Camcorder Advice - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Stranger · 12-26-2006, 03:26 PM

My wife and I are expecting our first child in March and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what camcorder to look for. I don't have much of an idea of what to look for in a new camcorder. Are the digital one the way to go? I'm open to any suggestions as to what is the best way to go. Does anyone know of any online deals now that it is Boxing day?

Thanks in advance.

Bend it like Bourgeois · 12-26-2006, 11:17 PM

We got a digital about 3 years ago, before our first.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm i found most helpful - though very slow.

We got a Canon. The digital video editing is amazing and the capabilities are unreal, but truthfully ours collect dust most times. Our tiny little digicam is always handy and easy to use, so we rarely break out the camcorder. Sure it's not the quality, but on the emails to grandma it's all the same. And already it's way out of date.

So if I sound like a bitter guy who wasted $1200 or something on a camcorder I am

If i had it to do over again i'd spend $500 right off and have $700 to buy cheaper technology a year or two later when I figured out how we'll really use the stuff.

Mango · 12-27-2006, 08:42 AM

What sort of recording format are you looking for? Mini DV? Mini DVD? Hard drive? Panasonic camcorders have an edge when it comes to processors. 3 CCD technology is outstanding and the best on the market at this time. It allows you to get the truest color possible.

Although some people shy away from the tapes, Mini DV is the best format, quality wise. It is an uncompressed format that works best with quick moving objects and low light. Most Mini DV camcorders are compatible with Firewire and you can then burn your videos to full sized DVDs. Hard drive camcorders are still a fairly new technology, but Sony and JVC seem to be ahead of the pack. Hitcachi just released a Hybrid camera that has a Mini DVD recorder plus a 10 gig hard drive.

In my store, the best selling camcorder is a mid-ranged Panasonic. It goes for a little under $600 and is Mini DV format. The model number is PVSG-180. It includes the 3CCD technology, 2.3 megapixel still camera (sd memory) and firewire capability.

Frank the Tank · 12-27-2006, 08:49 AM

We bought a Canon Optura 20 a few years ago and its fabulous. Love it. Its mini-DV format and is really easy to use as far as features and downloading to the computer.

Flames_Gimp · 12-27-2006, 11:24 AM

get the HDD camcorder...who needs tapes anymore!

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...1&sku=A0712253

Frank the Tank · 12-27-2006, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

get the HDD camcorder...who needs tapes anymore!

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...1&sku=A0712253

I honestly don't understand the hard drive camcorder concept. A tape gets full, you transfer it to the computer. The hard drive gets full, you tansfer it to the computer.......

Eagle Eye · 12-27-2006, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I honestly don't understand the hard drive camcorder concept. A tape gets full, you transfer it to the computer. The hard drive gets full, you tansfer it to the computer.......

If you are like me you just are lazy and end up buying more tapes until you have so many you can't figure out what is on which tape!

Eagle Eye · 12-27-2006, 12:10 PM

Go for the one that shoots in HD!

Flames_Gimp · 12-27-2006, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I honestly don't understand the hard drive camcorder concept. A tape gets full, you transfer it to the computer. The hard drive gets full, you tansfer it to the computer.......

well it transfers faster than tape and it holds what, 40 hours? thats 40 tapes..

Flames_Gimp · 12-27-2006, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle Eye

Go for the one that shoots in HD!

i was looking at the HD cams..tempting...

Ironhorse · 12-27-2006, 12:17 PM

We bought a Sony HDD cam (30 Gig if memory serves) a few months ago (just before the new baby showed up

). Very happy with it, it's not HD but is wide screen and is also much better than SD.

Quite a nice little unit. Replaced our Sony Hi-8.

Frank the Tank · 12-27-2006, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

well it transfers faster than tape and it holds what, 40 hours? thats 40 tapes..

Ah I didn't see that it holds 40 hours. That sounds cool but doesn't seem very practical to me.

nfotiu · 12-27-2006, 02:31 PM

We bought the HD Canon HV10 when our child was born a few months ago and love it. No regrets about spending the extra for the hd format. Outdoor shots are about as good as any network HD. Indoor shots are great too. Huge improvement over any SD cameras. Both sets of grandparents download the videos from our website in 720p, and they look great on their computers.

Also, DVDs burned from it look great. And you can burn HD DVDs on regular DVD-Rs to play on HD DVD players.

prarieboy · 12-27-2006, 04:54 PM

We bought a Panasonic PV-GS500 a while back and it's been great. We bought it from a dealer on E-bay. Saved quite a bit of money and got a whole bunch of accesories thrown in as well.

Flames_Gimp · 12-27-2006, 05:21 PM

the other advantages are it's purely digital... when you are capturing from tape its still converted from analog to digital. pluse like i said, it would take hours to capture 40 hours of tape..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

Ah I didn't see that it holds 40 hours. That sounds cool but doesn't seem very practical to me.

Stranger · 12-27-2006, 06:57 PM

Thanks for all the help guys and keep the advice coming. I have a couple of months yet to make my decision, but this is really helping me learn about all the new technology.

nfotiu · 12-27-2006, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

the other advantages are it's purely digital... when you are capturing from tape its still converted from analog to digital. pluse like i said, it would take hours to capture 40 hours of tape..

This is not true, as far as I understand. DV is purely digital stored on tape. Hard Drive camcorders tend to acquire to a highly compressed mpeg2. DV is usually the higher quality and is generally thought of to be the better aquisition format, and makes for a much better master to edit from. Editing mpeg2 usually results in losing some quality.

Flames_Gimp · 12-28-2006, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfotiu

This is not true, as far as I understand. DV is purely digital stored on tape. Hard Drive camcorders tend to acquire to a highly compressed mpeg2. DV is usually the higher quality and is generally thought of to be the better aquisition format, and makes for a much better master to edit from. Editing mpeg2 usually results in losing some quality.

ah ok, well I tried to pretend I knew what I was talking about

Flames_Gimp · 12-28-2006, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Editing mpeg2 usually results in losing some quality.

it depends, maybe you can set the camera to record the video un-compressed, the only problem is its like a gig for a few minutes of video..

fredr123 · 12-28-2006, 09:01 PM

We're also expecting in March. Congratulations!

Anyways, we got a Panasonic PV-GS180. camcorderinfo.com came in really handy with their in-depth reviews. In the end, we decided (well, I decided really) that an HD camcorder was out of our price range. Plus I'm still not sold that the technology is really there yet. Most people in my family don't have an HDTV yet. Give it time, I guess.

With the HDD camcorders I think the high capacity ones were a bit pricey for us. The DVD camcorders aren't, I think, quite there yet either. Plus there are a few issues with editing them and their capacity when recording in their highest quality, etc.

MiniDV is near the end of it's life but it's a really mature technology. We waivered between the Elura 100 and the GS180. I liked the picture quality on the Panasonic the best. Good luck.