AAK Video Production Intro to Camcorders

A camcorder (video CAMera reCORDER) is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit.

In order to differentiate it from other devices that are capable of recording video, like cell phones and compact digital cameras, a camcorder is generally identified as a portable device primarily designed for video capture and recording.

The earliest camcorders used analog recording onto videotape. Since the 1990s digital recording has become the norm, but tape remained the primary recording media.

MEDIA There are several definitions but in the computer and video world, "media" can be used to refer to different types of data storage options.

MEDIA cont. Computer and digital media can be hard drives, removable drives (such as Zip disks), CD- ROM or CD-R discs, DVDs, flash memory, USB drives, and floppy disks. Digital video is also still stored on tape.

MEDIA cont. In general, "media" can also refer to various means of communication. For example, television, radio, and the newspaper are different types of media. The term can also be used as a collective noun for the press or news reporting agencies.

Starting from early 2000’s tape as storage media is being gradually replaced with tapeless media like optical disks, hard disk drives and flash memory.

All tape-based camcorders use removable media in form of video cassettes. The video cassettes can be in several different formats. More on formats later!

Camcorders that do not use magnetic tape are often called tapeless camcorders and may use optical discs (removable), solid-state flash memory (removable or built-in) or a hard disk drive (removable or built-in).

Camcorders that permit using more than one type of media, like built-in hard disk drive and memory card, are often called hybrid camcorders.

Camcorders contain 3 major components: 1. Lens 2. Imager 3. Recorder

Component COMPONENT A piece, part, section, or element. An element of a larger group.

The lens gathers and focuses light on the imager. 1. LENS

The camcorder's lens or optics generally have one or more of the following adjustments: aperture or iris to regulate the exposure and to control depth of field zoom to control the focal length and angle of view

shutter speed to regulate the exposure and to maintain desired motion portrayal gain to amplify signal strength in low-light conditions neutral density filter to regulate the exposure.

In consumer units, the previous adjustments are often automatically controlled by the camcorder's electronics, but can be adjusted manually if desired. Professional units offer direct user control of all major optical functions.

The imager converts light into an electrical signal. The imager is a computer chip, usually a CCD or CMOS sensor on modern camcorders. Earlier examples often used vidicon tubes. 2. IMAGER

CCD - Charge-Coupled Device CMOS - Complementary Metal- Oxide-Semiconductor

The camera lens projects an image onto the imager surface, exposing the photosensitive array to light. The light exposure is converted into an electrical charge.

The optics (lens) and imager are often referred to as the camera section.

The recorder converts the electric signal into digital video and encodes it into a storable form. 3. RECORDER

The recorder is also responsible for writing the video-signal onto a recording or storage medium such as magnetic videotape, DVD or hard drive.

All but the most primitive camcorders imaginable also need to have a recorder- controlling section.

The recorder-controlling section allows the user to control the camcorder, switch the recorder into playback mode for reviewing the recorded footage and an image control section which controls exposure, focus and white-balance.

TV and VIDEO cameras and camcorders