[e-BizEnglish]Sizing Up Camcorders Made Small

　 Sizing Up Camcorders Made Small

　소형 캠코더 평가

　

　This year, JVC, Canon and Sony have introduced spectacularly tiny models.

　These are digital camcorders that record onto one-hour, matchbox-size tapes called mini-DV cassettes (about $10 each). Mini- DV camcorders are more expensive than, say, 8-millimeter or VHS-C models. But the signal they capture has two huge advantages: its quality is far higher and it can last forever. You can transfer digital video back and forth to a computer or to other tapes hundreds of times with no signal deterioration. As a result, digital scenes may still be delighting your descendants for decades after the original tapes have turned to dust (a process that begins in as little as 15 years).

　But the compromises you make in choosing a super- mini camcorder are severe. On normal, horizontally oriented camcorders, your palm supports the bottom, providing stability. But micro- camcorders are vertically oriented