There are several articles in this post:

Live Web Cams: Buying and Using Them
By Solargies

From http://hubpages.com/hub/online_Web_Cams

Are online Web cams the greatest thing since sliced bread?

…In some ways, I think they are!

There are so many things (good, bad, and otherwise) that you can do with your personal computer these days that it boggles the mind. Even more can be streamed with online video, now that the live Web cam perfected. Your online adventures are seemingly endless. YouTube and other video sharing sites have exploded with user-generated videos.

– The Web Cam has hit the mainstream. — The live web cam is a very useful product for helping us to communicate and share information. It is surprisingly affordable considering all of the benefits this new computer accessory brings to the table. The live Web cam is a must-have for any serious computer enthusiast who wants to get their face, voice, and message broadcasted on the Internet.

– Sharing your videos across the Internet with a Web cam. — When I discovered that I could video myself and my new son with a live Web cam, I immediately started researching my product options. We have relatives that travel south every winter. It’s nice that we can still be face-to-face sharing the important moments using the live Web cam.

This is perhaps the most important benefit that I can imagine when it comes to investing in a live Web cam for your personal computer. This product can practically make the challenges of long distance communications a thing of the past. With the live Web cam, loved ones are brought up close and personal no matter how far away they are.

– The uses of a Web Cam are limitless. — There are plenty of other reasons that you may want to invest in a live Web cam. Some work-at-home or small business professionals can use the computer camera to conduct meetings with associates and clients that live miles away. You can essentially connect people around the globe and have virtual meetings right from your home office. Consider how much money a small business can save by using a live Web cam rather than traveling to meetings in person?

Just the thought of going through all of the trouble and expense to commute from one state to another is enough to get the small business owner interested in a live Web cam. The cost of the unit is a fraction of the price of one plane ticket. Just one use for your small business and the live Web cam has already paid for itself.

– Picking the Internet Web Cam that fits your needs. — There are many live Web cams available and many of them have excellent recommendations. Most are inexpensive and are designed to be used for personal correspondences with friends and family. For the most part, these are not professional grade, digital cameras necessary to shoot high resolution footage. They do have a good image that is as close to perfect as one could expect.

Most people do not need to be technologically savvy to install and run an Internet Web Cam. They are really easy to install and figure out how to stream images from the live Web cam. The units are a breeze to set up and can be up and running in no time at all.

Online Video Recorders | How to Record & Upload Webcam Videos to the Internet
Posted in: News, Video Editing & Production, Video Sharing & Video Clips

by Livia Iacolare on July 13, 2007

Fromhttp://www.webtvwire.com/online-video-recorders-how-to-record-upload-webcam-videos-to-the-internet/

YouTube, Metacafe, and Google Video are all video on demand websites websites. These allow you to post videos from home and share them with the world. The problem is, how do you get them easily and quickly on to the web in the first place?

Rather than using a camcorder and encoders to ensure your video goes online, there is a much easier alternative, and that is to use an online video recording tool.

Today, thanks to several sophisticated web applications, you can easily record a video straight from your $20 webcam and publish it on any web page without having to go through complicated procedures: you simply have to click the “record” button and in five seconds you are ready to start.
Online Video Recorders

These web applications are known as online video recorders and I can summarize their characteristics with three adjectives:

* easy to use
* cross platform
* always available on the Internet

The advantages of recording videos through these tools are indeed impressive: users don’t need to have a particular camcorder, they don’t have to struggle with video encoders in order to publish their videos online and they can embed them anywhere they want.

The only drawback is perhaps the impossibility to actually download these videos, but this inconvenience can be solved either by relying on a video downloading service or by using a simple screen capture tool that lets you record what happens on your monitor (audio included).

Please remember that this mini-guide does not pretend to be a fully comprehensive list of all the video recording tools available online; you are welcome to suggest additional tools and services by using the comments section that you will find at the bottom of this article.

Below is a list of some of the best online video recording tools I have been able to find and review.

A Selection of the Best Online Video Tools

Twango

With Twango you can record videos straight from your webcam and publish them on any web page. Your videos can also be emailed or sent via instant messengers as a link.

Moreover, people who watch your videos will be able to leave comments. You don’t need to register to the site in order to record a video, but if you sign up for free you will be also able to upload files up to 100 MB and remove unwanted comments (plus other features).

Link: http://www.twango.com/webcam

Vlip

Vlip offers a way to create, share, and interact with webcam captured personal video over the Internet. “ Vlips” are the single videos and video replies and threads created by “Vlippers” (Vlip users).

You can record, post, send via email, embed, watch and reply to other Vlips. No download or registration is needed (although registration gives you added power and features).

Link: http://www.vlip.com/

Bubble Guru

Bubble Guru is a web-based recording application that automatically connects to your computer’s webcam and captures the video coming from it.

Once you have recorded the message, you can set playback options (such as placement, auto-start, loading, etc.) and then you are ready to embed your “video in a bubble” on any web page.

Link: http://www.bubbleguru.com/

Flixn

Flixn lets you record directly from your webcam and embed your videos into any web site (included MySpace, Friendster, eBay and many others).

You can also send video messages via email. Flixn interface is very neat and makes it one of the easiest web applications that let you record from your webcam.

Link: http://www.flixn.com/

Openvlog

Openvlog is a free web-based service that allows anyone to record, upload, encode, publish and share their video in a simple and straight forward manner. The nice feature is the ability to record your own video directly while using your own computer webcam.

Openvlog also allows the direct upload of existing video clips and it supports most existing video file formats.

Link: http://www.openvlog.com

Sightspeed

Easily create and send video messages to anyone – even people who are not SightSpeed members!

With the free version of SightSpeed you can easily create video clips and embed them directly into your web page or blog. There is also a PRO version that adds much more features to this tool.

Link: http://www.sightspeed.com

Hellodeo

Hellodeo is a web application that allows you to record videos straight from your webcam and embed them anywhere. The recording process is very simple and the commands are very intuitive.

The video player is very small if compared to the ones provided by similar services. Hellodeo is completely free to use.

Link: http://www.hellodeo.com/

SeeTheFace

SeeTheFace is a web service provider delivering easy-to-use web-based applications for audio/video content recording and publishing.

One of the products of SeeTheFace is A/V Publisher: with the help of your web camera and microphone, A/V Publisher enables you to record audio/video messages and easily publish them on your website.

Link: http://www.seetheface.com/publisher

Hictu

Hictu is a microblogging service (such as Twitter and Jaiku) that additionally lets you record videos from your webcam and post them anywhere you want.

Videoposts can be 60 seconds long and they can also be filtered and be viewed in a dedicated section. Hictu requires registration and is completely free to use.

Link: http://www.hictu.com/

YouTube QuickCapture

YouTube recently enabled its users to record videos straight from their webcam and directly publish them on the popular video sharing site.

After recording and publication on YouTube, videos can be embedded and played in any website the same as any other YouTube video. You will have to be registered to YouTube in order to use this tool.

Link: http://www.youtube.com

How Webcams Work
by Julia Layton
From www.howstuffworks.com
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/webcam.htm

If you have been exploring the Web for any length of time, then you have run across any number of Webcams in your travels. Webcams range from the silly to the serious — a Webcam might point at a coffee pot or a space shuttle launch pad. There are business cams, personal cams, private cams, traffic cams… You name it and there’s probably a Webcam pointed at it.

Have you ever considered setting up a Webcam yourself? You might want to create a funny Webcam by pointing it at your hamster or putting it inside your refrigerator. But it turns out there are lots of productive uses for Webcams, too. For example:

* You will be out of town for a week and you want to keep an eye on your house.
* You’d like to be able to check on the baby sitter and make sure everything is OK while you
are at work.
* You’d like to know what your dog does in the back yard all day.
* You want to let the grandparents watch the new baby during nap time.

If there is something that you would like to monitor remotely, a Webcam makes it easy.

In this article, we will look at the steps you can take to put up your own simple Web camera.
Webcams, like most things, range from simple to complex. If you understand the essence of a simple Webcam setup, increasing the complexity is only a matter of adding functionality through software, custom code and/or equipment connections.

A simple Webcam setup consists of a digital camera attached to your computer, typically through the USB port. The camera part of the Webcam setup is just a digital camera — there’s really nothing special going on there. The “Webcam” nature of the camera comes with the software. Webcam software “grabs a frame” from the digital camera at a preset interval (for example, the software might grab a still image from the camera once every 30 seconds) and transfers it to another location for viewing. If you’re interested in using your Webcam for streaming video, you’ll want a Webcam system with a high frame rate. Frame rate indicates the number of pictures the software can grab and transfer in one second. For streaming video, you need a minimum rate of at least 15 frames per second (fps), and 30 fps is ideal. To achieve high frame rates, you need a high-speed Internet connection.

Once it captures a frame, the software broadcasts the image over your Internet connection. There are several broadcast methods. Using the most common method, the software turns that image into a JPEG file and uploads it to a Web server using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). You can easily place a JPEG image on any Web page (for information on creating Web pages and adding JPEG images, see How Web Pages Work).

If you don’t have your own Web server, lots of companies offer you a free place to upload your images, saving you the trouble of having to set up and maintain a Web server or a hosted Web site.

This is the simplest possible Webcam. Let’s see what you need to make it happen.

What You Need

In order to create a simple Webcam, you need three things:

* A camera of some sort connected to your computer
* A piece of software that can grab a frame from the camera periodically
* A way to broadcast your images on the Web

If you have your own Web server and Web site, you already have a way to post your Webcam images on the Web. At its most basic, a Web server is simply a piece of hardware that has the ability to deliver Web-based content to a Web browser. For some people, their home computer serves as their Web server. If that’s the case, a camera, a piece of software and your PC are all that you need. If you want to use a Web server that’s hosted elsewhere (for example, if you’re paying an ASP to host your Web server), you also need:

* The ability to move frames from your computer to the Web server, typically by File Transfer
Protocol (FTP). For most Web servers, this is no problem; but occasionally, a hosting
company will have policies in place that make this difficult.

* A relatively consistent connection between your computer and the Internet. A modem
connection to an ISP is fine if it is something that you keep connected most of the time, which
implies that you have a dedicated phone line for your computer. If you have something like a
cable modem that is connected all the time, that’s perfect.

If you don’t have a Web server or a Web site, and you don’t want one, you can simply have someone else maintain your Webcam images. Lots of Webcam software comes complete with Web-based image access. They usually offer different access options, including remote access, which utilizes UDP protocol to transfer your Webcam images directly from your computer to another computer. This can be done:

* via Web browser, in which case the software itself establishes its own HTTP server so anyone
using a Web browser can access the Webcam images on your PC.

* via traditional FTP upload to a remote Web server

By using this type of service, you avoid having to host and/or maintain your own Web site. If you are using one of these services and you want the image to refresh itself constantly, you need a relatively consistent connection between your computer and the Internet. If your connection is not consistent, it won’t hurt anything. It just means that the image won’t always be up to date.

Setting It Up
In order to experiment with Webcams and go through the process of setting one up, HowStuffWorks got itself a Webcam. To set it up, here is what we did:

1. We went down to the local computer warehouse and bought the Intel Pro Video PC Camera.

2. We installed the software for the camera on a Windows XP machine.

3. We went to the Web site www.webcam32.com and downloaded a program called
Webcam32. This is a popular software package for Webcams. You can get a free demo
version or pay $39.95 for the full version. We went ahead and paid for a registered copy.
(The complete user’s manual for this product is available on the Web site. Check it out to
see the wide array of features available on today’s Webcam software.)

4. We installed Webcam32. It was a very easy installation.

5. After entering the address of the FTP site and a couple of other pieces of information, the
Webcam showed its first signs of life!

6. We pointed the camera out the window.

7. We then tuned the software a bit to reduce the file size of the images and to enable the
temporary-file copying feature.

There are many different features you can experiment with in Webcam32: streaming video, chat, captions, AVI files and different resolutions and compression ratios, to name a few. Webcam32 also supports the AutoCam feature, which allows you to create a Web page for your Webcam for free on the company’s server. The software makes it simple.

As you can see, setting up a basic Webcam is extremely easy. If nothing else, the setup described here is a fun, inexpensive and simple way to experiment with a Webcam and see what you can do with one of your own!

Advanced Features

Once you manage the simple system, you can look into other Webcam features and settings like:

* Motion sensing – The Webcam takes a new picture when it detects motion.

* Image archiving – You can create an archive that saves all of your Webcam images or only
certain images at pre-set intervals.

* Video messaging – Some instant messenger programs support Webcam video.

* Advanced connections – Use wired or wireless methods to connect your home-theater A/V
equipment to your Webcam.

* Automation – Robotic cameras let you set a series of pan/tilt positions and program frame-
capture settings based on the position of the camera.

* Streaming media – For professional applications, a Webcam setup can use MPEG4
compression to achieve true streaming audio and video (this is the compression system
used in most of the popular PC-based media players).

* Custom coding – Import your own computer code to tell the Webcam what to do.

One example of custom coding is a set of commands that makes a Webcam image automatically refresh. The simple Webcam system we’ve set up in this article produces a static image. Users have to refresh the image manually (by pushing the Refresh button in the browser) if they want to see any changes. There are three different techniques you can use to create automatic refreshing:

* You can add a meta tag to the HTML for the page so that the page refreshes at some
frequency. The tag to add is:

The “30″ is the number of seconds between each refresh and can be set to anything you like.
The entire page will reload every 30 seconds, so it is beneficial to keep the page short.

* You can add a Java applet to your site. The Webcam32 and Java Applets page explains how
to obtain and install the free applet. The applet is a program that automatically fetches the
image periodically. The advantage is that only the image refreshes, not the entire page. Most browsers support Java applets, so most of your viewers will have no problem.

* You can use JavaScript, as demonstrated on The JavaScript Source: Refresh (look at the
source code on this page). You can also check out How Java Works for a detailed look at
programming.

Webcam Networking
Network Cameras
If you’re looking to spend some cash, you can get a “network camera” that has Webcam software and a Web server built right in. A camera like this doesn’t need a PC — all it needs is an Internet connection. If you have an Ethernet network in your house, you can find a camera that will fit into your network seamlessly.

One problem with using a camera hooked to a computer via a USB cable is the limited cable length. What if the room you want to capture is at the other end of the house, or outside? In that case, you need to purchase a camera with external connections. You have a few options:

* You can place a standard camera anywhere in the house and run a video cable with RCA
jacks on it from the camera to the computer. There are all sorts of places on the Web that
sell small pinhole video cameras, either on their own or embedded in things like clocks and
smoke detectors. You can find small security cameras for less than $100. (Click here to use
the HowStuffWorks search engine to search for security cameras.)

* You can avoid the cable by using a radio link (X10: XRay Vision is one example of this type of
product), an Ethernet connection or a WiFi setup. If you already have a home network,
connecting an external Webcam to your computer probably won’t require any additional
networking.

Monitoring your home and sharing images via the Web are only a couple of the things you can do with your Webcam. There are any number of ways to make use of a camera that’s connected to your computer. You can get software that will let you make video phone calls with a friend who also has a Webcam. You can hold a video-conferencing session with business associates on the other side of the world. You can conduct a video interview and broadcast it live on your blog. Some Webcam software will even deliver images directly to your Web-enabled PDA or smartphone. Other products let you connect your camcorder to your Webcam setup so you can let everybody watch your vacation footage via the Internet. The possibilities are endless.

To see howstuffworks.com webcam reviews and price comparisons go to: http://products.howstuffworks.com/web-cam-reviews.htm.

 
InformationWeek
6 Video Cameras For YouTubers

We look at compact digital video cameras that make shooting and uploading video clips to YouTube a snap: The Flip Mino, Creative’s Vado, RCA’s Small Wonder Traveler, DXG’s 567VTo, Kodak’s Zi6 and JVC’s GZ-MS100U.

By Scott Koegler, InformationWeek
Aug. 30, 2008
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210200758

George Orwell missed a key element of technological progress and its impact on society when he predicted in his book 1984 that Big Brother would monitor society via video cameras installed and controlled by government.

As it turns out, we do a pretty good job of monitoring ourselves with Webcams, surveillance video, and cell phones. But the art form is well on its way toward ubiquity with the advent of a new breed of video cameras that records better video quality than most cell phones, at the expense of real-time upload.

This category of video cameras started with the ultimately pocketable Flip about a year ago and has expanded to today’s lineup of five competitors that share the same general form factor. The main distinction of these cameras is their small size and their production of YouTube-ready video clips. Their size makes it easy to slip one in a pocket alongside your cell phone, ever ready to record a quick video clip.

At the same time, the genre has expanded beyond simple convenience to include higher quality and more features. The most basic units shoot VGA quality (640 x 480) at 30 frames per second, while some capture high-definition video at 1020i and 60 frames per second. And while the majority of the units maintain their cell-phone size, at least one, the JVC GZ-MS100, has gone to a more traditional video camera form factor in order to add features like optical zoom and auto-focus lens.

The Basics

These cameras are designed specifically for online sharing of video clips. To that end, video quality, storage capacity, battery life, and even optical quality are less important than those in standard video cameras. Conversely, portability, ease of use, and ease of posting the resulting videos all rank high on the list of important features.

Each of these cameras records to flash memory, rather than disk or tape. Some have only their own internal memory, while others allow the addition of secure digital or secure digital high-capacity cards. And some require that you supply your own flash memory, offering no internal recording capacity at all. We prefer the device offer at least a minimum of internal recording capacity and also provide the option to add memory as needed. See a table of video camera specs.

All connect via USB, with the connector permanently housed within the camera. Essentially, you just plug the camera into your PC and then upload your videos.

Your choice of camera will likely be dictated by whether you favor the convenience of carrying a very small device or want a feature only available in a particular unit.

1. Flip Mino

The Flip Mino from Pure Digital Technologies is the latest version of the original Flip video camera that started the YouTube-specific camera trend.

The Mino has a touch-sensitive front panel that lets you control the camera’s functions. Most of these cameras include the same set of functions and are controlled from the front panel; the Mino is the only one that uses touch-sensitive areas rather than physical buttons.

The Mino is smaller than the other cams except the Creative Vado and also has the smallest LCD, at 1.5 inches. Even so, the display is sharp, bright, and easy to see, even in daylight shooting. The pop-out USB connector is the umbilical for both charging the batteries and downloading the video clips. The Mino includes 2 GB of flash memory, enough for one hour of video at VGA resolution. It sells for $179.99.

Like some other pocketable cameras in this roundup, software is preloaded on the Mino and runs from its internal memory when connected to a PC. This makes it simple to upload to YouTube, AOL video, or MySpaceTV; send via e-mail; or create a greeting card when attached to an Internet-connected computer. The software suite includes a version of Muvee that can spice up the clip by adding special effects and music.

The hallmark of the Flip video experience is the ability to share videos easily. We were able to simply click on the video we wanted to upload, supply our logon information, and click “go.” Upload times vary, of course, with the size of the video. But our video was delivered to YouTube without a hitch, ready for worldwide acclaim.

2. Creative Vado

Creative’s Vado includes 2 GB of memory and, like the Mino, records up to one hour at what Creative terms “excellent” quality, VGA resolution. But you can opt for “good quality,” letting you record up to two hours of video before transferring your clips to your hard drive.

The Vado is the smallest unit in this roundup and we found it to be very pocketable, with its nicely rounded corners. The 2″ LCD is larger than the Mino’s, but still smaller than most of the other cams. It is easy to see, even in daylight, but we found that we only used the LCD on any of these cameras to make certain that what we wanted to shoot was in the field of view. Real detailed viewing during recording is not necessary because the lenses are all fixed focus. Even when using the 2x zoom, common to all but the JVC, it’s only necessary to check the display and get an approximation of your scene.

Controlling the Vado is done with a rocker-and-button combination. It functions similarly to those of others in this roundup and controls are intuitive.

Vado’s software is preinstalled on its internal memory and activates using autoplay when attached to a PC’s USB port. The software is easy to use, if limited in function. Unlike the Mino, there are no editing functions available, and the only upload destinations included are YouTube and Photobucket.

The Vado may be the bargain of the bunch, selling at $99.99.

3. RCA Small Wonder Traveler

RCA’s Small Wonder Traveler is a slight departure from the Mino and Vado. It is a bit larger than the others and is somewhat ruggedized, in that it has a protective ring around the lens and a detachable strap handle at the top. Because of its size, it is the least likely to fit easily in a pocket.

The Traveler includes a removable 2-GB SD flash memory card with no internal memory. It accepts cards with as much as 8-GB capacity. The ability to change memory cards to increase capacity, combined with the fact that the camera uses standard AA batteries, makes this a good option for (as its title suggests) travelers who may be away from their computers for some period.

Another unique capability is the Traveler’s ability to take still shots. It is not the only camera in this roundup that can do this, but it is the only one with a dedicated photo button, allowing you to snap a shot without accessing a menu to change modes. The Traveler also has a switch that changes the video quality from high quality, for one hour of record time, to Web quality, for four hours of recording on the 2-GB card.

The Traveler’s software is installed from the device itself, via USB and includes upload as well as editing capabilities. Editing is limited to combining and shortening clips, but may be useful for some purposes. Upload destinations include YouTube, box.net, and e-mail. The Traveler sells for $150.00.

4. DXG 567V

DXG’s 567V is one the two units that can shoot high-definition videos. The Kodak Zi6 (which looks to be a rebranded version of the DXG 567V) can also capture high-definition clips, but only at 720p, as opposed to the 557V’s 1020i and 720p modes.

The 567V is slightly larger than the Mino, but has the comfortable, rounded feel of the Vado. To accommodate high-def recording, its LCD is in the 16:9 aspect ratio. In all, the 567V shoots in three resolutions — 1020i, 720p, and VGA — all at 30 frames per second.

The controls are easy to use, but the icons that display the video mode are small and we found them easily misread if we weren’t careful. On the positive side, changing to close-up mode is done by sliding a switch on the side of the camera body, allowing you to move in as close as 6 inches.

The 567 differs from all the other cameras in that the focal length of its lens is nearly twice as long, at 7.27 mm, versus approximately 4 mm with the others. And though the zoom is specified at 2x, our casual testing showed it to be closer to 3x. Remember that the zoom feature on all these cameras is digital, meaning that the image is effectively cropped, resulting in lower resolution. In this case, using the higher resolution 1020i may make a difference in the quality of your zoomed video clips.

The 567V relies on SD/SDHC cards for its memory. All the internal memory is devoted to the camera’s software. We supplied our own 8-GB SD card to record our videos. The included Rapid Blog Manager software executes automatically when the camera is connected to a PC and makes uploading to YouTube, Gmail, and Google easy. Archsoft Total Media Extreme is included on CD and provides extensive editing capabilities.

The DXG 567V sells for $149.99, but remember that you will need to supply your own memory card.

5. Kodak Zi6

Kodak’s Zi6 shares many of the features and functions available on the DXG 567V, but with some interesting twists.

The Zi6 includes 30 MB of available internal memory, just enough to take a very short clip in either high definition (720p at either 30 or 60 frames per second) or VGA. A better use for that very small amount of memory may be to use the camera’s still mode to take a few snapshots. Either way, you’ll want to get an SD/SDHC card of up to 32 GB.

Like the DXG, the Zi6 runs on two AA rechargeable batteries, which are included along with a charger. The Kodak’s LCD is only slightly smaller than the RCA Traveler’s at 2.4 inches, making it very easy to use to film and to play back your images and clips. You can even speed up playback to either 2x or 4x normal speed in order to zip through the boring parts.

Plugging the Zi6 into a USB port the first time initiates the installation of Arcsoft’s MediaImpressions software. This means that the application needs to run from the computer rather than directly from the camera. We prefer the freedom to execute from the camera’s internal memory, eliminating the need to install software on our friends’ computers just to upload our videos. However, once installed, MediaImpressions can upload your clips to YouTube. Installing the full application set from the CD allows for editing and “movie making.”

The Kodak Zi6 sells for $179.99, but you will also need an SD card.

6. JVC Everio MS100

The JVC Everio GZ-MS100 could be called a crossover in this video category. It looks like one of JVC’s hard-drive camcorders and includes many of the features found in them. The main differences are its lack of hard drive or tape recording medium and the addition of its upload function that automatically limits recording time to 10 minutes, the time limit YouTube imposes for uploaded videos.

To be clear, the Everio MS100 is an outlier from the other five video cameras in this roundup. It is too large to fit comfortably in a pocket, has a flip-out 2.7 inch touch-controlled LCD, optical 35x zoom lens, and retails for $350.

What does put it in the same category is the camera’s dedication to YouTube video creation and its reliance on flash memory as its storage medium. If your aim is to create better-quality video clips to share online and also produce decent-quality video that can be edited into longer presentations, the MS100 is a good choice. While it costs significantly more than the others in this roundup, its price is still lower than comparable disk-based video recorders.

We appreciated the touch controls on the LCD that make operation intuitive and quick. And while some of the other cams have a circular mirror to make self-portraits easier, the MS-100’s flip-out LCD can be rotated to provide a real-time self-view. Stereo microphones make for better audio. And the Everio records in 16:9 format in high definition, as well as in lower resolution modes. Power comes from the camera’s rechargeable battery that can supply up to 2.5 hours of recording time.

Uploading video clips to YouTube is simple once the basic software is installed from CD. We were able to connect the USB cable and simply push the “Upload” button on the camera. The software on the PC scanned the camera for available video clips and displayed what it found. We were able to select the ones we wanted and click the YouTube icon to begin the upload process.

Adobe Premier Elements is included in addition to the basic upload software, making it possible to produce nearly professional quality results, if you have the time and inclination to do so.

In Summary

Overall, we found all the cameras delivered on their promise to record acceptable-quality video clips and upload them to YouTube. The differentiating factors did not set any one significantly ahead of the pack, leaving the choice to your personal preference. And even if the price of the JVC MS-100 were on par with the other offerings, its size could keep it from being your choice, despite its overall higher-quality components.