I want a camcorder

[GalDisney]

I want to buy a digital camcorder so I can make movies of wdw. But I have no idea what kind to get??? What is the difference. I know there are some that record to full size dvd's, there are the mini dvd recorders, the new kind that record onto a hard drive which are expensive. Then i think there is a type with a mini cassete if i am not mistaken? Any suggestions would be most welcome. And do they all come with software to edit the footage, add music, etc? Is it easy to edit and put the movies together? I do not want anything expensive but i want a good one that is easy to use and takes good video. Thanks! I see alot of well done home made wdw video on you tube and i want to make some, too!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I recommend that you go to a site like http://www.camcorderinfo.com and read reviews and articles.

There are so many trade-offs that it is hard for someone to recommend a video camera for you. You've got to decide on things like size, convenience, control, tape vs DVD vs hard disk vs compact flash, standard def vs high def, value, etc. Unless you spend a few hours reading reviews and articles, you are going to end up making tradeoffs without knowing it.

 

[AndrewWG]

Although I would not discourage buying a camcorder (I want one too!) I would still add that some of the videos on youtube may very well be done with regular digital cameras. My Canon S2IS takes very good video. It has great sound and the video is actually quite nice. That is the main reason I have not gone out and bought a camcorder yet, actually. I find that I can get very acceptable results with what I have. Now, don't get me wrong, it is nothing like one of the better camcorders would get you for quality, but it works great overall.

Just something to think about if you haven't already.

Andy

 

[Groucho]

One of the big problem with taking video with most digicams is that they don't give you true (optical, not digital) zoom in movie mode... a few do, but most don't. Usually this is because of the noise of the zoom motor.

Still, if you don't need zoom, the 640x480 30fps movies that many can do now are really surprisingly good.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

We're in the same boat here. Last camcorder I got (and, in fact the only one we've owned) was a Sony 8 mm and it no longer works. With recitals and such coming up in the next month, we are going to buy within the next few weeks.

Please take my advice as coming from a newbie, but you can really learn a lot by poking around Amazon.com. We are definitely getting a digital camcorder and are leaning toward one of the high-end Sony ones that saves to discs. Don't know any that save directly to full-size DVD; this one, like the others we are considering, saves to the small DVDs. We've ruled out tapes and also saving to a built in hard-drive (technology too new and lots of problems that we've read about).

A very pricey new Sony claims you can take high-quality still pictures while shooting video, and that really appeals to us because sometimes you don't want to trade-off one of the other (like a solo recital performance, for example). Anyway, it's the Sony DCR-DVD508.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

Today I ordered the Sony DCR-DVD 508 from J&R.com. Any questions, let me know.