by HarrisonHoude

Created on: August 28, 2009

So you want a camcorder? Maybe it will be your first or maybe you already have one and are looking to upgrade to a better camcorder. I am here to help.

When buying a camcorder you first off need to know a few things right off the bat.

1. Do you want to record right to the hard drive or do you want to record to tapes. There is lots of opinions on which is better but you either one is good. If you are using a Apple Macintosh then you will certainly want to go with a device that records on to MiniDV tapes or another kind of tapes or discs. If you are using a PC then either a HDD (hard disk drive) or Tapes will work perfectly fine.

2. You will want to check your editing program before you purchase ANY camcorder and make sure that the camcorder that you will be using is compatible with the editing program of your choice. There are lots of editing programs you can use, the basics are Windows Movie Maker for PC and iMovie for Macintosh. But there are tons of other choices. So make sure that the camcorder that you are wanting to purchase is compatible with the editing program of your choice.

3. Choosing a brand: There are tons of brands of camcorders and you are probably wondering What brand do I go with? Most brands are perfectly good and all have great quality. The best brands in my opinion are Canon, JVC, Sony, Panasonic. But there are tons of others such as Samsung, Sanyo, Toshiba, Kodak and many other brands that are not as popular as the others. There are tons of different opinions of what brand is the best but all the main ones I listed are all around the best. I personally have a Canon GL2 which is a great camera and I think is one of the best Pro-sumer cameras out there.

Now, once you choose what you are going to do for 1, 2, and 3 it is time to choose your budget.

$249 to $999 If you are buying your first camcorder then 200 to 800 dollars is a good budget for Consumer/Amateur camcorders. Most of the camcorders in this range are the same quality and there is tons of options for this price range. The best place to find a camcorder in this price range is online stores, or at stores such as FutureShop, Best Buy, or at local electronic retailers. It is best to go to a big box store so you have lots of selection.

$1000 to $1300 if you are wanting to upgrade from your first camcorder or are just wanting something with better quality then this price range is most likely to better fit your needs. Again there are tons of options for this price range but I would

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