Choosing and Buying A Camcorder

To most people, purchasing a camcorder is not a trivial investment, and it can be a bit of a minefield.

To summarise:

Choose a miniDV camcorder in preference to any other media type.
Ensure that your choice has DV-in enabled.
Don't put low-light capability near the top of your pick-list.
Don't put digital zoom anywhere on your pick-list.
Don't base your choice on a high-value optical zoom.
Don't base your choice on the smallest model.

miniDV	miniDV camcorders provide the highest quality and allow you to retain that quality while you edit your video. Most (all?) video editing software supports DV.
DV-in enabled	Greatly assists in editing, and allows you to archive your clips/movies on miniDV tapes. Some sellers will tell you that you can enable DV-in yourself - but not all camcorders can be converted, the process is not trivial, and you may have to pay for software and a cable to do it. Also enabling DV-in yourself may invalidate that camcorder's warranty. Better to get a DV-in enabled camcorder at the outset. And if someone tells you that its easy to DV-enable a camcorder, remember that their technical knowledge and abilities may be much greater than yours.
Low light	Movies shot in low light are grainy, lack contrast, provide poor colour rendering, and are generally of low quality. When manufacturers quote a particular low-light capability they never state what they consider is an acceptable picture at that low-light condition; so you can never compare like-with-like. Zero Lux (or "Nightshot") shots look terrible and only work up to about three meters from the camcorder.
Digital zoom	Digital zoom simply enlarges each pixel of the picture, so the resulting quality is poor (the greater the digital zoom the worse the quality).
High value zoom	Unless you're prepared to carry around a robust tripod with you and use it, any movie shot at greater than about 5x optical zoom will be very unsteady i.e. of poor quality. All miniDV camcorders provide 10x or higher optical zoom, so don't choose your camcorder on this basis.
Camcorder size	Unless you're buying for a particular purpose (skydiving with the camcorder on your helmet for example) don't buy on the basis of the smallest size. To get steady pictures in all shooting conditions you need to be able to hold. your camcorder with both hands.

Be suspicious of the "special deals" in the High Street chain stores - they often apply to models that are "end-of-line" and have ceased to be in production (though the manufacturers are anxious to clear their stocks). Even with "special deals" you can invariably get your chosen camcorder cheaper elsewhere - but use your high street store to examine (and if possible use in the shop) your "short-list" camcorders.

Take any "personal recommendations" with a pinch of salt. Your "knowledgeable friend" can only assess the comparative worth of a particular camcorder if they have used several in the same price range for a month. Also no one will admit to buying a camcorder that has a better alternative.

Don't be tempted to purchase a camcorder abroad where they might be cheaper. In the UK we use PAL, while in other countries they are likely to use NTSC - an incompatible format with your UK TV that you will use for viewing your movies. If things go wrong, you may have trouble getting repairs to your "foreigner" camcorder in the UK.

Invest in a camcorder magazine, and use the list of camcorders and their features near the back to find the camcorders that meet your requirements and are within your budget. You'll also find near the back realistic reviews of many available camcorders. Expect to pay about £500+ for a DV-in enabled camcorder in the UK. Once you have short-listed your models, browse the shops that sell camcorders to see the one(s) that you like best.

Finally, once you've made your mind up, go online to find the lowest price for your choice. Print out the pricing and go to somewhere like Jessops and ask if they'll price match - often they will.

Try to stretch to buying a supply of tapes, and a case when you buy your camcorder. If you wait and get these later you'll be stung for postage. When buying tapes don't go for the cheapest - some shed particles which means that you have to periodically clean your heads and you could get "drop-outs"; I always use Sony Premium or Sony Excellence (the latter usually incorporate a memory chip for Sony CM enabled camcorders).

Be cautious about buying on the Internet. You may get the lowest price, you may get fast next-day delivery - but you may have problems getting a repair or exchange if your camcorder goes wrong. The Internet outfits are working to very small margins and because of that don't want to spend time or money in changing or repairing returned camcorders (even though they're under warranty). People will tell you that a particular Internet supplier gave them great service - but "service" only counts when something goes wrong with your camcorder.

If you have questions about a particular model or an Internet supplier, subscribe to the uk.rec.video.digital newsgroup and ask there. If someone tells you that a particular supplier gave the great service, ask them "did you get good service when something went wrong?".

The trick is to find the lowest price on the Internet, then get a high-street store (like Jessops) to price-match. That way you can save yourself anything from £50 to £150 - more than enough to buy a case and a bunch of tapes, and even a fluid-head action tripod.