Simon K

Hi all

Well, as the title suggests, Im going to buy a camcorder. Looking around the net, which site, I cant seem to work out which type of camcorder is best for me.

DVD, hard drives, memory cards, all have pros / cons. So, thought I would ask you guys for your opinions.

At the moment, Im thinkinh mini dvd. I know that I can then play them on dvd players. Ok, only hold about 30 / 60 mins depending on if the unit is dual layer, also mini dvd ones seem to be bigger in size.

Memory card ones, hard drives, are smaller, hold more film time, but you havbe hte ball axche of downloading to your pc, and all the hassle of burning to dvd format to watch.

Also, what is a good make ?? Going for Sony at the moment, but I dont wantto buy one that is out of date in 4 days :-), or using a dumped format.

Any help gents ?? I have search yhe net, but havent really fopund any good reviews, or real life advice, instead just general manufactor opinions.

Cheers

SBK

KiwiGTI

IMO the only ones to get are the Mini-DV ones - i.e. the tapes.

Mini-DVD requires 'closing' which takes 15-20 minutes pr disc before you can play it on a DVD player, so not as convenient as they first sound.

In addition, DVD, memory card and the hard disk ones all use various types of compression so the quality is not as good. It can also cause problems when you come to edit them on PC/Macs.

Don't know what your budget is but the Canon HV20 is one of the best ones out there.

The Zohan

Yup, me to, agreed.

BTW - I run mine in on the firewire port and edit with adobe premier pro, the fireiwre gives full control over my camera

Simon K

Cheers Gents.

So, the DV tape, how do you down load it to your pc ? play it through the camcorder ?? Does the software come with the unit ??

SBK

FlightMan

Really? Funny then how my Sony takes about 30 secs per disc, to finalise. Still, I'm sure you're right.

Simon K

Cheers all,

In thew end, after researching the net, loads of forums, it seems that its really down to what you plan to do with the unit, if u like to edit the films, and personal choice. dvd's have issues, as do the hardrive units, tapes are old, memory stick can be pricey.

So, I brought a sony cx6 for £650. This unit suits my needs to the ground, and Im about to buy a load of 8Gb sony memory sticks, as 8Gb = 2.55hrs of HD feed.

Nice looking unit, went out to currys to take a look, then brought online via digital electronics. Found pixmania slow and painful site.

Cheers all

SBK

TopBanana

Old isn't necessarily bad, tapes are still the best choice for camcorders in my opinion.

Simon K

TopBanana, your probably right, reading many of the different av / camcorder forums, everyone agrees the quality of tape is still the best. However, for me, and what I intend to use it for, and the ease of downloading, etc etc, I went for memory stick.

Now, the difficult thing will be trying to get my lady to `star` in a home movie :-) ahahaha

SBK

Brendan Hughes

Simon, I have one. Please let me know how you get on with editing - do you buy a s/w package, or download a free one? We couldn't assemble clips with the Sony s/w, and Premiere Elements still can't handle AVCHD (v4.0 anyway).

Am pissed off with digital electronics as the cam came without the 4GB memory stick, after them first insisting it wasn't included in the package they finally said they'd post it and never did

Our first ever camcorder, but seems to come out with fantastic quality pics. I put it onto the big TV and we assumed we were watching BBC, nothing like the old "obviously home video" shots one used to see

Simon K

Brendan, I did wonder if a memory stick was included. Im going to buy a couple of 8Gb ones from sony anyway, as IVe read that non sony ones seem to play up a little.

As for editing, I dont plan to do much, just save what I record, so to speak :-)

If not, and I do plan to edit, then I will search out a good software, and use my old buddy emule to down load a cracked version.

SBK