Are you in the market for a high definition camcorder? Do you know the kind of media you want to record your video footage to? What about the manufacturers Canon, Sony or another?

These can be tough questions to answer. There’s a lot of models to choose from, and the prices are not all that different. Here’s a quick rundown of things to consider.

First, choose the media format. Many high definition (or HD) camcorders record to flash memory, which can be either internal or portable memory cards. Some cameras use both, which is an advantage because changing memory cards is easy. Many models offer hard drives, meaning that you can potentially save dozens of gigabytes worth of video. Some cameras record directly to DVD drives, which means you can play them in a DVD player once you’re done shooting.

Then there’s the old standby miniDV digital camcorders. HDV camcorders record both standard and high definition digital video on miniDV cassettes.

OK, so you have several formats to choose from. Which one do you pick? First off, hard drive camcorders and flash memory camcorders are both relatively new systems, they’ve only been around for a few years. Depending on the editing software you have, transferring the video to your computer can be problematic since the file compression standards they use aren’t universal as of yet. Also, there can be some graininess and blur, depending on the model you choose.

DVD camcorders are great because of the capability to view the video footage for the most part immediately. However, you’re limited to about 4 GB of storage with DVDs.

Without a doubt, HDV offers the best quality video compared with the other formats. The downside is that the footage has to be transferred to your computer in real time since there is no compression involved. So if you shot an hour’s worth of video, it will take that long for your software to capture it.

Next there’s the manufacturer to choose. The main players in high definition video are Canon, Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Samsung. All of them offer great products without a doubt. Nevertheless, Canon has traditionally been a leader in developing digital video camcorders. So since I’ve owned two Canon camcorders already, I’m going to recommend the leader of the pack.

Of all the consumer Canon high definition camcorders out there, the one that has been the most lauded judging from what I have read is the Canon HV30. It is one few miniDV digital camcorders available that also record HDV, which like I said before, is still the best way to go, hands down. I bought one just before Christmas for $549, and let me tell you, I am very impressed. The picture is simply stunning, with rich, vibrant colors. It performs great in low-light, great for shooting indoors in the evening. There are all sorts of scene shooting modes to choose from, and you can go manual if you want to adjust the aperture, tweak the shutter speed, and use manual focus yourself. David Pogue of the New York Times labeled the Canon HV30 the best consumer camcorder of 2008.

One thing to note: use miniDV cassettes made specifically for high definition video. The Canon HV30 will record both standard and high definition video, but use the higher end cassettes to record in HD otherwise you may see some cut outs in the video. In other words a second or two of what you are shooting might vanish in time. I don’t understand why, but it happens. It already happened to me so I switched cassettes. No big deal. The HV30 is still a great camcorder.

Well, you might be saying to yourself that you don’t want to fiddle with those damn video cassettes. It’s one less thing to be concerned about if you’re at the beach and don’t want to worry that sand (or just as bad, salt water) will get caught in the tape mechanism. So let me recommend a hard drive camcorder and a flash memory camcorder, both promising, brand new camcorder models for 2009.

The Samsung HMX-H105 is a hard disk camcorder that looks good and more importantly feels good. It records to a 32 GB solid-state hard drive using MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video compression, which means it is fairly compatible with computer video viewing and editing software. The controls are easy to use and the 230,000 pixel, 2.7-inch touch screen LCD is pretty decent. This camcorder is expected to ship in March 2009, but no price has been set.

Then there’s the Panasonic HDC-TM20 high definition camcorder, which can record HD video to both built-in 16GB flash memory and swappable SD or SDHC cards, which are both smaller than postage stamps. It also has a 16x Leica Dicomar optical zoom lens. Leica lenses are some of the best in the world and are used on several Panasonic camcorders. It records to AVCHD format, which seems to have come a long way recently in terms of capturing picture quality, as it’s had its share of pitfalls. But compared to other camcorders out there, the Panasonic HDC-TM20 is pretty tiny, and might be hard to operate by people with large hands. The touch screen LCD is similar in quality to that of the Samsung. This entry-level camcorder, in gorgeous ruby-red metallic, black or silver, currently sells for around $649.

No matter what format you choose and which manufacturer to go with, research before making the final call. There’s plenty of options out there, and although some of them overlap from camera to camera, remember that the most important thing is picture quality. If it records excellent high definition video, the recording media type as well as the bells and whistles matter little.

Related posts:

1. Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder
2. Know The Best Types Of Camcorders
3. Consider Canon VIXIA HF200 HD Flash Memory Camcorder