camcorders

[Tora Millypoops]

Still unsure as i want something on the same lines as my old one, reading some of the reviews on some of the camcorders it says that the battery only lasts for about an hour.

I bought a Sony battery whilst in Orlando (3 years ago) - Fully charged it gives 6 hours and cost approx £35.

Victoria's Dad. (Something odd is happening with my Cookies here! Everytime I come onto Disboards I'm signed in under Victoria; I can' log out from her so I delete all my cookies, sign in as me [Richard bruvofetc] but when I come back on later it's back as Tora Millypoops. ).

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I have to agree the picture quality in HD is fantastic, but is not this camcorder a mini DV camcorder and not a mini DVD - in which case I think we are agreeing.

A friend of mine has a Sony DVD camcorder (I forget which model) and we did a test of filming water with sun reflecting off it. I filmed the same with my camcorder (Sony DCR-TRV25E). We played them both back on the TV and you could see the artifacts on the miniDVD play back, where there were none on mine.

Blu Ray......pant! pant! dribble slurp! I can't wait either.

Sorry yes, that is correct its tape not DVD.

I am wondering thoiugh what the problem is with Blu Ray that keeps putting back Sony's launch

 

[alisonbestford]

Sorry to 'gate crash' but what are the minimum specifications anyone would look for when buying a basic camcorder?

DH has just announced that he's worried about forgetting what he sees in Italy as his memory is getting so bad

The day before we go away and I'm just starting to think about camcorders!

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Sorry to 'gate crash' but what are the minimum specifications anyone would look for when buying a basic camcorder?

DH has just announced that he's worried about forgetting what he sees in Italy as his memory is getting so bad

The day before we go away and I'm just starting to think about camcorders!

[I think I have my cookies sorted now ]

Now there's a good question and I'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions so here comes mine.

Trying to overcome my personal bias to Sony in the camcorder stakes, I would recommend as a starter any of the main brands (Sony, Panasonic, Canon etc).

Ensure its got a reasonable OPTICAL zoom (at least 10X - forget about digital zoom; that "degrades" the picture as you zoom in).

I personally would stay away from the DVD camcorders.

Make sure you're comfortable with the ergonomics of the camcorder - 3 years ago when I bought mine I found that I was unable to easily use the really compact ones as you needed to be some kind of contortionist to get your fingers to reach the buttons - so go into Jessops or John Lewis and have a play (you don't have to buy from them)

Now a question to you:

Are you going to be doing your own editing on your computer, and burning to DVD?

If so, you don't need to worry about all the in-built "effects" on the camera - I've never used them on mine - you'll have plenty more effects on your editing software.

Hope this helps you.

 

[alisonbestford]

Thanks for that Richard

I'm off into Meadowhall for an hour or two this afternoon so will have a look and pick a few brains

'Cheap and Cheerful' is the order of the day so, if it does the job (however I edit it) that will be cool

Otherwise we drive to Stansted airport tomorrow so I'll see whether they have a Dixons or something there

 

[Shane]

Sorry yes, that is correct its tape not DVD.

I am wondering thoiugh what the problem is with Blu Ray that keeps putting back Sony's launch

Hiya Obi Wan

As you know, Blu-Ray discs have only just hit the market, and there is a battle between "Blu-Ray" and "HD" discs, no one really knows whos gonna win, the chances are one will fail.Personally I think no company wants to bring a new product out what could be useless within months, and the price for these type of discs can range anywhere from £15-30 each.

Sorry if ive gone off on the wrong subject, I've not had time to read the whole posts!

 

[Claire L]

I must say I like the mini DV cameras and my Sony battery gives me about 150 minutes of recrding time once fully charged.

Claire

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Hiya Obi Wan

As you know, Blu-Ray discs have only just hit the market, and there is a battle between "Blu-Ray" and "HD" discs, no one really knows whos gonna win, the chances are one will fail.Personally I think no company wants to bring a new product out what could be useless within months, and the price for these type of discs can range anywhere from £15-30 each.

Sorry if ive gone off on the wrong subject, I've not had time to read the whole posts!

Probably another VHS / Betamax "war" and Sony lost that one. Whichever wins, it'll probably mean I'll need a Terabyte Harddrive on the PC to handle all the data.

(Sorry Tracy, we seemed to have strayed a bit here )

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Probably another VHS / Betamax "war" and Sony lost that one. Whichever wins, it'll probably mean I'll need a Terabyte Harddrive on the PC to handle all the data.

(Sorry Tracy, we seemed to have strayed a bit here )

yes I am using Sony vegas 6 and have bought a 400GB external hard drive to keep the files on, it was around £160 at PC World for the external hard drive (connected through a USB 2 connection)
I can then either downscale to standard definition DVD or wait until format war is over and then burn to HD.

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Sony havent got a good track record of winning media formats...MiniDisk, Betamax and more recently the diaster that is UMD, now officialy abandoned.

BlueRay vs HDDVD is going to (i think) come down to the backing movie studios, which is why you have seen $ony buying up the likes of MGM.

Personaly, I want HD-DVD to win, and the reasons for this are that, for the good of the video games industry, I want $ony's forthcoming PS3 to fail, and that console is pretty much banking on people buying them for its ability to play BlueRay movies, just like PS2 did in the infant DVD player market. I think that a console should be brought out for its games playing ability, not for what it can do a side issue...and for $ony to rely on this tactic again, they deserve to fail miserably.

 

[Dicky Knee]

Personaly, I want HD-DVD to win, and the reasons for this are that, for the good of the video games industry, I want $ony's forthcoming PS3 to fail, and that console is pretty much banking on people buying them for its ability to play BlueRay movies, just like PS2 did in the infant DVD player market. I think that a console should be brought out for its games playing ability, not for what it can do a side issue...and for $ony to rely on this tactic again, they deserve to fail miserably.

I just want the one which is best technically, most reliable, and most economical to win. I don't have a grudge about either system.

 

[musketeer]

Hi everyone
Thanks for all your replies i've finally decided on a Sony Mini dv

 

[Netty]

Hi everyone
Thanks for all your replies i've finally decided on a Sony Mini dv

sure you will be happy with it! mine is only a sony dcr-hc22e, but it will do for filming around the theme parks.
all i have to do now is buy extra batteries for it,before next thursday!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Sony havent got a good track record of winning media formats...MiniDisk, Betamax and more recently the diaster that is UMD, now officialy abandoned.

BlueRay vs HDDVD is going to (i think) come down to the backing movie studios, which is why you have seen $ony buying up the likes of MGM.

Personaly, I want HD-DVD to win, and the reasons for this are that, for the good of the video games industry, I want $ony's forthcoming PS3 to fail, and that console is pretty much banking on people buying them for its ability to play BlueRay movies, just like PS2 did in the infant DVD player market. I think that a console should be brought out for its games playing ability, not for what it can do a side issue...and for $ony to rely on this tactic again, they deserve to fail miserably.

I think you may be out of luck.
Strange as it seems the area which decides the format is our friends in Hollywood, the errrr "Adult" film brigade.
Whichever they go for is the format that normally wins, i.e. they were the ones who went for VHSW not Betamax even though Beta was technically superior, they went for DVD over laserdisc etc..
it seems these guys are angling towards Blu Ray for its easy of use

 

[wayneg]

Anyone looking for a cheap camcorder check out this link. I mentioned the company a few posts back but they have some in stock now. They are decent cams not top quality but if you need something to put you on until new technoolgy develops they are good for the money Delivery is only £3.95
There is also 2% cashback if you register and buy thru this site I posted about before. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=13643720&postcount=104

Samsung Mini DV VP -D353 £154.50
JVC Mini DV GR-DF420. F1.2 Super Bright Lens £163.99

http://www.bargaincrazy.com/bcrazy/...id=&mscs_sid=FSR0AJ8KJCCC9LLVG22NL2DCER2J41M4