A video camera is a piece of electronic equipment which is used to capture motion. Video cameras were initially developed and used in the TV industry however video cameras are now commonly also found in people’s homes.

There are two main modes used in a video camera: live broadcast and capture.
When a video camera is in live broadcast mode, the pictures are fed real-time to a screen for observation. This is used in things such as live TV shows. This sort of video camera is also often used in CCTV systems.
In capture mode, the video camera is saving the images down onto a storage device for processing later. There are several formats that video cameras can use - some of these formats include videotape, optical media, hard drives and flash memory.

Both modes can in fact be used simultaneously so the video camera can be broadcasting live as well as saving the iamges down.

Video cameras can be loosely catergorised into the following groups:
Professional: The professional video camera is used on TV sets and for film productions.
Camcorders: The camcorder video camera combines a camera with a VCR. These sorts of video camera are used in TV production, home movies etc
CCTV: Video cameras used in CCTV are used for security and surveillance. This is an example of where the video camera uses both modes of live broadcast and taping.
Webcams: These video cameras provide a digital feed to a computer. They are very small cameras with limited capabilities and generally aren’t of the best quality
Special Systems: These video cameras are used in special applications such as on a spacecraft or research. They are often tuned for special parameters like night vision or heat sensing.

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