A color viewfinder allows you to check the balance of colors, and see whether the settings need any adjustment. In most cases you can play your recording back through the viewfinder. This allows the viewer to focus in on far away objects with the touch of a button. An optical zoom rated at16X means that the camcorder can magnify the image up to 16 times larger than normal. There are two types of zoom, optical and digital.
All cameras have optical zooms and most have digital.
An optical zoom uses the actual lens to magnify the image, whereas a digital zoom uses computer imaging to magnify the image. In general, VHS camcorders are the largest and heaviest, with the S-VHS a bit smaller. However, as a model becomes older its price drops, and more and more manufacturers are making high resolution camcorders and selling them at lower prices. All rights reserved.