What is the Difference Between a Hi-def and Digital Camcorder?

Camcorders are becoming more and more popular. In fact, thanks to affordable pricing being able to make home movies is something that has become a household activity. Just about everyone has a digital camcorder that provides them with a way to more than just capture a still image but to capture all those special moments on film as real as life for generations to come.

Digital camcorders work similarly to digital cameras; they have a variety of sizes, features and fps rates. FPS stands for frames per second and determines the pictures quality on the video. The images are stored on cassette or disk and with digital camcorders it is easy to just plug them into your computer and download the video. These are everyday use cameras. Hi def cameras are designed for professional use.

While you can use digital for this there are some distinct differences which are listed below;

- A Hi def or high definition camcorder is going to look a little differently than a standard digital. It is going to be designed to be as stable as possible in your hand which means not only will it be more expensive it is also going to be larger. You may find that it has a more powerful zoom in some cases 20 times greater. It will also have an instant AF system, focus assist for manual focusing as well as a widescreen LCD for viewing purposes. It may also contain a horizontal pixel shift allowing for a 1080i recording image.

- A digital camcorder is going to be more for home movie or family trip use. It is going to be small, compact and affordable. The zoom is not going to be wide screen but may give you a greater range. It also records in Mega pixels, which are more suited for still images. Depending on the camcorder you may have widescreen capabilities but it is not as common for non commercial use equipment. The LCD viewing screen is usually a little wider but may not be as good a quality. They do not have options for manual focusing but may be able to shoot up to 16:9 resolutions, which is a standard small format wide screen picture. You may also find they don't usually have a long battery life but can record to a variety of different formats, usually onboard memory or memory card. They are usually plug and play or plug and download allowing you an easy way to transfer images.

These are just some of the differences between digital camcorders and hi def camcorders. Both technically are digital based, however; one, the digital camcorder is designed for home use while the other, (hi def) is designed for more commercial applications.

Another point to consider is the difference in price because the Hi definition camcorder is primarily designed for commercial use it is going to be more expensive however there are some of the higher end digital camcorders that are going to be comparable in price to the high definition camcorder.