subject: Selecting A Camera For Web Video [print this page] Video for the web is quickly becoming one of the most important methods of marketing. It is also one of the most popular ways for artists to express their creativity through video sharing services like YouTube.
With readily available equipment that is available today just about anybody has the ability to put a video on the web, but here are 5 tips that will help in picking a video camera to help your videos stand out from the rest.
1. Format
There are many formats that are available these days. Ranging from full 1080p HD to very low-resolution webcams. When selecting a format, High Definition is currently the best, and should be for quite some time. Standard definition is still acceptable, but is slowly being phased out.
2. Audio Inputs
High quality audio is one of the hallmarks of a professional video, so the ability to connect an external microphone source is vital. All cameras will have a built in microphone, but the quality is never as good as an external microphone. At minimum the camera should have the ability to accept at least 1 external source and preferably be able to accept 2.
3. Recording Media
Recording media can range from a few dollar videotape to multi-thousand dollar recording micro-chip cards. Many cameras can now record on economical removable media such as SD cards. Removable media makes the transfer process from camera to computer fast and seamless.
4. Output options
If your camera does not have removable media the video will still need to be transferred to the computer. Cameras will have video outputs such as USB, Firewire and RCA. RCA outputs are great for viewing video on a TV but are lower quality (and require a separate video capture card) than USB and Firewire. If your computer has a firewire port, that is the best output option, if not, USB is a close second.
5. Ease of Editing
Cameras record using many different types of video compression. MiniDV, AVCHD, MPG, AVI and the list goes on. Some of these compression methods can be difficult for computers to handle, but most are fine. Try to avoid AVC formats unless your computer was built specifically to handle video.
