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What types of media are used in digital camcorders? And can they be re-used?

do they use little DVD's or tapes or little memory sticks? I really am out of technology and was thinking of getting one. Which one is the best type? Pros cons, etc. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. They use many different things. Type A: uses mini tapes, they are rerecordable. Pros: rerecordable Cons: lots of work to get them onto a DVD to distribute Type B: mini DVDs Pros: not sure Cons: not sure Type C: regular DVDs Pros: instant gratification Cons: cannot edit easily after recording, lots of expense on DVDs I believe that is it. I'd say the best type is still the tapes.
2. MiniDv (tape) is the best quality for consumer grade camcorders. It is a less compressed format than MPEG2 used in DVDs. If you are going to edit your videos, choose MiniDV tapes. If not, you can use DVDs or miniDVDs, but be aware the miniDVDs are fairly expensive. However, if you just want to shoot and distribute, that's probably the best choice. Hard Disk camcorders use MPEG compression too, and eventually you have to transfer the video to computer, so that's a pain, why not just go with MiniDV tape, which you can always buy more of. The little flash cards are various formats (Sony Memory Stick, others use SD or XD) are mostly just for storing still photos that you take with the camcorder. The only thing that can't be reused is DVD-R or DVD+R. HDD, MiniDV tape (or older Digital 8, High8, and VHS/Compact VHS), DVD+- RW, DVD-RAM are all rewriteable.