Flash Camcorders vs Hard Drive Camcorders
7 May 2009
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The popularity of Flash camcorders and Hard Drive camcorders is rapidly increasing, and they are begining to take market share from traditional tape based camcorders. The question is which one should you buy? It’s a tough decision because Hard Drive and Flash camcorders have so much in common that there is really very little different about them. They both offer instant access to the video that you’ve recorded, High Definition (up to 1080P) recording, great accessibility from your computer, and many more features. In fact, most manufacturers use the same optics and electronics to produce a HDD version and Flash version of the same camcorder, so the only real difference between the two is where they store their video and the implications that has on how you use the device.
Hard Drive Camcorders
Hard disk camcorders generally offer the most built-in recording capacity, which at first glance sounds like a good thing. Unfortunately the hard disks in current camcorders don’t offer a lot more storage than the largest memory cards (40-60GB vs 16-32GB). For that little extra space you make some significant tradeoffs.
- Maximum Recording Capacity: Once the hard drive is full, you are stuck. You need to delete, download, or just stop recording. The hard drive capacity is a fixed limit on how much you can record. Unlike with tapes and memory cards, if you run out of space on vacation, you can’t just buy more.
- Physical Size: That hard drive has to fit somewhere, so you usually get a big lump on the side of your camcorder to hold the hard drive. This generally increases the size of the camcorder 25-35%. If you have small hands, this might make the camcorder more difficult to hold.
- Weight: The hard drive increases the weight of the camcorder, not just the size. A typical hard drive can add 20-25% additonal weight to the camcorder.
- Battery Life: Writing video to the hard drive consumes a lot more power than just writing to flash memory. Remember that hard drives are physical devices that have to spin at very high RPMs. The result is either less battery life or more weight because of a bigger battery.
- Cost: A hard drive costs a lot more as a component than a memory card reader, so hard disk camcorders are often $100+ more expensive than their flash siblings.
- Durability: The more moving parts a devices has, the more likely one of those components will break. A spinning hard drive is more likely to fail when dropped than a memory card with no moving parts.
- Environmental Factors: Hard drives may not operate correctly when subjected to significant vibrations (such as a loud concert), or at very high altitude due to air pressure (typically above 10,00ft).
Theoretically a hard disk should have one big advantage over memory cards, a significantly lower $/GB. Unfortunately the 40-60GB drives in most hard disk camcorders aren’t any cheaper than memory cards. With a 500GB drive, the hard disk would be almost 10x cheaper than 500GB of flash memory cards. These are pretty big trade-offs for getting a few extra gigabytes of storage, especially since the size of hard drives included with hard drive camcoders is so small compared to modern portable hard drives.
Flash Camcorders
Flash camcorders have two major trade-offs. The limited size of a flash card, and the cost of buying additional flash cards. But other than that, they have a lot going for them. Flash camcorders are smaller, lighter, cheaper, have a longer battery life, have removable storage, and are just plain cool.
- Maximum Recording Capacity: Even though the maximum flash card size is about 16GB, once that flash card is full you can swap it out for an empty one. Alternatively you can copy the card onto a portable video storage device with up to 500GB of storage space, then reuse the same flash card again.
- Physical Size & Weight: An SDHC is significantly smaller than a hard drive (32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm). You definately won’t notice any extra space or weight taken up by the card reader.
- Battery Life: Writing video to a flash card does not require any mechanical energy, and so it consumes a lot less power.
- Cost: A flash card reader costs a dollar or two as a component, much less than an expensive hard drive.
- Durability: Flash cards are solid state devices, and have no moving parts, so they are not likely to break over time.
If you plan on using the camcorder around town, and will be able to download the video fairly soon after you record it, then you might not run out of space. For some people 16GB of memory will be enough, but if you want to record more than an hour or two of video, then you should think about getting additional memory cards or a portable video storage device. If you are planning on taking the camcorder with you on a long vacation, then you will need to consider a portable video storage device.
Portable Video Storage Device
Fortunately there is a way to get cheap high capacity storage, and still get all the benefits of a flash camcorder; buy a Portable Video Storage Device (like the MoFoto) for your flash camcorder. Using a Portable Video Storage Device lets you offload the contents of your memory card onto cheaper hard disk storage. MoFoto has a 500GB hard drive which dwarfs the 40GB and 60GB drives found in most HDD camcorders. With 500GB, you get an additional 40 hours 1080P High Definition recording time, and nearly a week of standard definition recording time. Seperating storage from the recording device means you can keep that extra weight in your bag until you need to use it, so it doesn’t add to the weight of the camcorder. Portable Video Storage Devices provide more of the benefits of the HDD camcorder to the owners of flash camcorders. It is truly the best of both worlds.
Related Reviews:
- MoFoto 500GB Portable Video Storage Device Review
- Epson P-7000 160GB Multimedia Storage Drive, Photo Viewer and Audio-Video Player with 4-Inch LCD Review
- Canon VIXIA HF S10 HD Dual Flash Memory w/32GB Internal Memory & 10x Optical Zoom Review
- Top 5 Camcorders for the Best Dad in the World – Father’s Day 2009
- Panasonic HDC-HS9 AVCHD 3CCD 60GB Hard Drive High Definition Hybrid Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Review
(7 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)
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Very helpfull
Seems a bit biased on flash.
HD camcorders are about £200 cheaper than the current flash camcorders. HG20 compared to the HF20. I know they are different models/age but this is what is on the market at the moment in the UK. Although flash technology may be cheaper SDHC prices are double that what you can buy a 1.6″ HD and for half the size.
Why mention maximum recording ability surely thats true for any type of storage. HD can be copied onto a portable storage device as well.
Honestly what ordinary comsumer is going to be above 10,000feet.
The only trade offs i can see is weight and power. Power being the main one as weight is something that doesn’t come into it. Then again there is no statistics on how long Flash lasts longer than HD is it hours, minutes.
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