Among the many perks of technology is our liberty to record just about anything. We can record sounds of nature, our voice, our pets, and ourselves. Since the advent of camcorders, we can now record memorable moments and special events and use them to create film clips and documentaries.
A camcorder refers to a device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Its primary function is to capture and record motions of people, animals, and other objects. It has 3 basic components namely the lens, imager, and recorder. The lens gathers and focuses light on the imager, which in turn, changes the incident light into an electrical signal. The recorder then converts the signal into video and encodes it into a form that can be stored.
Camcorders are extremely useful in covering news and current events, making home videos, providing entertainment, facilitating dissemination of educational materials, and ensuring proper documentation (most especially in politics, police and criminal activities, and many more).
Tracing back on how this electronic device started, Sony released the first camcorder to the general public in 1983 from which the earliest models were tape-based that recorded analog signals into videotape cassettes. The Betamovie BMC-100P used a Betamax cassette tape and was used to mount on the shoulder of the operator then held by hand. In the same year, JVC released another model based on the compact VHS-C format. Two years later, Sony created its very own compact video cassette format. Also in 1985, other brands like Panasonic, RCA, and Hitachi started manufacturing camcorders that used a full-sized VHS cassette tape which was then also capable of recording for 3-hours worth of media. In 1987, Super VHS (S-VHS) full-sized camcorders were introduced to the market. It exceeded the broadcast quality at that time and provided a cost-effective means to gather news segments and videographies. Sony also upgraded its own which became a strong competitor of S-VHS.
Eventually, digital technology emerged giving way to Sony D1and DCT (first digital video format that used data compression through discrete cosine transform algorithm). In 1995, Sony, JVC, Panasonic, and other manufacturers launched the DV which quickly became popular to people who are fond of producing home videos, independent films, and citizen journals. Ikegami also introduced Editcam, the first tapeless video recording system in the market. Overtime, the high definition (HD) video recording devices were developed by the major manufacturers previously mentioned.
In the long run, the tape has been replaced with other storage media such as internal flash memory, hard drive, and an SD card in the middle of the 21st century. Camcorders that don’t have magnetic tapes as their storage media are called tapeless camcorders, while those that use more than one type of medium are called hybrid camcorders.
In 2010, HD 3D camcorders entered the market and became highly popular after the success of director James Cameron’s 2009 3D movie, Avatar. Since then, Panasonic released the first 3D camcorder to the general public.
Today, modern editions with interchangeable lens and high-definition video are now available in the market. These devices can capture full HD video with full control of the device. Panasonic AG-AF100 and Sony NEX-VG10 are two of the best examples of camcorders with interchangeable lens.