YouTube and other video-sharing websites are a great way to share and watch videos from our friends, family, and other people all over the world. So it didn't come as a surprise to me when I learned that more and more camcorders these days are designed specifically for users of these sites. Web-friendly camcorders have ease of use at the basis of their design — they give you easy recording, easy playback, and even easier uploading to your computer and video-sharing websites.
Recently, I had the chance to check out two of our web-friendly camcorders: the Sony NSC-GC1, which records to Memory Stick® Duo™ cards, and the Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra, which records to a built-in 2-gigabyte memory. I looked at a few different things: ease of recording, quality of the video, video recording options, and ease of uploading to a computer or website.
Both the Sony NSC-GC1 (left) and the Pure Digital Flip Video (right) camcorders are tiny — they're roughly the same size as a compact digital camera.
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The basics of each camcorder
First, take a look at the chart below to get an idea of how these camcorders measure up.
| Sony NSC-GC1 | Flip Video | |
|---|---|---|
| Digital zoom | 4X | 2X |
| Recording media | Memory Stick Duo (not included) | 2GB built-in memory |
| Resolution | 320 x 240, 640 x 480 | 640 x 480 |
| Frames per second | 15 fps or 30 fps | 30 fps |
| Video format | MPEG-4 | AVI |
| Takes photos | Yes | No, but built-in software can capture stills from video |
| LCD | 2-3/8" flip-out | 1-1/2" |
| Battery type | Built-in rechargeable | 2 "AA" batteries |
| Weight | 5.3 oz. | 5.1 oz. |
| Dimensions | 1-3/16"W x 4-1/8"H x 2-1/4"D | 2-3/16"W x 4-3/16"H x 1-1/4"D |
Upon first glance, there's no denying that both of these cameras are tiny. Both have a vertical grip, which differs from most of the camcorders that we carry. In addition to their small size, the Sony and the Flip feature a minimalist set of buttons and a slimmed down set of camcorder functions. This makes perfect sense to me — a camcorder that's intended to produce web-worthy film clips probably won't need advanced focus, shutter speed, and aperture settings. There are also no accessory shoes, headphone outputs, or other features that you'd see on today's higher-end camcorders.
Recording videos
In functionality, both camcorders are very similar — point, shoot, and you're ready to upload your footage to YouTube. In fact, the Flip didn't give me any options other than simple point and shoot. That made it really simple to use, because there weren't any menus to get lost in, or any menus at all.
The Sony camcorder gave me a few more options — I could record videos and snap photos, and select from different video resolution settings. One lower-resolution setting would record videos that were ideal for e-mailing to family and friends. The two higher quality settings worked well with video-sharing websites.
I was able to make other minor tweaks to my videos and photos with the Sony cam, too. I could adjust white balance and exposure using the menu system, and even turn on the built-in flash for photos. There were times when it was good to have that additional creative control — for example, when I wanted to take a photo in a room that wasn't particularly well lit, I switched to the photo flash mode and used the flash to brighten my picture. This cam also offers live web streaming via USB, so I could send videos in real time to family and friends.
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