There are six major components that make up a camcorder:

1. Lens: This is the part that gathers light and focuses it inside the camcorder. The lens must gather enough light to make a good image and focus the light properly.

Lens

Focal Length: Photographic lenses are measured using a term called focal length. This refers to "size" of the lens, or the size of the image it will produce. The wide angle lens setting captures a broad image, while the telephoto helps make faraway objects appear closer.

Zoom Lenses: Most camcorders come with ZOOM lenses. A zoom lens is many lenses in one. It changes from a wide angle lens to a telephoto lens with the touch of a button. You can make objects appear closer without walking any closer, or wide angle to take in the great beauty of a landscape setting. For example, you could be standing 15 or 20 feet away from a flower bed. Using the widest angle available, you could shoot the entire bed. Then you could zoom in, without moving from where you stand, to a single flower to show a bee gathering its dinner! Zoom lenses are rated in terms of their zoom ratio. This is the difference between the minimum wide angle and the maximum telephoto. Zoom lenses on very basic camcorders have a 3:1 ratio. A telephoto shot with this zoom ratio would make an object appear to be about 3 times closer than it would appear in a wide angle shot.

Optical Zoom: Zoom lenses operate with many glass elements that are moved into different arrangements as you push the zoom button. Changing the space between glass elements changes the focal length. This system is called optical zoom because the focal length is changed using the actual glass lens elements. Optical zoom ratios on camcorders range from 6:1 to 20:1 and beyond with optical zoom. Optical zoom gives you the best picture quality along with the versatility of different focal lengths. For most users, a zoom of at least 16:1 or 18:1 is preferable.

Digital Zoom: With the use of special digital techniques, camcorder manufacturers have been able to add the ability to electronically increase the zoom ratio of many models. So a 10:1 optical zoom combined with a 2:1 digital zoom result in a 20:1 ratio. Generally digital zooms are useful for extreme close-ups when you just can't get the shot any other way. The more extreme digital zooms (triple or higher) often create a "digital" look to the picture - the individual pixels get a "blocky" look. This may be acceptable in many cases, but not always. Experiment with the different models and get a feel for the "look" of the more extreme digital zoom ratios.

Telephoto

Many people don't realize that using a telephoto-type lens for shots can present difficulties for  viewing. When a lens is set to the telephoto setting, any unwanted camera movement is easily seen as a shaking of the picture. Even the slightest movement is exaggerated, and the result is that the viewer feels uneasy!

There are two solutions to minimize this problem. One is to use a tripod. You should use a tripod as often as possible when using the telephoto setting on the lens. Another more "user-friendly" solution is built-in image stabilization. Image stabilization diagnoses small shakes and eliminates them from the picture, resulting in a much more smooth and stable image.

FOCUS: All camcorders today come with an auto focus system. The camcorder uses various techniques to measure the distance between you and the subject you are recording. The camera then focuses automatically on that subject. With some systems, very low or very bright light levels can affect the accuracy of the autofocus system.

A Helpful Focusing Tip: Here's the best way to manually focus when using a zoom lens: Switch to manual focus, zoom in on the subject, and get the best focus possible. Then zoom out to the distance you want for your shot. Do this before you begin shooting. If you're in focus at the telephoto setting, then all the rest of your shots at the same distance will be in focus.

Macro Focus: Lenses have a minimum distance for focusing; if an object is closer than the minimum distance, the picture will be blurry. For zoom lenses, that distance is usually several feet. If you want to focus on something very small, say the engraving on the back of a watch, you'd have to be a couple of feet away with a normal zoom and then zoom in as tightly as possible. Unfortunately, the watch might not fill the picture frame the way you want it to.

Macro focus allows a lens to focus on small objects at very close distances. At macro settings, small objects can fill the frame, making for a very dramatic shot. All camcorders with a zoom lens include the macro function. Macro focus is popular with nature photographers and collectors, and homeowners taking a home inventory for insurance purposes. You can get the manufacturer's marks on the back of your fine china, the serial numbers of your electronic equipment, the engraving on jewelry, etc.

Picture Quality Controls

IRIS: The iris (or aperature) is the opening in the lens that acts like the pupil of your eye. It allows the light to pass on to the pickup device. To get the right amount of light for a good picture, or what's called a "good exposure," the iris must be adjusted properly. Without an iris the camcorder would give you a "washed out" picture in bright light, and a picture with no contrast in dark light. All of today's camcorders include an automatic iris, which adjusts itself to the amount of light coming in through the lens automatically. You don't need be a lighting expert to get great pictures.

Backlight Control: Sometimes a camcorder user is shooting in light conditions that the automatic iris, even with automatic iris control, just can't handle. For example, you're at home shooting a party on a summertime afternoon. Your subject is standing in front of patio doors. Think of the bright light streaming through the doors and surrounding your subject. Your camcorder sees all that bright light and shuts the iris down, just like the pupil of your eye would get smaller in bright sunlight. Unfortunately, the light is hitting the back of your subject, not the front, at which you're aiming. Since the iris closes down a bit, the subject usually comes out very dark, while the background is properly exposed! You get a great picture of a silhouette. This is called backlighting. The camcorder reads the bright light, not the light reflected from your subject; you wind up with a silhouette with no detail at all. Many camcorders solve this problem with a Backlight Control. You press this button when you're shooting in a backlit situation. The iris opens a little more, giving you a much better picture of your main subject; the background may look too bright, but your subject has all the detail you'd prefer.

Variable Shutter Speed: All camcorders have a basic shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. That means they take a "snapshot" of the light coming through the lens 60 times a second. (There is actually no mechanical shutter in a camcorder; the scanning is done by the pickup device that acts like a shutter in a mechanical camera.)

With a basic shutter speed of 1/60th of a second, whenever you shoot any fast moving action, some parts of the picture may be blurry when you play back using the slow motion replay feature. For many scenes this is not a big deal. However, if you want to analyze your golf swing using the slow motion function, you can't do it if the golf club looks like a blur. You can't see the position of your hands - they're blurred. Imagine you're shooting a bicycle speeding by and you want a clear view of the crowd in the background, but it comes out as a blur!

Variable shutter speed solves this problem! When you use a camcorder with variable shutter speed, you can shoot fast moving subjects and, during playback with slow motion, be able to see all the action clearly. When using slow motion or pause on your VCR, you can analyze your golf or tennis swing; catch the crowd reaction in the stands - and get all the detail in a fast moving subject.

The actual settings may vary on camcorders; some models may offer one additional speed of 1/250th or 1/500th of a second. Other models offer shutter speeds as high as 1/10,000 of a second! With a speed of 1/4,000th or more, you could actually capture the movement of a bullet!

One caution: Faster shutter speeds should be used outdoors in good lighting conditions. Less light reaches the pickup lens when you use a faster shutter speed. Getting a great color picture may be more difficult whenever you use a high shutter speed indoors or outdoors in deep shade.

Fader: A fader control fades the picture in or out gradually, instead of starting and stopping abruptly. On a fade in, the iris starts out closed and gradually opens; or it gradually closes down for a fade­out. You've seen this effect in many movies; with a fader on your camcorder you can get the same effect. Many models fade­in and fade­out to black, while some fade to white. There are even a couple of models that let you choose from several different colors and digital special effects for the fade. With a fader you can create more professional looking tapes.

In addition to fading, some camcorders add Wipes to make scene transitions more interesting. A wipe is a visual effect where one picture "pushes" the earlier picture off the screen. Whereas professional TV producers add these effects in the editing suite, you can actually add them to your home videos while shooting. When you know you're going to begin a new scene, turn on the wipe feature, choose one of the several patterns available, and the wipe will be placed at the beginning of the scene.

Image Stabilization: Mentioned previously, image stabilization is a system that helps defeat the inevitable shaking that comes from using the telephoto lens setting. But it's not limited to telephoto use. With many of today's camcorders being very small and lightweight, people find them a little harder to hold steady. Since they don't sit on your shoulder, the only thing holding them steady is the hand and arm of the shooter - and this isn't always reliable! So more and more consumers are finding stabilization to be a desirable solution to a nagging problem.

Not all stabilization systems are the same. One system uses an optical sensing system; others are based on purely electronic sensing. The optically based system is the most expensive, but also the has the least impact on picture quality. The electronic-based systems are less expensive but can have some negative impact on picture quality.

OPTICAL IMAGE STABILIZATION (OIS): This system uses two glass lenses with a liquid suspended between them. If you shake the camcorder, the liquid causes one of the lenses to move in relation to the other. Light is then shifted, which the camcorder senses, and adjusts the picture accordingly. This is a fairly expensive system and will only be found on more expensive camcorders. Its main advantage is that there is no picture degradation with this system..

ELECTRONIC IMAGE STABILIZATION (EIS): There are two electronic forms of EIS. Both use digital technology to detect and then correct for camera shake. The major difference between these systems and the optical one is that they can, in some cases, produce a slightly lower quality picture. This is mainly seen as increased graininess in the picture.

Whether using digital or optical stabilization, it's always a good idea to make sure you have some extra batteries handy since these feature do use more power than standard recording. Nevertheless, stabilization in optical or digital form is one of today's most useful features. Camcorders are often used in situations where tripods are inconvenient, and anything that cuts down on a shaky picture is of real benefit to most people.

Pickup Devices

Today's camcorders all come with AUTOMATIC WHITE BALANCE. When the camera is in automatic mode, it adjusts itself automatically to current lighting conditions.

Microphones

Microphone: Every camcorder includes a built-in microphone to record a soundtrack on the tape. On some camcorders the microphone's location is obvious: mounted on the front or on top and covered with foam rubber to reduce wind noise. On compact camcorders, the microphone is often recessed into the body of the camcorder itself. As a result, it may appear that it has no microphone at all. HiFi stereo camcorders use stereo microphones.

Wind Buffer: Camcorders that include a recessed microphone also have a feature called a wind buffer. On camcorders for which the microphone projects outward, the foam rubber that surrounds it helps prevent wind noise from being recorded on the soundtrack. Models with recessed microphones can't use foam rubber to dampen the effect of wind. Instead, the manufacturer adds electronic equalization that reduces sound frequencies where the wind noise is most prominent. When shooting outdoors on a calm day, you would not use the wind buffer switch since it affects sound accuracy. However, on windy days it can make the difference between getting a limited soundtrack or no soundtrack at all.

Microphone Input: Some camcorders have a microphone input jack. This is useful whenever you're shooting people standing far away from the camera. At a distance, the built-in mic might not pick up their voices very well. You can plug the cable from an external microphone into this jack, or use a wireless microphone and plug its receiver into the jack. It's also great when there's too much external noise that might drown out your subjects; they can use a hand held directional microphone or a clip-on mic.

Batteries

Most camcorders today come with nickel cadmium (NiCad) or Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries. A nickel cadmium battery can usually handle about 1000 recharges in its lifetime, which should be years of use for even the most avid camcorder user. Batteries are rated in terms of how many hours of charge they carry. The batteries included with camcorders are usually one or two hour batteries, with optional four hour batteries available.

These time ratings are meant as guidelines, rather than absolutes. Using many of the camcorder's more power draining features such as motorized zoom, LCD panel, auto focus, EIS, built-in light, etc. will reduce the amount of time you get from a fully charged battery. We recommend you purchase at least one extra battery so you don't run out of portable power in the middle of an important shoot.

Battery Memory: One characteristic of NiCad batteries that causes lots of concern among customers is battery "memory." Nickel cadmium batteries have a peculiar habit of "memorizing" the amount of charge they receive when you recharge them. If you only partially discharge a NiCad battery and then recharge it, and you do this over and over, the battery begins to "think" that the partial charge is a full charge. As a result, a one hour battery may actually only give you ½ hour of use. And if you use all those extra power-draining features we mentioned earlier, you might get even less use than that from the battery!

How do you prevent NiCad battery memory? The most important thing is never recharge a NiCad battery until it needs recharging. On a camcorder, the low battery indicator will tell you when the battery needs recharging. Until the low battery indicator comes on, you shouldn't recharge the battery.

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH): An even better solution to battery memory is now available - a type of rechargeable battery called Nickel Metal Hydride. These batteries take about as many recharges as nickel cadmium, but do not develop "memory" problems.

Lithium Ion(L-Ion): These lightweight, high-energy batteries charge quickly and are especially useful for products needing very small batteries, such as digital camcorders, laptop PCs and cellular phones.  Though more expensive than NiCad, they do not have the memory problems associated with NiCad batteries.