When digital camcorders first debuted in 1995, enthusiasts gained access recording with a level of image quality exceeding all other consumer formats, including Hi8 and S-VHS. In fact, so good was the DV format, with its specified video resolution of 500 lines and virtually snow-free picture, that some TV news stations opted to shed their bulky professional equipment in favor of the lightweight and low-cost new consumer cams.

Digital camcorders are generally wonderfully compact, using gum-pack-size miniDV cassettes capable of holding 60 minutes worth of superb video and audio. Recording and storing video (and audio) as a digital code eliminates a long list of picture (and sound) artifacts and errors---much as CDs improved upon LP records. DV cassettes won't play in your VCR, of course, but any digital camcorder you purchase will include the conventional, analog A-V output jacks for connection directly to a television set (or AV receiver or amp) for playback, or to a VCR or PC for sophisticated video-editing options.

DV's performance alone makes it almost certain that the digital format is the future of camcorders in general. But stunning performance isn't the only digi-cam advantage. Powerful features vault the latest DV models over any analog-cam offering as much as raw quality. Higher-end DVs exploit three-up image-sensor CCDs (charge-coupled devices), one each for the red, green, and blue components that compose each ""pixel"" of any TV picture. Tri-CCD models squeeze the very best possible image quality from DV---and this is very, very good indeed---though it (obviously!) raises costs substantially. But don't sell less-expensive, single-CCD models short: These also are capable recording superb video, although if slightly below three-CCD designs in terms of detail and color accuracy. One increasingly popular feature found on some of the newest digital camcorders is the ability to record still images, as well as conventional moving images. Stills can be displayed on the TV, or---better yet---downloaded to a PC for viewing, editing, printing (via today's affordable color-inkjet printers) and even e-mailing as ""e-cards."" Some DV cams even can switch their image sensors over to a computer-friendly progressive-scan picture-assembling format that's optimized for still-image capture. You'll encounter two viewfinder options the latest DV 'corders: a traditional eyepiece, and a flip-out color LCD view-screen that tilts and adjusts to taste. Not all models provide both, however, so it's important to decide which you're more comfortable with up front. At least one new DV model even incorporates a touch-sensitive viewscreen that allows you to digitally zoom an object by touching it on the screen, an innovation that seems likely to migrate to other makers' lines in the near future.

Finally but from least importantly, the type and number of input and output connectors largely determine a DV's flexibility. You'll find brand-specific "editing ports" to connect same-brand DV or conventional gear, as well as a few ""universal"" editing protocols from the conventional-camcorder world. But the most important, and most DV-specific connector to look for is an IEEE-1394 connector, also known as a "FireWire" or "i.Link" port.

This high-speed digital connection permits perfect digital copying when you hook a DV cam up to a digital VCR, a compatible PC, or another digital camcorder equipped with a similar port---much as digital audio recordings may be copied with zero degradation (Very different from analog-video, as anyone who's ever dubbed 8mm or VHS-C to VHS can attest!) With the power of the latest PC and Macintosh desktops, digital-domain, pro-quality video editing is an accessible reality for today's higher-end customers, and will doubtless trickle down to more affordable realms as the century closes. And observe that an intriguingly ""old"" connector type is just now appearing on digital cams: analog audio and video inputs. This is a great boon to the video enthusiast, since it allows digital copying of older, analog 8mm or VHS-C recordings, to DV, which then provides lossless archiving and access to all its powerful editing potential.

Whether you opt for the feature-laden pro-style DV 'corder or the simplest, lowest-price model, it's a lock that you'll be knocked out by the format's quality. Where the camcorder empowered us ""just folks"" to make movies easily, enjoyably, and economically, DV now gives brings within reach the image quality, if not the creativity and skill, to rival the big boys.

Most digital cams feature either digital or optical image-stabilization to reduce the jittering that inevitably accompanies hand-held shooting. Digital Image Stabilization (DIS) is highly effective but tends to decrease picture resolution since when it's engaged a smaller percentage of the image sensor is actively used for recording (the rest is employed in the stabilization digital processing). Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) employs a prism that variably adjusts the path of the light as it travels through the camera's lens system. Both methods achieve the roughly same visible stability, but since OIS does not reduce resolution it's generally preferable.

Picture zooming, of course, is a popular camcorder pastime---all too popular, among many amateur shooters. New-generation digital camcorders deliver powerful telephoto-to-macro abilities through both a conventional, optical zoom and ""digital zoom"" technology that employs video DSP (digital signal processing) to extend zoom ranges to 100X or even 200X. Wow---but note that at these extremes images tend to become highly pixilated, or ""tiled-up,"" and of course image stability is an increasing problem.

If you value point-and-shoot convenience, never fear--most digital camcorders have ""full-auto"" modes based upon auto-focus and auto-exposure capabilities. On the other hand, if you want the freedom to adjust white-balance, f-stop, and shutter speed manually and individually, you should assess a particular model's manual operations in depth: Not every DV model provides the full range of individual manual controls.
By Dan Kumin