07/22/96 THE CAMCORDER COMES OF AGE

THE CAMCORDER COMES OF AGE

Most people buy camcorders to create vacation travelogues or capture the wonder years of their children. To them, the under-$1,000 8mm and VHS-format analog camcorders produce perfectly acceptable videos of their camel ride by the Pyramids or little Jamie's first birthday party. But the most dedicated hobbyists, or anyone who uses a camcorder for business, demand more: smashing videos that have a commercial feel.
Videophiles may be getting their wish, though they'll have to splurge to make the dream come true. A handful of camcorders conform to yet another new format that exploits the digital universe of ones and zeros, the aptly named DV, or digital video. Recent arrivals from JVC, Thomson (RCA), and Sharp join DV models from Panasonic and Sony. The camcorders start at around $2,500 and go well beyond four grand--a considerable premium over Hi 8 and Super VHS machines, the previous gold standard for consumer camcorders.
DV machines deliver pristine, ``noise-free'' images with less jitter then is apparent with analog videos, plus the ability to enhance the pictures with special effects. They also provide excellent CD-quality sound.
``HUGE STEP.'' The camcorders generally produce videos with about 500 horizontal lines of resolution, compared with about 400 lines for Hi-8 and Super-VHS and just 240 lines for standard VHS or 8mm. ``The progression from analog video to digital video is a huge step forward,'' says Lancelot Braithwaite, technical editor for Video Magazine. All the digital machines generate superb images. But the Panasonic and most expensive Sony and Sharp models have three, rather than one, charge-coupled devices, or CCDs--chips used to record the images. So they render the most accurate color pictures. Videos are recorded onto a minicassette that's about one-twelfth the size of a VHS tape. To watch on a big screen, you connect cables from the camera to your TV or VCR. At around $13 and $20 for 30-minute and one-hour versions, blank DV tapes cost more than other formats and are shorter in length.
Folks can use the camcorders to edit and dub recorded scenes onto an ordinary videotape with minimal degradation of picture and sound quality. At present, however, only the Sony DCR-VX1000 and DCR-VX700 permit digital output that adheres to the IEEE 1394 standard, which allows multiple copies indistinguishable from the original. To do that, you'll need to connect one Sony digital camcorder to another (or to a 1394-compliant computer). Others are awaiting the outcome of copyright negotiations among Hollywood, the PC industry, and consumer-electronics companies--the same holdup that has delayed the launch of digital videodisks.
Consumers can take advantage of DV's snapshot mode, which effectively turns digital camcorders into high-quality digital still cameras. On Panasonic's PV-DV1000, for example, users can record up to 290 still pictures on a 30-minute tape or 580 on a one-hour tape. The images can be accompanied by seven seconds of sound. Hard copies can be produced by connecting the camera to a printer. ``If you need to capture a lot of images, a digital camcorder is the best way to go rather than a digital still camera,'' says Michael McNamara, technology editor for Popular Photography.
FADES AND WIPES. I tried out JVC's GR-DV1, a little dynamo that weighs just over a pound (with battery) and can fit into a trouser pocket. It's a twin to the RCA CC900D. The camcorder can be inserted into a docking station, which you can leave attached to a TV set or VCR, thereby eliminating the need to replug cables every time you want to watch a video. The JVC lets you add a variety of special effects: strobe (a series of consecutive snapshots), sepia (scenes with a brownish tint reminiscent of old photos), and echo (ghosts that lend a fantasy feeling). You can also play around with fade, wipe, and dissolve effects to jump from one scene to another. Even better, you can add these effects later.
Sharp's VL-D5000U ViewCam is the most expensive of the DV lot. But it boasts a terrific 5-inch LCD viewscreen (in lieu of the traditional viewfinder), the largest around. As with other Sharp ViewCams, the lens rotates a full 270 degrees, which makes it a cinch to record yourself in a video. Better check your hair. A digital video shot will be all too true.
EDITED BY AMY DUNKIN By Edward Baig