There are now an increasing number of digital camcorders on the market. This has made camcorders more affordable but many of the cameras are far from the best compact digital camcorder. If you are looking for quality you will definitely need to pay more than you would for a simple compact digital camcorder with case, but the pay off will definitely be worth the price. If you are clueless about what to look for in a camera then there are some questions you need to ask before making a purchase to ensure you are getting a quality product.
Color Quality
If you would like to capture clear close to life images then the first thing you should look for in your camcorder is a three charge coupled device, or three CCD digital camcorder. Most camcorders you will find are of the single CCD variety.
While a single CCD digital camcorder is perfectly serviceable it is not the best compact digital camcorder out there. You will not be able to record crisp colors, especially in low light conditions. Something that you will not have to worry about when using a three CCD digital camcorder.
Other criteria that you should consider when looking for the best compact digital camcorder is the size of the CCD. The larger the CCD the better the image quality. The amount of effective pixels, as opposed to the overall pixel count, also determines how sharp the images you capture will be.
Picking Up On Sound
When you are looking at the best compact digital camcorders available you don t want to neglect sound quality. While video quality is ultimately the deciding factor it is important to look at the audio features available.
If you would like to edit your videos with background music or voiceovers then look for a camcorder that will record sound in digital audio CD quality. The format should be in 16 or 12-bit formats so that you can add stereo tracks during the editing process.
The placement of the microphone is also important when you are shopping for a camcorder. A microphone that is top mounted will pick up background noise and noises from the camera operator. The best compact digital camcorders will have front mounted microphones.
You should also be able to manually control the audio with the best compact digital camcorders. You might also want to have the option of adding an external microphone to give you better overall sound quality.