Video Cameras... Too many options?

Phester · #1 08-28-2006, 11:54 AM

Now that I have a kid - I've finally decided to break down and buy a video camera....

But video cameras are a lot different from when I used to make home movies with friends with the cameras that used VHS and sat on your shoulder.

Priorities are great quality, usability and portability... Budget around $750-1k.

But there seem to be SOOO many choices... Video Cameras that write to small DV tapes, hard drives, and those that burn right to DVD. "Mini DV, Hard drive, High Def, DVD, VHS-C Hi 8" - are the categories on best buy.com.... What is best? what has the best quality? Does using the tapes mean you cannot move to a computer to burn to DVD? Are hard drives good?

I am completely clueless here and would love some help...

Any input would be appreciated... Thanks!

hayaku · #2 08-28-2006, 01:52 PM

hdd or memory card would serve you way better then any tape device right now. unless you got the time to spend hours capturing the video from tape to hard drive on your computer just so you can edit, resize, and make movies to publish out of it, then a hard disk drive or memory card type will be ideal for you. thats what i ended up doing.

you've got trade-offs tho. many say that the quality tape units have way better ccd's and more accurate color. the memory card/hdd models are way over saturated in color.

i've gone through quite a few tape mini-dv's and don't like the size nor the hours i need to capture the video to do anything with it. i've switched over the the sanyo vpc hd-1 hybrid now. its about the size of a cell phone and fits in my pocket. it records on a 4gb sd memory card. digital still pictures are captured at 5.5 megapixels and video is in HD at 16:9. at the highest quality mode, i get 56 mins out of the 4gb card recorded in MP4 format.

best thing is, i just pull the card and its ready for use instantly.. that to me was worth trading in the better ccd's that the tape units had. not that i saw that as a trade off because the picture quality is still great to me. a few folks here have seen video footage of it that i took while at the race track one day and they thought it was super clear and had amazing picture and color (keep in mind that i had to shrink the video from HD format to something much smaller so i can make it downloadable 2 GB down to 40 mb)

my latest diy pics are taken from the same camera so you can see the quality of the pics there...

your purposes sound similiar to mine: handy use all around camera to capture those precious moments with the lil ones... for that, the super small size and digital ready format was key.

good luck!

Eric5273 · #3 08-28-2006, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayaku

hdd or memory card would serve you way better then any tape device right now.

I agree. A couple years ago when the first memory card recorders came out, the capacity of the cards was tiny and you could not fit much on them, but now they seem to double every 6 months.

If you value size at all, this is the way to go. They have video cameras that can record at DVD quality and can fit in your pocket next to your wallet.

Phester · #4 08-29-2006, 05:10 PM

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...ycamCamcorders

Have you heard anything about this? The Sony DCR-SR100 30GB Handycam® Camcorder.

LeMansX5 · #5 08-29-2006, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phester

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...ycamCamcorders

Have you heard anything about this? The Sony DCR-SR100 30GB Handycam® Camcorder.

Its not high-def though. Not sure if you care about it. But this one is Hi-def.

SuaveX5 · #6 08-29-2006, 05:26 PM

i can`t tell you much but one thing i can tell you is to go with a Hardrive base camera, and stay away from the ones using optical disc.

Phester · #7 08-29-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

Its not high-def though. Not sure if you care about it. But this one is Hi-def.

That one is a little out of my price range, but it may be worth making the step up...

It seems like the best idea is to go with hard drive and not optical or tape based... But how much can 30gig really hold? and do I have to buy Sony memory sticks (does it even take additional sticks)

rangerfan · #8 08-28-2006, 03:59 PM

Hayaku, is this the camcorder? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...617503?ie=UTF8

Sounds like great features, but the reviews of the camera are so-so.

I am going to get a new camera by the end of the year. The DV tapes are a PITA to capture on the PC. Something digital ready is a much better option in this day and age. Of course, you'll need lots of hard drive space to store all of the video, but it is worthwhile in the long run imho. Now, to find a similar camera that is cheaper with all 5-star ratings.

hayaku · #9 08-28-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rangerfan

Hayaku, is this the camcorder? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...617503?ie=UTF8

Sounds like great features, but the reviews of the camera are so-so.

I am going to get a new camera by the end of the year. The DV tapes are a PITA to capture on the PC. Something digital ready is a much better option in this day and age. Of course, you'll need lots of hard drive space to store all of the video, but it is worthwhile in the long run imho. Now, to find a similar camera that is cheaper with all 5-star ratings.

yep.. thats the one i got... the people who make the reviews try to look at it from a professional point of view.. ie: color correctness and accuracy... most of which non-professional equipment like to exagerrate.

steve's digicam place gave it a pretty good review... I'm having a great time with my camera...

Phester · #10 08-28-2006, 06:45 PM

Thanks for the input - I'm suprised more people have not chimed in. I thought there was a major divide over those people using miniDV and those using flash or hard drive based equipment...

I was looking at that Sanyo and it seems great, but there is something about those small cameras that I can't get used to.