Cameras and Camcorders FAQ

Question

There are many questions that people have when it comes to digital cameras and camcorders, but thankfully there is also an abundant amount of useful information to be had. These are the most frequently asked questions, and hopefully this information will help you out in your purchase and use of your digital camera or camcorder!
Which digital camera should I purchase?
I feel like the quality of the construction is the most important consideration when purchasing a digital camera and unless you are on a tight budget or you need the camera to be compact, I would suggest looking into purchasing a DSLR. There is much more information on what to consider when purchasing a new digital camera here.
My camera LCD is not displaying my images!  What do I do? Most often this is due to the camera having its image review setting turned off, but it can, of course, be due to a defect in the camera or damage to the screen. I would first read your manual to see how to set your image review setting, and if that doesn’t work I would try resetting the camera back to its default settings. If you are still having problems, I would suggest having the camera looked at by an authorized service technician.
How come my lens won’t come out of the camera body when I turn the camera on? This is most often caused by damage to the internal mechanism inside the lens or something stuck inside the lens. You could try blowing compressed air into the side of the lens in hopes of dislodging whatever might be stuck in the lens. If that doesn’t work, you could try putting the camera on a flat surface with the lens pointed upwards, hold the shutter button in, and then press the power button. If neither of these two things work, I would have the camera looked at by an authorized service technician.
Why do my photographs always come out blurry? Blurry images are most often caused by the camera being moved while the image is being taken and a not using a flash during the exposure. I would suggest setting the shutter speed to a faster setting (if your camera has this capability), turning the flash on, or putting the camera on a tripod. Blurry images could also indicate that the camera was not focused properly. When taking an image with a digital camera, you should always depress the shutter button half-way so the camera can achieve focus, and once the focus indicator on the screen (or in the viewfinder) shows that focus has been achieved, press the shutter button down the rest of the way. There, of course, could be something physically wrong with the camera, but this is most often not the case. If your blurry images persist, I would have the camera looked at by an authorized service technician.
Which camcorder will meet my needs? Things to consider when deciding which camcorder will meet your needs are what format they record to, what type of sensor they use, how large of an optical zoom the camcorder has, how they record sound, if the camcorder has image stabilization, if it performs well in low-light situations, and the type of viewing system it uses. There are, of course, other considerations and you can read a detailed description of these features here.
How do I get my videos onto my computer? Most often this involves connecting the camcorder to your computer with a cord (eg. a firewire cord), putting your DVD into your DVD drive, or directly connecting your memory card to your computer with a card reader. Most camcorders come with software that allows the user to view and edit their videos, but keep in mind that there is more advanced software available for purchase which may produce better results. You should also make sure that your computer has the necessary codec’s installed to allow your software to play your videos.
How do I burn my edited videos to a DVD so I can play them on my TV? If the software you are using to view and edit your videos doesn’t allow for this, you are going to need to invest in software that does. You are also going to need a DVD drive in your computer that has the ability to write to a DVD, and I would suggest starting with blank DVD-R discs.
Do I need a High Definition (HD) Camcorder for my videos to play on my HDTV? No, you don’t need a HD camcorder for your videos to play on your HDTV, but if you want to take full advantage of the resolution your TV is capable of, you would need to record your videos in HD.
I accidentally deleted images from my memory card!  Can I get my images back? The answer to this is a resounding maybe. When you delete an image on a memory card (or format the memory card), you are not actually getting rid of the image file. What actually happens is the path assigned to that file is deleted, allowing the digital camera to write over it, and unless you take more images and write over the deleted image, it is possible to recover the image. You would need to get an image recovery program, but keep in mind that just because one photo recovery program fails to recover you images, it doesn’t mean that a different program will also fail.
Can my camcorder be used to take still images? Most camcorders purchased today have the ability to record still images, but keep in mind that a camcorder is not designed for still imagery and usually captures very low resolution images. Most camcorders also have the ability to copy a frame from a video and render it as a still image, but once again the quality doesn’t compare to the results you would get with a digital still camera.
  For much more information on digital imaging and all sorts of helpful videos on the subject,  go to BestBuy.com and look under the Cameras & Camcorders tab. I hope this helps out!
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate
Message Edited by Allan-BBY on 01-21-2009 04:55 PM
Allan|Senior Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
 Private Message

Answer 1

Thanks for pointing that out -- yeah, I see my error. I just did a little bit of web searching and it's not AVCHD. This seems to pretty well summarize it:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Samsung-SC-HMX10-Camcorder-Review-34476/Format.htm
"The Samsung ... outputs video in the H.264/MPEG-4 format (the file extension is .MP4). This highly-compressed video codec should not be confused with the competing AVCHD format. AVCHD is a type of H.264/MPEG-4 codec, but the version Samsung employs is different, with both benefits and drawbacks.
"...the MPEG-4 video ... is adequate. ... this type of MPEG-4 is space efficient and less processor-intensive to edit than AVCHD."
...and...
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Samsung-HMX-H105-First-Impressions-Camcorder-Review-3 6130/Compression-amp-Media.htm
"The Samsung HMX-H105 records video in the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format, the same as models from the previous years. MPEG-4 has clearly been adopted as the format of choice for HD camcorders, split into two camps. Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and most recently JVC, all use AVCHD, which is a subset of AVC/H.264. AVCHD experienced some serious stumbling blocks in its first few years, as existing hardware and software choked on the heavy data loads. It has, however, gotten much better in the past year. AVC/H.264 is also data-heavy, at least compared to old standard definition camcorders, but the format is easier to read. QuickTime can work perfectly with the files, and has the benefit of being free and dual-platform."
I know this aspect has all been covered to death on these forums in the past, with respect to PE7 (which chokes on any Samsung .MP4 file I throw at it). While I've bookmarked the workaround posted by you in this thread (thanks!), I was hoping to avoid the extra steps à la native compatability with PE8.