A Tape-less Camcorder is a Joy to Have

If you have experienced running out of tape, or rewinding and uploading tapes to a PC, it's easy to see the lure of a tape-less camcorder. In my How-To page Mini-DV, DVD and Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Camcorders I talked about the convenience of Hard Disk (HDD) Camcorders but fell short of recommending it because most HDD camcorders record in MPEG-2 file format which is not as high quality as .AVI for [tag]video editing[/tag] purposes.

I said, if HDD camcorders start coming out in MPEG-4 file format which is a higher quality, that would clinch it for me.

Well, the time has come. Sony's new Hard-Disk-Drive camcorder, the Sony HDR-SR1 uses the MPEG4 format. In addition, it uses CMOS technology instead of the more standard CCD so the image quality is excellent with vibrant colors and image depth.

You can record up to 7 hours of video on the hard disk. 'Uploading' video from your camcorder to your PC is as simple as plugging the camcorder to your computer's USB port and copying the files from the camcorder hard disk to your computer hard disk. To read more about the tape-less Sony HDR-SR1 camcorder, click here: Sony HDR-SR1 AVCHD 4MP 30GB High-Definition Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom.

Bye-bye tapes for me. I have always felt guilty about recording over used tapes after I transfer the video to my PC. Professionals warn me that recording on a used magnetic tape can cause quality hiccups. But I'm cheap and a recycler by nature. Well now, with a digital hard-disk-drive camcorder, I can record, copy the files to my PC, then record over the camcorder hard disk without guilt or fear of quality issues. Then again, the hard disk can store up to 7 hours of video, that's lots of recitals, birthday parties, sports events each time.