Camcorders?

[Disneykarem]

I need to buy a new camcorder (recital and graduation season is here!) and I really don't have a clue about them. Can someone explain the differences between the DVmini and DVD models? Are there advantages or disadvantages to either one? Any recommendations? Please help--the last camcorder I owned used tapes that you watched on your VCR!

Thanks!!

 

[LaLinda]

Sorry, no help for you here, but I am also looking for a camcorder, so will be very interested in the responses.

 

[myAAbatteries&aTD]

Subbing - we need a new one before our trip in June..... hopefully someone can help us!

 

[virginiamama]

I'm by no means an authority, but like you guys I'm looking to buy a new camcorder. So I'll offer what little bit of info I've got. I'm looking to buy a camcorder with a hard drive. It has internal memory similar to a computer - no tapes or dvds to record on. I have a MiniDV camcorder. It records on small tapes that are supposed to be near dvd quality.

 

[wdw_girl_18]

My friend has a dvd camcorder. It takes forever to load up each time it is turned on (it has to reload the previous video taken, or something like that). Once you take the dvd out of the camcorder, you can't put it back in or it will rewrite over what you just taped. It seems to use the battery up by taking so long to load and save the video each time. (with a fully charged battery we maybe got 15 minutes of filming time, and this was a brand new dvd camcorder).

I would personally go with minidv, as those tapes are much easier to edit, and it video tapes as soon as you turn it on.

 

[donald&daisy]

I second the Minidv camcorder format. My wonderful Dbf bought me a camcorder for Christmas that was a straight to dvd type. I HATED IT!!!! It was a real piece of junk. I wanted to do simple editing, just basic stuff with Windows Movie Maker, and I could not do that with this camcorder. It was a Canon DC210 (buyer beware!!). I now have a lovely Panasonic GS320. I love it!! I recommend the cnet forums. They have very knowledgeable people there who are willing to help. Minidv is just a much more reliable and older format.

 

[brenalexacamp]

got ours from qvc-

mine is a small one- holds the small dvd's-records right to the little dvd-that's what the little circle is for on the dvd tray-fine for me- Iam not editing- records and I can watch right away


my son's got from santa- he shops at qvc too-HD

he is into editing big time and records 7 hours of stuff before you have to download in the computer.
he's been doing stuff for history and mythology classes

i paid about the same for both- I got mine about 1 year before I got his
so the prices have come down-at the time when I bought mine- the HD ones were about 700.

I know I paid under 400.00 for his and it was on easy pay
mine is a sony and his I think is a hitachi-he loves it


hope this helps- go to best buy or sears and have them explain everything to you then you can make a good decision

My 1st was the full size vhs and the battery was so expensive-we lugged the cord around-then we had the mini and you put the little tape in the vhs cassette- now- the little dvd- finalize and done!
now if I would start labeling them!

 

[Disneykarem]

Thanks for your responses! The info on cnet was very helpful. I think I'm going with a minidv model. The clerk at bestbuy told me that with the mini dvd models if you stop filming you must change discs before restarting. Is that true?

 

[donald&daisy]

Thanks for your responses! The info on cnet was very helpful. I think I'm going with a minidv model. The clerk at bestbuy told me that with the mini dvd models if you stop filming you must change discs before restarting. Is that true?

No, that's not true. Certainly not with the model I had. I feel like the knowledge of the clerks at Best Buy has really gone downhill. When I had my straight to dvd camcorder, it worked much like the minidv. You push record it records straight to the disc, you stop, it stop, etc. You just record until you are out of space. I just didn't like that I couldn't do any editing with the dvd camcorder, plus the canon model I had used some new format (.VRO) which no editing software would recognize. It was a mess. I recommed minidv because you always have the tape as a backup copy and it simple to transfer the footage onto your computer and edit it (although it does transfer to computer at "real time" meaning 30 mins of footage takes 30 mins to capture to your computer). I don't mind this one bit. Good luck it took me FOREVER to decide which kind to trade my p.o.s. for. The cnet people are the ones who helped me.