We only pass through this life once - so they say. We take photos and videos of special occasions of our lives and our loved ones because these will never happen again.

With today's technology, documenting our lives has never been easier and cheaper so to speak.

Digital camcorders allow us to easily point and shoot special and even ordinary daily events.  Because we use digital technology, we can shoot as much as we want without worrying about expensive storage mediums that will eventually ran out as in the case of using films.

As for post production, we simply plug in the connector of our digital camcorder to the computer and in no time, we will be downloading all those video files.  If this was film, there will be many intermediate processes before we finally get the file for editing.

And since video editing software is ubiquitous these days, using a digital camcorder can make us final movies that will be professional looking.

There is wide array of digital camcorders available on the market today with prices from a few hundred pounds to a few thousand.  So if you are thinking of buying a new digital camcorder, you need to find out how much you can spend and what your digital camcorder recording needs are. If you are a beginner then you may need the inexpensive types with enough features for you to play with.  If you are a professional, then you may need the high end types and extra accessories for your needs.

Ergonomics
In owning and using a digital camcorder, it is extremely important that you are comfortable with the size, shape, weight and how all the controls are arranged.

Zoom
This is the lens control zooming power so pay extra attention to lens specifications.  The basic camcorders typically have zoom factors of 10 while others let you zoom in up to 30 times closer.  Zooming is one of the most significant considerations if you need high quality and professional looking video output.  Be wary of camcorders claiming very high magnification capability because the quality of picture will sometime suffer.

Wide Angle Lenses
If your digital camcorder allows for interchangeable lens, it is worth to invest on wide angle lenses for landscapes and other special effects.

Tripod
We cannot avoid having shaky hands sometimes and some people have naturally shaky hands.  A tripod is where you place your camera so you get less shake and sharper picture quality.

Memory Card
Some digital camcorders use memory cards to directly save video and images.  You can buy as much memory cards as you need.  Buy memory cards with storage capacities over 1 Gigabytes because video files take up large space.

Digital 8 Recording Format
This is the earliest of digital formats exclusive to Sony.  You need to think twice about buying a Digital 8 camcorder because they might soon be phased out with the coming of new storage media.

MiniDV Recording Format
With MiniDV, data is recorded directly into a compact cassette.  If you want to see the video on television, you need to transfer the data contents from the cassette into a computer and burn them on CD or DVD and play on the appropriate players.

MicroMV
This is the MiniDV version of Sony.  The MicroMV works with smaller cassettes so the digital camcorder can be smaller too.

DVD Camcorder
You will want to buy this if you have extra cash because a DVD digital camcorder directly records data into DVDs.  The DVD to store the data is smaller than the regular so the camcorder is also smaller and lighter.  But the small DVD can be played in DVD players.  You must note though that DVD-R can only be recorded once but will work with most DVD players while the DVD-RAM can be used for multiple recordings but works on only on certain DVD players.

Firewire
Firewire allows you to connect the digital camcorder to you computer at high speed and is ideal when you deal with high quality large size video files. 

Universal Serial Bus (USB)
Some cheaper digital camcorders use USB to transfer data to computer.  Although this is adequate for photos, this may potentially result to data loss with video.

External Microphone
Although most digital camcorders have built-in microphones, it is good to buy an external microphone for added audio quality and less chance of picking up background noise.  This is also important when you want to interview people for documentary so you don’t move the digital camcorder too close to the face just go pick up what the interviewee is saying.

Battery life
Battery life is extremely important because your recording time is limited by this once you are out in the field.  The three main types of batteries are NiCad, NiMH and Lithium Ion (Li-Ion).  Many batteries shipped with the digital camcorders have average running life of one hour.

Editing software
Most, if not all, digital camcorders are supplied with editing software that can make audio and video presentation look presentable.  There are also commercial video and audio editing software notably from Adobe.

Digital Camcorder Bag
Select a bag that is durable and light.  Make sure it is water proof because water can surely damage your digital camcorder and other accessories.  If you go outdoors for many days, say, camping, buy a dry bag for added precautions.

Digital Camcorder Cleaning Kits
Buy the appropriate wipes for the body of the camera and lenses.  Lenses in particular are sensitive so read the manual which is the prescribed material for wipes.