Camcorder questions

[pdarrah]

Hi Folks - This is my first visit to the Photography Board - probably NOT a good thing, I already spend WAY too much time on the DIS!

Anyway, I am looking for some thoughts from others about the difference in camcorders in the last 6 years or so. We have a Sony Digital8 that we bought in late 1999 - it was around $1000 at that time. Ultimately, probably not a good investment since we've only shot maybe 30-40 hours of video (much of that junk that got edited out) in those 6 years. The basic problem is that it is just too heavy and clunky and neither DH or I want to lug it around. Before every WDW trip (2 per year) we talk about bringing it "this time" and always end up deciding not to since it is one more thing to lug on the plane as a carryon and we probably would end up leaving it at the room since neither of us wants to carry it! Since we don't use it much, we haven't had enough practice to get any good at shooting video - which leads to lots of BAD video - which makes us even less likely to pull it out - and so on and so on!

Now, I know that when we finally bought a P&S digital camera we started taking a LOT more photos and (of course) more of those started being actually decent photos. We both had Canon AE-1 SLR cameras for years, but they had the same size/weight problem our camcorder has - we used them for stuff near home, or maybe took them on a driving vacation - but rarely dragged them onto an airplane. Our current P&S is a Canon A80 and that goes nearly everywhere with one or the other of us. We are perfectly willing to carry a small/light camera!

So, are todays camcorders small and light enough compared to 6 years ago that it might actually be worth investing in a new one? We were fairly happy with the video quality of our Sony Digital8, but we also still have a 16 year old 28" TV. A new, thin, 42" TV is in our near future, so if we decide to try again with video, we should probably be sure we get something where the quality would be OK on a larger screen.

Last time, we bought a Sony because that was what was available with Digital8 that we could find locally. (Important at the time since we bought it when we found out suddenly that my 90 year old grandmother was going to go to WDW with us and our 6 month old and we had about 1 week to get a camcorder before that trip...) In general, we have both been very happy with Canon cameras - but I have no idea if their camcorders are good or not. So any thoughts on Sony vs. Canon for camcorders would also be welcome.

Sorry this is so long - I just am really unsure on all this. I had no trouble figuring out what I wanted in a P&S digital camera, but seem to be totally at sea when I start considering camcorders!

TIA for any help,

pdarrah

 

[Kelly Grannell]

This is a compilations of answers I gave from another thread.

What you need to look for when buying a camcorder:

1. Camera size vs. CCD Sensor size: The smaller it is, the smaller the CCD is going to be, the worse quality it's going to have. Making it worse, no DVD camcorder have the same quality as a mid-end miniDV camcorder.

If you HAVE to go with DVD, then the Sony model 403 is for you. If you can go with miniDV, then the Sony model 90 is for you. Everything else is a compromise.

Most camcorders come with only 1/6" CCD sensors. Those Sonys I mentioned come it 1/3" CCD sensors. The fact that they have 4x the surface area means taking pictures/videos in darker lighting more of a breeze. (much less digital grain, better resolution, better colour rendition).

2. make sure that the microphone is IN FRONT of the camera and NOT brushing with your fingers when you're holding the camcorder. There are too many camcorders with microphone closer to the back of the camera and/or having the risk of brushing with your fingers while recording resulting in bad audio recording. (imagine hearing scraping sound or getting ambient noise instead of your kid's singing)

3. I'd recommend: The miniDV is HC-90 and the DVD is the 403.

These models are going to be replaced (already are, at some locations) with DCR-HC96 (miniDV) and DCR-DVD405 (DVD). The high definition model number remains the same (HDR-HC1)

4. miniDV and D8 both using Motion-JPEG compression. DVD using MPEG2 compression worse than miniDV. That's the problem with interlaced video, there camera captures half a field/frame.

5. 3 CCD vs 1 CCD, if everything else is the same (CCD size, type of lens etc) are the same then the 3 CCD tend to be better in colour accuracy. However, Panasonic's CCD are smaller in size than the two models I gave you hence the low-light performance (indoors, Disney parades, etc) is still worse. Also the Sonys I mentined utilizes Primary Colour Filters to mimic (but not too succesfully) 3 CCD performance.

All in all, with the larger sensor and a somewhat similar colour rendition as the 3 CCD, the Sony is still better (I've tried Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC priced at $1200 and lower) with JVC to be the absolute worst.

As much as I love Canon and dislike Sony in general, for camcorders (consumer and prosumer models) there is nothing out there that best Sony just yet.

PS: Panasonic widescreen mode is not "real widescreen" (although they actually advertise it as true widescreen) and just simulated. So instead of having wider angle in widescreen mode, it actually chops off the top and bottom of the screen whereas the Sony and Canon camcorders use real widescreen where the recorded angle is actually wider in widescreen-mode.

6. Yes, we REALLY need a camcorder sticky.


PS to moderator, please please please. We need a camcorder sticky.

 

[GarrettJD]

I love camcorders and messing around with video, so I'll try to help a little.

If you're in the market for a new camcorder, the best thing to do (besides shopping around) is to read some reviews on the internet, both professional and user reviews. Some good places to try are--

Cnet

Camcorder Info -- great reviews (you may not understand everything they talk about, but they do a good, through job.

Then, I would head to Circuit City or Best Buy and get your hands on a few before choosing one, since you said your major concern is size. Most modern camcorders are about 1/2 to 1/3 the size of the Sony Digital8 I have.

I definitely recommend you get a MiniDV format camcorder, as they're usually the smallest and lightest. I don't recommend a DVD camcorder-- their images aren't quite as good as MiniDV.

I just purchased a new camcorder, actually. I went with a Panasonic PV-GS150 (price-- about $600) which I'm pretty happy with so far. It's nice and small, and takes really nice video. The next one up, the PV-GS250, is even better. (for reference purposes, I own an old Sony Digital8 camcorder, and the Panasonic is about half the size and weight as the Sony.)

If you get a Sony, Canon, or Panasoinc, you'll probably be pretty happy.

EDIT: I just saw Kelly's recommendation of the Sony HC90. That looks like a great camcorder, actually, and it's probably easier to use and has better low light performance than my Panasonic.

 

[ndelaware]

Most of the current mini DV camcorders are smaller than your AE-1 was. Go to Best Buy and try some on.

 

[pdarrah]

Thanks everyone! I'll try to get to BestBuy without DH - he tends to impulse buy and it could be dangerous to take him there I love the idea of a camcorder smaller that my AE-1!



pdarrah

 

[Augustheather97]

I have a panasonic Minidv camcorder we got last year ,,,and have millions of little tapes around what do i need to comvert via computer to dvd???

 

[Kelly Grannell]

The quick answer is: don't use your PC.

The best quality and convenience, actually by buying a Pioner DVR 633 (or the cheaper 533 but with les hard disk space). Record the miniDV to the HDD of the standalone recorder, edit everything you don't need (it's accurate down to the frame), make your own chapters and thumbnail, then record it to a DVD.

If you want to be even more finicky, connect your miniDV using ANALOG input, and within these units you can adjust colour, noise reduction, tint, sharpness, chroma/luma noise reduction, black level etc. The Canadian price for the 633 is approx US$450 (about the same price if you buy a proper input unit for your PC and the proper software too, and everything can not be done in real time on PC... unless you want the quality to suffer a bit).