This article first appeared in the Chichester Film & Video Makers magazine .

First you need to think what you are going to use it for and if you are going to edit your tape after you have taken it.

So first for the person who is just going to video the family and possibly take the camera on holiday but has no intention of doing more than playing the camera tape back through the TV. A very simple VHS camera is all that is required unless you are a stickler for quality pictures. You don’t require all these special features you see advertised and an optical zoom range of 8 to 1. Forget all these massive digital zoom ranges favoured by salesmen. All that happens is that the quality goes down as you zoom in and you cannot hold the camera steady enough to avoid getting eye bending shake. Such a camera you can buy as cheaply as £250. A fold out viewing screen is useful and such a camera starts at £350. If you would like to produce titles for your videos some cameras have this facility.

Now for somebody that wants to edit their video.

It is preferable to go up the quality standard one stage and buy an S-VHS or High 8 camera. The definition is better so that the reduction in quality experienced when editing is not so noticeable. In addition to the features mentioned above Manual Focus and Manual Exposure are very useful for tricky lighting conditions. A LANC or 5 Pin Panasonic control connector will be helpful in helping you to control your camera in the playback mode from your VCR making edits more accurate. Cameras with these features start around start at about £400.

The last group of cameras are for the people who like the best quality and are able and willing to pay for it.

However you may be surprised how little extra you have to pay. I am of course thinking of digital cameras which are largely to the DV standard or the new Sony Digital 8 which produces a similar quality to DV. DV and Digital 8 cameras start at about £650, with a fully featured camera like that owned by the club for £1500.If you can possibly afford to go digital, my advice is do it, you will not regret it.

What are the advantages of DV?

Firstly picture quality and the improved colour rendering. There is also an increase in definition. If you play DV back into your TV via the composite or S lead you will get picture quality that you will have difficulty determining the difference between the DV picture and the broadcast signal even on a good modern set.

Secondly, when you come to edit you can digitally edit without any loss of quality whether this be manually or via a computer-based digital editor like that which the Club owns. Features as for SVHS cameras plus a digital output socket going under such names as Firewire. This digital output will let you edit without quality drop. A useful feature is a camera which is enabled for recording digital and known as digital in. The camera can then be used as a digital VCR. Not many cameras are supplied with this feature but many cameras, particularly Sony, can be modified simply with third party devices.

What is the difference between DV and Digital 8?

DV is an internationally agreed standard while Digital 8 is a Sony only standard. DV tapes are special to DV while Digital 8 uses High 8 tapes. So if you have a lot of old High 8 tapes there is an advantage in Digital 8. Also Sony had priced digital 8 at the bottom end of DV cameras so you may get an equivalent digital 8 camera for a lower price. If you want to stick with a widely used standard stick with DV. Most digital cameras produce a very good picture, so from this point of view there is little to choose between manufacturers, however if you may do digital editing using digital editors my experience is that Sony equipment is less likely to have compatibility problems.

- David Hammersley     May 2002

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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