When shopping for a camcorder, you must first determine what you will use it for. The average consumer can get by with a middle-of-the-road camera, while a budding college film student will want a high-end camcorder with lots of bells and whistles. Since this is a high-ticket item, your objective should be to determine which features you need and which are unnecessary. Here are some steps to help buy a high-end camcorder.
Instructions
1. Determine your level of filming, and decide if you need a high-end camcorder or not. Would you like to just point and shoot, or do you want a lot of manual features that let you adjust settings such as focus, exposure, shutter speed, gain and white balance?
2. Research various cameras online and in consumer magazines. Review the side-by-side comparisons of the high-end camera models.
3. Compare different camcorders and determine which manual features might prove useful to you. Consider features such as shutter speed and zoom speed.
4. Ask yourself which of the various components, features and manual override controls would prove most useful to you as a filmmaker, memory compiler or proud parent at a baseball game.
5. Visit your local electronics retailer and test out some of the camcorders. Ask your salesperson plenty of questions.
6. Compare the prices online and with the local retailer. Remember to include shipping costs and customer-service plans in your decision.
7. Check online auction sites to see if there are used or close-out variations of the camcorder you want. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a new camera for half the cost.
Tags: high-end camcorder, determine which, manual features, shutter speed
