When I whip out a camcorder and tape Aunt Marge’s visit next spring, it won’t be just for a memento. It also will be to capture her 50-odd years of gardening expertise to help me get started as a suburbanite.
Sure, I could take notes of what she has to say about which plants to prune, to fertilize and to weed out, but a video closeup of the subject she is discussing with her voiceover will be a lot more helpful than rough sketches and hastily scribbled notes.
Though advertisements pitch camcorders as devices to save family memories, they have less sentimental uses too.
For example, when you are house hunting, videotaped notes let you retrace your steps, recall which house was which and spot niceties and problems that might escape you on the first walk-through.
Even the soundtrack helps, perhaps reminding you of traffic noise that you’d been too charmed by the architecture to notice.
If you buy a house, a camcorder will let you record the home inspector’s or previous owner’s instructions on heating, plumbing, other maintenance.
If you’re moving, use the camcorder to record valuables and furniture (show all sides, to prove nothing was broken or scratched beforehand). Store the camcorder and tapes apart from the moving boxes to make sure they don’t get lost or damaged in transport.
Those tapes can form the basis of a more thorough home inventory for insurance purposes. (For safety’s sake, store the finished tapes off-premises, in case you need to make insurance claims for loss by theft or fire.)
A friend records his family recipes on video, to show the skills involved. Camcorders also are handy helpers when you disassemble gadgets or appliances such as dishwashers. If you can’t figure out where a part goes when you’re putting everything back together, the tape will show you.
The most ingenious and unusual camcorder application I’ve heard of comes from Lancelot Braithwaite, technical editor of Video magazine.
Most camcorders now come with closeup lenses that let you see objects larger than life, and he uses them as magnifying glasses. Trying to observe a watch’s works or to get a splinter out of a part of your anatomy you cannot see? Aim a camcorder at the area and view it on a big-screen television. Use a tripod, or stand the camcorder on a table to hold it steady.
