6 Tips on Buying a Small Business Camcorder

Here’s how to buy the right camcorder for your YouTube productions.

1. Decide What Kind of Videos You Want to Shoot

Before you invest in equipment, you should have a clear idea of the types of videos you want to produce.

If you are a retailer of sporting goods, for example, you probably want to do a lot of action-oriented videos as close to the water, on the slopes and elsewhere adrenaline junkies are drawn . If so, you might consider a waterproof, ultra-portable camcorder, such as Kodak play sports in high definition, which cost about $ 150

Similarly, if you’re more outside shooting videos away from power outlets, you will need a video camera with interchangeable camcorder battery packs. You will also need a camcorder that records video on removable media such as flash memory cards or digital video, so do not miss the area during the shooting.

On the other hand, if you plan to shoot videos, take place in your office can webcam on your netbook or laptop is all you need. Webcam videos can save time because you can record video directly on your computer instead of importing it. For best results, make sure the webcam is 1.3 megapixel or higher resolution.

In addition, if you plan to do a series of video interviews style man-in-the street, a camcorder with external microphone input is your best bet. While all consumer camcorders have built-in microphones, the sound of these mics to be bad when you shoot the person talking in a noisy environment (like a street) and is not near the camera.

2. Decide Who’s Going to Shoot the Videos

Do you have an excellent professional staff of video production? Then you want to buy expensive camera’s manual controls and interchangeable lenses. But if you add a “plot” for your administrative assistant a long list of tasks, and that person is a little video experience, you were dead point-and-shoot cameras like the Flip, Kodak and Sony Zi8 Bloggie. These cameras also include software for easy editing and uploading to video sharing sites.

3. How important is Zoom Image Quality?

Point and shoot video cameras and Kodak Flip video capture high resolution, like many smart phones and digital cameras. Note, however, that most of these devices only offer a digital zoom.

In other words, the optical zoom provides a better quality image zoom. Optical zoom uses the camera lens to enlarge a subject, rather than numerically the expansion of the image captured by the camera, which is the digital zoom. Some digital cameras let you use optical zoom while taking video, but not in others, so be sure to check the specifications of the camera.

4. Go High Definition

Make sure the digital camcorder you buy has the ability to record videos in high definition. YouTube offers the ability to watch videos in HD video at 1080p, why not download the video of the best quality possible?

5. Shoot Test Videos on Your Smartphone or Digital Camera

If you already have a smartphone or digital camera can capture high definition video, make one or more videos to try before you buy a video camera. Could it be that, at least for now, smart phone recorder or video camera is all you need. You can also use your smartphone or digital camera as a backup camera for a shoot.

6. Familiarize Yourself with Camcorder Features

Unless you’re buying a simple point-and-shoot camcorder (like a Flip), you should become familiar with camcorder specs and features before you buy. Here are a few terms you should know:

CCD and CMOS sensors. Camcorders have either a battery Charge Coupled Device (CCD) or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. Both convert light into electrons. Generally speaking, CCD sensors tend to offer a higher degree of image fidelity and light sensitivity compared to camcorders with CMOS sensors. However, CMOS sensors tend to use less power and are less expensive to produce, which makes them more prevalent in low-cost consumer camcorders. HowStuffWorks offers more explanation about the differences between CCD and CMOS sensors.
Image stabilization. If you plan to record a lot of handheld video, versus setting the camcorder on a tripod, you need image stabilization. This feature helps smooth out the jitteriness that comes from holding a camera. Many digital camcorders offer this feature, including the latest Flip UltraHD and MinoHD models.
MiniDV. This digital videotape format was once ubiquitous in digital camcorders. Though MiniDV camcorders are fading in popularity, many videographers still prefer the format. MiniDV tapes are inexpensive for storage and archiving, and image quality is superior to other storage formats (such as flash memory or hard drives). CamcorderInfo.com offers a useful explanation of MiniDV’s pros and cons, along with a guide to the top MiniDV camcorders.
FireWire. Some camcorders use FireWire, a high-speed port also known as i.Link or IEEE 1394, to connect to computers. Apple’s iMac desktops are among current computers with built-in FireWire 800 ports, though FireWire is far from a standard input on most computers today. Many camcorders connect to computers via USB 2.0, which nearly all current computers support.
SDXC. Secure Digital Extended Capacity, or SDXC, is the successor to the SDHC flash memory card, both of which can be used to store video recordings. SDXC cards will eventually offer storage capacities up to 2TB (current capacity maxes out at 64GB) and data speeds up to 300 MBps. However, SDXC cards are more expensive than SDHC memory cards.
Progressive versus interlaced. High-def progressive video, indicated by the “p” in 720p or 1080p, tends to produce smoother motion than interlaced video, such as 1080i resolution video. Thus, a freeze frame from a progressive video recording will look sharper than a similar frame from an interlaced video. Most consumer HD camcorders currently offer 720p or 1080i video recording, though a growing number — such as Kodak’s PlaySport — offer 1080p video recording.
AVCHD and MPEG-4. AVCHD is a common compression system for consumer HD camcorders today, though the similar MPEG-4 system generates files that are easier to import into your computer and aren’t as large.

 

In today’s society, Internet is already part of our life. We all use Internet these days, without it we can’t work effectively. It does not matter why kind of business you are in right now, if you don’t include Internet Marketing, you are losing out to your competitors.

There are many benefits of Internet Marketing, some of those will be discussed in this article. If you are thinking of bringing your business online, you should at least understand some of the major benefits of internet marketing.

The power of the Internet is clear, if you use it right, you can grow and expand your business really fast and very cost effectively. So, the key to taking advantage of the benefits of internet marketing is to utilize the technology properly.

Another major benefit of internet marketing for your business is improved communication channels. With internet marketing, you can open communication with your clients 24 hours a day anywhere and anytime as long as there is internet connection.

Internet marketing can also offers your business a cost effective selling tool that can increase your product or service distribution network. More and more people are now using the Internet to buy the things they like. It is very efficient because they don’t have to drive to the shop or mall, find a parking lot, get into the queue to buy something. They can just go online and with a few clicks of the mouse they can get their purchase done.

Another great benefit of internet marketing is that it is so much cheaper to conduct business transactions compared to traditional brick and mortar business or traditional advertising campaigns. Since there are no paper brochures or fliers needed, you can save up storage space as well.

Another one of the many different internet marketing benefits is the fact that you will be able to reach millions of potential customers each day. With the Internet, the world can be your oyster. People can access your website and see what you have as long as they have a computer and internet connection.

Internet marketing if done right can bring you a lot of new customers and increased volume of sales. The maintenance of your internet marketing campaigns is also so much cheaper compared to the traditional mean of advertising.

If you have an online store, then you have the advantage of being open every day of the year. Internet marketing has the advantage of operating your business 24 hours a day and 7 days a week without resting.

As you can see, there are many benefits of internet marketing. The main ones are low cost and fast expansion. If you want to grow and expand your business without spending an arm and leg, then you should be using internet marketing. If you don’t, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.

However, before you jump into the internet marketing bandwagon, please make sure you invest in some training first. Having a proper know-how and some skill are very important in order to use internet marketing method effectively. I have stated below two resources that I think can really help you to succeed in internet marketing. Check them out.