What is a "camcorder"?

What is a "camcorder"?

Tim Smith (Camcorder Training Specialist) gives expert video advice on: What is the difference between "film" and "video"?; What are the benefits of a camcorder?; When is it time for a new camcorder? and more...

A camcorder is really two things. It's a recording unit as well as a camera. The early camcorders were two units. They were a video camera hooked on through an umbilical cord to a large recording device like a deck. Those [decks] were lugged around through theme parks, through beaches and through vacations to try to get memories and put them on to some sort of format; back in the early days it was either Beta or VHS.That's really developed into a camcorder, a combination of the two. The lens and the recording device together recording to some sort of media whether it be tape, hard drive or whatever is coming on. That would be the definition of a camcorder.