The range of digital video camcorders that is available today is numerous, and the choices can be daunting, even for professionals. To begin, you might want to determine whether your needs are more consumer-oriented (home use, hobbyist) or if you require more “prosumer” features (a popular term to describe professional equipment that is also within the realm of serious hobbyists). In the following sections, various aspects of camcorders are described, with suggestions that are targeted at these two groups.

Types or Groups of Camcorders

We may further categories camcorders in two different groups which includes:-

• Standard Definition Camcorder
• High Definition Camcorder

Standard Definition and High Definition Camcorders :-

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re aware that “high definition” is a popular term these days. While standard-definition video has an image size of 720 × 480 pixels (for the NTSC video standard), high-definition formats can be either 1280 × 720 pixels (720p) or 1920 × 1080 pixels (1080i or 1080p) in width and height, respectively (you may also check the above image ). Unquestionably, high-definition video offers a substantial increase in resolution (anywhere from about 2.5 to 6 times the resolution of standard definition video), which results in clearer, more realistic images when viewed on a high-definition TV (HDTV).

So the question becomes: Is it important to buy a high-definition camcorder if I’m only creating videos for sites like YouTube? Currently, most users are creating videos for the Web and standard-definition DVDs. After all, even those with HDTVs are unable to watch their videos without outputting the video back to their camcorders. Until recordable formats for HD DVD and Blu-ray become more popular, or until devices like Apple TV become easier to use, that may be the only way. Of course, it is simply a matter of time before creating and viewing high-definition content becomes commonplace (we’re getting close, especially with the capturing part). Still, at this point in time, the majority of users are creating and viewing standard-definition video.

On the other hand, most high-definition camcorders also offer the capability to record standard definition video or to “down convert” the high-definition video they record to a standard-definition format for viewing and editing. In this case, buying a high-definition camcorder today starts to make more sense, since you are retaining all of the features of standard definition, while adding the capabilities of high-definition video for future use. This is an especially important consideration for content creators, who may want to sell or distribute their videos in the future. If you’ve recorded it in high definition, then you can deliver it in virtually any format, whether standard definition or high definition. Of course, the choice at present may still depend on your budget, although high definition camcorders are now available for under $1,000, and their prices continue to drop.

In addition, the computer and software that you use to capture and edit your video may limit your choices when it comes to working with certain high-definition formats, but that is a problem that is being challenged on a daily basis, with frequent software updates and more powerful computers.