HD Pocket Video Camera
HD Pocket Video Camera – What To Consider!
When you compare a HD pocket video camera to a regular camcorder you will see that there’s quite a few differences. Mostly, the little HD at the beginning indicates a feast for the eyes. It means that you will capture your videos in High Definition on such a pocket video camera and that results in a totally different viewing experience when you watch your videos on your TV.
When looking at the different high definition TV formats you will see that there are a few formats and that you should know what they mean. Any HD pocket video camera is capable of recording video in the 720p HD format. This means that you are able to capture videos with a resolution of 1,280×720 pixels. That is the lower HD resolution that is available.
Some pocket video cameras record in the 1080p format. This captures videos with a resolution of 1,920×1,080 pixels. Often you will see this referred to as ‘Full HD’. In general you can say that the higher the resolution, the sharper the image.
If you have a computer monitor or HDTV that can show videos at 1080p then make sure you get a HD pocket video camera with a Full HD recording mode. Even YouTube allows you to upload your videos in 1080p now. Until recently YouTube and most other video sharing platforms only supported the 720p format. With the switch to have Full HD enabled you should really consider to go for a pocket camcorder with 1080p recording.
However, there’s one catch to this. Any of the HD pocket video cameras on the market that are capable of recording in the 1080p mode will do so with 30 frames per second. This means that 30 images are taken each second to make the moving video. This is enough for most situations but when it comes to action or sports shots it might result in a video that doesn’t seem fluid. In that case nearly all of the HD pocket camcorders have a recording mode at 720p with 60 frames per second. This allows you to record fast moving video and it will come out smooth and fluid.
Another downside that comes with the higher resolution is that you will need a lot more storage space to save the video. That might not be an issue for storing on your computer but its mainly an issue with the storage of the video on your HD pocket video camera. Many of the HD pocket camcorders on the market allow you to expand the memory so you can store more video. You want at least 2 hours of HD video that you can store on the HD pocket video camera.
Another thing to consider is the battery life of a HD pocket video camera. You want to make sure that you can record at least 30 to 60 minutes of recording. As these little pocket camcorders are built very compact you will not find many mini video cameras that can handle longer recording times than 60 minutes. One thing to look for is whether the batteries are standard batteries that you can simply switch or whether they are built-in or special battery packs that you can’t just get in the store around the corner. Also look out as some of the HD pocket video cameras do not have a separate charger but are charged through their USB connector. In that case you will have to have a possibility to charge through a USB connection if you take the pocket camcorder with you on a trip.
When it comes to sound you would like to see that your HD pocket video camera is capable of recording in stereo. You might have to compromise here and get your stereo recording only through an external microphone so you want to look for a pocket camcorder that has at least a microphone plug so you can use an external microphone. You shouldn’t worry too much about the audio playback quality on the mini video camera as you usually will not use it to watch a lot of your videos on it. It’s a lot more likely that you will watch your HD videos on your TV or computer monitor which can play stereo sound.
Most of today’s HD pocket video cameras do not offer optical zooms. If you look at a pocket camcorder with zoom capabilities then you will usually only find one with a digital zoom. There is quite a quality difference between an optical and a digital zoom. The optical zoom uses optical lenses to zoom the scene or object you are filming closer and you don’t have any loss of picture quality. A digital zoom takes the captures picture and then zooms into that image by basically zooming into a specific area of the picture. However, it doesn’t retake the picture or take it with a higher resolution. The result is a loss of sharpness of the captured image or video. If your video needs require a zoom capability then you want to find a HD pocket video camera with an optical zoom. Having said that, with a camera with Full HD resolution you should get good digital zoom quality as the original image or video has a high resolution and thus is very sharp.
Lastly you want to make sure you take the video screen of the HD pocket video camera into consideration. It should be big enough so you can clearly watch the video you took right after you captured it. Some of the newer pocket camcorders offer rather large screens that are touch-enabled and function also as the input mechanism to change settings, etc. Overall you want to make sure that the size of the screen is at least 2 inches diagonally. A larger and higher quality LCD display will allow you to check your captured video even in bright sunlight!
Having listed all of the important things for you to watch out when it comes to HD pocket camcorders, please have a look at our pocket video camera reviews that you can find on this site.