WILL YOU record your special moments this year in suapshots or on tape? By Patricia Mandelf Contributing Writer As camcorders combined video cameras and videotape re- corders — become smaller and easier to use, more and more people are saving memories on videocassettes rather than in snap- shot albums. Today’s camcorders are com- pact, work well in low light and offer professional-grade features such as high-speed shutters, digital effects, fades and wipes, even — as a novelty — 3D taping. Camcorders are now com- parable dollarwise to sophisticated 35mm still-camera systems. The greatest challenge a neophyte buyer faces is selecting from among the formats. Rather than focus on format, though, your best approach is to determine which features you want based on how you plan to use the camcorder. Two features every camcorder Infinity Productions PROFESSIONAL VIDEO PRODUCTION Real estate videos, training videos and insurance protection videos for your valuables. Live music videos, weddings and other special occasions recorded in digital stereo. Video portfolios for models, actors anc dancers, call Nick Darcy pager 650-2639. “ STOREWIDE ~ ~ INVENTORY LIQUIDATION 160 WATTS OF POWER 1] AM/FM RECEIVER 30 PRESETS. 7 INPUTS. FULLY REMOTE.. ‘DOUBLE | CASSETTE § DOLBY NA SYSTEM. 2 HI-SPEED DUBBING. @ FULL LOGIC. 2 MOTOR, 16 PROGRAM SEARCH. KENWOOD CAR AUDIO SYSTEMS pale ROWER AM/EM SHUTTLE DEC mB HI-Power 4 @ Theft prevention chassis m M Auto reverse 18 pre-sels H Dolby noise reduction system. $e-01 a Musi¢ s search $969°° r and much more should include are an electronic viewfinder, which is a tiny TV screen that lets you monitor what you're shooting, and automatic white balance, which adjusts filtration so that colors come out true no matter what the light con- ditions. You probably also will want a zoom lens, which lets you zero in for a close-up without moving the camera. Most camcorders now available have a six-to-one zoom ratio, but the higher the ratio the better, since the higker ratio means the lens has greater magnification powers. Auto focus and auto exposure are necessary for the amateur video producer. It’s a good idea, however, to have the option of manually overriding these con- trols, since in some situations you may want to determine the set- tings yourself. One of the most significant im- provements in today’s camcorders is their performance in low light — almost all produce an accept- able image, even indoors. Those of us who remember the trials of setting up lights for film- ing indoors with a conventional home-movie camera will recognize this as one of the camcorder’s major advantages. ‘‘Ail camcorders these days do a very good job of shooting in low light,’’ observes James Meigs, editorial director of Video Review. “Even the least expensive are adequate in dim light, so low-light 250 WATTS OF PURE POWER i 7 BAND ELECTRONIC EGUALIZER "BUILT-IN" ‘PROGRAMMABLE. . REMQTE - @ UNIVERSAL REMOTE CAR AUDIO SYSTEM C.D. PLAYER AM/FM RECEIVER, HIGH POWER- SHUTTLE DECK LOADED 4 wT SS S. | RANDOM PLAY & MORE WITH 6 REMOTE INPUTS _ 5 DISC CHANGER, performance isn’t a factor buyers should focus on’? when com- parison shopping. What serious buyers should do, however, is try out the models that interest them. “I can't believe how many peo- ple buy camcorders without ever having tried them,’’ says Gregory Fagan, senior editor of Video Review. ‘‘Don’t just look through the camera actually record, play it back and look at the pic- ture quality.”” Beyond the basics If you want to make more sophisticated-looking videos, you will need some editing functions. Look for playback capability, time/date marking and flying erase heads. Playback capability means you can play back tape you’ve just shot to make sure you got what you wanted. Time/date marking allows you to mark the date and time of each shot for later editing. And when you make in-camera edits, you’re bound to get some picture breakup between scenes unless you have flying erase heads, which are extra erase heads that ensure clean transitions be- tween scenes. You’ve probably seen Hollywood features shot using Steadicarns, movie cameras with internal gyroscopes that keep them level even when the camera opera- 5 DISC. ROTARY CHANGER ma RANDOM PLAY. 32 TRACK am PROGRAMMABLE SYSTEM. REMOTE COMPATIBLE. 3 WAY, 3 SPEAKER BASS Se REFLEX SYSTEM. KENWOOD A QUALITY STAND OPTIONAL. THIS INCREDIBLE SYSTEM CONSISTS 0 ALL SEPARATE COMPONENTS. REMOTE CONTROL | KENWOOD | “MAY NCT BE AVAILABLE TALL LOCATIONS “LYNN. WALLEY CENTRE. NORTH VAN* _ 987- 7265 ° Distiibuted by the Los Angoles Times Syndicate SMALL BUT easy-to-use camcorders allow you to videotape your memories as easily as taking 2 photograph. tor dashes down a flight of stairs. Now you can get a similar feature in a home-use camera. Shutter speed is also an impor- tant consideration if you want to shoot fast action such as sporting events or use the camcorder to analyze your golf or tennis swing. You'll need a variable shutter with a speed of at least 1/1,000 of a second. The fastest shutter set- ting is 1/4,000 of a second, but half that speed is fast enough to capture most human motion. KENWOOD 0 SYSTEMS STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER 80 WATTS MAX @ OIN/ACA inputs ® Full protection & heat sink @ Variabie input sensitivity Eo s79” KENWOOD cabie CAR AUDIO SYSTEM 120 WATT POWER AMPLIFIER *MONO BRIDGEABLE GOLD PLATED 5 RCA INPUT TERMINALS an f REASONABLE & OFFER REFUSED! Some camcorders boast ali sorts of digital features, but thev’re mostly fancy extras for semipro- fessionals. These include fade to black, a blackout effect like that seen in feature movies; picture wipe, which creates a picture edge that sweeps across the image; and character generators, which super- impose credits or other kinds of titles on the tapes. There's also cording. The easy choice: Full-size VHS time-lapse re- Of the four VHS formats on the market, by far the most popu- lar is full-size VHS, which is also the simplest format to use in cam- corders. You can pop the cassette out of the camcorder and right in- to your VCR. VHS records for two to eight hours. Full-size camcorders, however, are heavy (between four and six pounds) and bulky. With only 230 to 250 lines of horizontal resolu- tion, they offer lesser picture quality than competing formats. (By contrast, broadcast television transmits at 330 lines.) On the other hand, the improv- ed version of VHS — known as Super-VHS (S-VHS) — boasts 400 to 500 lines of resolution. But S- VHS camcorders cost more than VHS camcorders. Still, S-VHS camcorders, which offer six hours of recording time, are more likely to include such features as eight-to-one or 10-to- one zoom Senses and flying erase heads. The other full-size-cassette op- tion is the seemingly moribund Beta format. Because of licensing restrictions by Sony, Beta’s patent holder, most early tape manufac- turers produced only VHS tape. Thus, it became the format of choice by default, even though Beta initially offered better picture quality. But rather than let the format die, Sony recently introduced a professional-quality Beta cam- corder, which features more than 550 lines of horizontal resolution and high-fidelity stereo recording. Picking pocket-size cassettes Both VHS and S-VHS come in compact versions, called VHS-C and S-VHS-C. Because the casset- tes are about the same size as audiotape cassettes, the VHS-C and S-VHS-C camcorders weigh in at only two or three pounds --~ less. than half a typical VHS cam- corder’s weight. Held in one hand, compact camcorders offer point-and-shoot convenience with auto focus and auto exposure.