If you are choosing a new camcorder, one of the most important choices to make is the storage medium that will store your recordings. Deciding on a storage medium early in the process will significantly reduce the total number of camcorders you need to consider, so decisions made afterwards will be quite a bit easier. Let's review the different types of recording medium out there as well the types of user/usage each media is best suited for.



== Tape Camcorders ==

Even though it's been around for a long time, tape provides the best grade recordings for consumer camcorders. When recording to tape, the image is subjected to a minimal amount of compression so the video recording maintains the highest possible image quality. In addition to providing best images, tape-based camcorders are usually cheaper than camcorders that record to other recording mediums.

On the negative side, tapes are constrained as to how much can be recorded on them to somewhere in the area of 60 - 90 minutes. However the tapes themselves are relatively cheap to get, so carrying backup tapes is typically not much of a problem. An additional consideration with camcorders that record to tape is that to get your movies onto a format you can share with others (a DVD for example) requires that you upload your movie to a computer first. The downloading process takes place in real time. So if you are going to upload a 90-minute movie to your computer, it will actually take 90 minutes. You also can't accomplish any sort of editing (other than backing over the tape and recording anew); all of the editing needs to take place on your computer.

Tape-based camcorders are mostly intended for two sorts of users: the person on a budget, and people who want higher quality recordings.

== Hard-Drive Camcorders ==

Camcorders that use hard disk drives (HDDs) tend to offer the longest possible recording times. Depending on the compression used, you can often get up to 10 hours of recording time on an HDD camcorder. With an HDD camcorder, there is never anything new to buy. Depending on the specific model, you can edit your recordings right on the camcorder itself. And when it comes time to transfer your movies to your computer, the transfer rate will be substantially faster than when transferring movies from a tape-based camcorder.

The primary problem with HDD camcorders is that the recordings are typically highly compressed and this results in poorer image quality. HDDs themselves are also comparatively power hungry and can be damaged by drops or environmental extremes (as can your camcorder itself). But if you break a tape-based camcorder, while the camera may be dead, you can still extract your film. But with an HDD-based camcorder, if the camcorder is destroyed, you are unlikely to get your existing movie off the camcorder.

HDD camcorders are extremely versatile and they are primarily intended for the home user.

== DVD camcorders ==

Camcorders that record directly on a DVD as their recording media are a effective selection for those who want a format that is widely playable and for folks without a computer. There's nothing easier than recording a movie on your camcorder and placing the result directly into the DVD player.

The primary problem with DVD camcorders is the image quality and recording time. The length of recording obtainable is dependent on the type of compression used, but for the highest quality options, you usually only get 20 - 30 minutes per DVD. If you reduce the quality of the compression you can get longer recording times, but then your image quality is decreased.

DVD camcorders are a good selection for folks who have no computer since there is no need to upload the video off of the camera; it comes off directly on the DVD. If you have a computer, and it's an older model that you don't think is appropriate to the increased demands of video transfer and editing, this may also be a good pick for you.

== Flash Camcorders ==

As advances continue to be made in the flash memory field, flash-based camcorders are becoming increasingly frequent. Solid-state flash is small and is not power intensive, so camcorders that use it as a recording medium are usually smaller and lighter than other camcorder models. They are also usually more durable and are able to absorb abuse such as drops. Like many other models, flash-based camcorders require that their recordings uploaded to a computer before the video can be transferred onto a DVD, but the upload is typically very quick for most models.

As with other non-tape based camcorders, there may be trade-offs around image quality and compression. Also, based on the size of the flash memory obtainable, there may issues around the length of the recording time.

If you are seeking the lightest and smallest camcorder obtainable, a flash-based camcorder is probably the right bet.