Digital Video Cameras

Today's camcorder is a portable electronic device for recording video images and audio onto an internal storage device, many with still frame digital photography features as well. The camcorder contains both a video camera and (traditionally) a videocassette recorder in one unit, hence its name. However, camcorders and DV cameras now include direct DVD or digital memory storage for better high-fidelity images, and vastly longer recording times. This compares to previous technology where the camera and storage were separate - the camera would be held up to the eye and balanced on the shoulder while the recorder unit would be slung at the waist by a strap - now digital video cameras fit in your hand, and even some in your pocket.

The earliest camcorders were developed by companies such as JVC, Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and RCA, used analog videotape, but since the mid-1990s (and even before that in professional markets), camcorders recording digital video, such as Sony DV Cameras, have become the norm.