards, wreaking serious damage to your DV deck. In some cases thousands of dollars worth of damage can be done to equipment in this fashion. This is becoming a serious issue, that has not, and probably will not be addressed, as IEEE1394 IS the standard... Your advised to use caution when inserting the 6 pin cables to standard DV ports on your computer.

Is USB the same thing as IEEE1394 (Firewire, iLink)?  ^ Top
No. They are completely different. USB is for consumer equipment like fax's, scanners, digital still cameras, etc. IEEE1394 is for professional or broadcast use. IEEE1394 has higher bandwidth, and can handle more information than USB, and was designed for video transmission

I have heard the term 'bad caps', can you explain?  ^ Top
'Bad caps' refers to leaking electrolytic capacitors. Capacitors come in many shapes and sizes, but when one refers to 'bad caps', they are speaking of either electrolytic's, or surface mount electrolytic. Capacitors are used in just about every electronic circuit. They are heat sensitive, and will break down, and leak, over time. Between the years of 1998 - 1995 there were a batch of capacitors that were particularly vulnerable. These capacitors were used in virtually every brand of compact camcorders, and VCR's, including professional video. When a capacitor begins to physically leak, a caustic substance slowly oozes out, and begins to eat away at the circuit board, and anything else it touches in the surrounding area. If the circuit board has multiple layers, the acid can destroy the circuit board, rendering the unit un-repairable. It should be noted that EVERY surface mount electrolytic capacitor should be changed. Be weary of shops that only change a few, as they will ALL eventually leak, causing more, but different, problems for you in the future. Labor to replace these 'bad caps' begins at $300.00 for compact camcorders and $200.00 for Full-size units (that are affected), with the caps costing $1.00 each.

Camcorders that ARE recommended for repair are:  ^ Top
All models from 2000 and up.

Camcorders that are NOT recommended for repair are:   ^ Top
Anything before 2000, except Pro and Prosumer - go shopping.