Optical and Digital Zoom

If your camcorder is going to be primarily for recording training sessions and show performances then you won't need a big optical zoom and you won't need a digital zoom at all.  We've found that an optical zoom of up to 20 times is perfect for this type of recording.  If you also want to record wildlife then you may find that a bigger optical zoom would be better, especially if you're filming birds or animals where you can't get very close.    If you're tempted by a digital zoom you will be disappointed I'm afraid.  Digital zoom works by "guessing" what the image should look like  if it was larger.  It's not a true image and it results in a big loss of quality and a very "blocky" image that can be hard to distinguish.

LCD Screen

This is a little screen that allows you to see what you are filming and to allow you play and watch your video clips.  They are usually about 2.5 to 2.7 inches and if you're at a show it's quite easy to replay the round you just did and find out if the judge put his or her hand up and why they faulted you.  If you got a clear you can run around to all your friends and show off.
 

HD Recording

Most camcorder descriptions include something that says whether the machine has HD recording or not.  This stands for High Definition and it does give very good quality results.  to get the best out of this type of camcorder you will need an HD ready television.  
 

Connection via a firewire

The option to connect to a computer using a firewire as opposed to a USB lead is essential in my opinion.  If you use a USB cable the results can be very slow and lossy.  A firewire needs to be connected to a firewire card on the computer but these are dead easy to obtain and to fit.  It's really worth the small amount of extra expense for the increase in results. 

The main features on all camcorders are given above, but when you're buying your camcorder you may want to look for other features such as nightshot, steady shot, widescreen recording, microphone input.  The list is almost endless and the more bells and whistles you have the more expensive the camcorder is likely to be.  The nightshot could be useful as it allows you to film in low light and you know how agility people forget the time and then suddenly realise it's got dark.  The main thing is not to get too complicated or you'll end up with something similar to the washing machine with 50 programs and you only ever use two.    Good luck and happy shooting.