I fondly remember my first video camcorder, a bulky, full-size VHS model that I had to balance on my shoulder. The images produced by this circa 1980 model were acceptable back then, but not by today's standards.
Now, palm-size Hi-8 mm and Super VHS camcorders produce first-generation results that look near broadcast quality.In the early 1980s, there were few accessories for camcorders. These included large video lights that required a belt-worn battery pack, screw-on lenses that expanded the focal length of the zoom lenses and very expensive home-editing systems. Today, amateur videographers have a wide variety of accessories from which to choose. Here are just a few of the newest:
- GlideCam Stabilizer - Do you have trouble holding your camcorder steady? The GlideCam Stabilizer, which attaches to the base of a camcorder, stabilizes camcorder movement for almost rock-steady images, even if you are walking.
- Snappy Video Snapshot - This unique accessory, developed by Play Inc. and marketed by Minolta Corp., is what's called a high-definition video grabber. The Snappy links a camcorder with a PC or laptop computer; it "grabs" images from a camcorder and transfers them to a computer. Once in a computer graphic program, these images can be printed, retouched, recropped and even manipulated for custom effects.
- Sharp Video Printer - Hook up this device to your camcorder, press two buttons and in about one minute you get a postcard-size print of a "frame" on your videotape. You can put one, four or 16 images on each print. Why would anyone want to put 16 images on a single print? To simulate the movement in a section of videotape, of course - such as a full golf swing or a child making a goal at a soccer game.
- Sharp TV Tuner - Attach this tuner to a Sharp ViewCam and you can tune in (and record) your favorite broadcast television programs.
- JVC EdiTool - One of the problems with editing home videos is connecting all the wires from a camcorder and VCR to an editing machine. JVC has eliminated this time-consuming and cumbersome aspect of home editing with its EdiTool. This accessory utilizes the infrared controllers in camcorders and VCRs and wirelessly transmits editing information between the video source (camcorder) and the VCR.
There is new product news in camcorders, too. Canon recently introduced three Hi-8 mm ES series models with FlexiZone autofocusing, which allows the user to move the area of focus and exposure anywhere within a scene (unlike conventional camcorders that have a central area for focusing and exposure metering).