To buy a video camera or not?

[rhysd2]

As you all know im off to FL end of october. If i ever need a big electronics item i always try and wait till i get to the USA to take advantage of their nice cheap prices and the nice exchange rate.

Originally i planned to buy an IPOD then realised i wouldnt use it much. Then it was a pair of oakleys but i managed to get a pair semi cheap over here. so i figured ah no prob i'll just buy a wide variety of souviners clothes and shoes.

Last night i was fiddling round with the low light settings on my digital camera(ready for halloween horror night on the 31st of october). I LOVE my digital camera, was a wedding gift from my parents and now i take it where ever i go.

Anyway i digress, as i was playing with it i got thinking, hey wouldnt it be cool to have a video camera. Having worked in camera sales before im a big sony fan so i trudged off to walmart, circuitcity, and the best buy websites to see whats around.

and then i became lost..... i spotted 3 cameras i like. a Hi8 sony for $250 with decent features and a small size. a sony one thats basically the same as the previous but with sonys steady shot for $280 or a digital one that hooks direct into my pc via USB for $320

Now i really wasnt planning on spending much on one. as i just wanted a basic one to begin with incase i dont use it much. However having one that i can hook direct into the PC sounds appealing.

but now i cant decide which to get. am i likely to hook it into my pc at all? is it even worth getting a cam corder? i dont want to become one of those people who videos every tiny thing and makes everyone watch the videos lol.

part of the thing restricting me is budget. i want to be able to buy a few other things while im there and we wont have a bottemless pit of money LOL. And i would like to be able to buy a second battery and case with the camcorder to lengthen its use and protect it. so this hikes up the price even more.

So help me please. any of you with advice. normally im so good with buying technology being as i work with it every day but this one has me lost in a maze.

 

[Miffy2003]

Hello,

I used to belong to the school of thought that said videoing meant you missed out on the fun yourself, which I still agree with. However I did then relent and we bought a digital camcorder which I must be honest has captured some priceless memories. I wish we'd done it sooner!

We absolutely love watching our videos (but don't inflict them on others LOL). Do you think you would be the same?

We do have a "rule" though and definitely do not take it everywhere with us - we take it on specific days - to capture certain rides, parades, character meals etc. This means that that the "videoer" doesn't miss out all the time but only has responsibility for filming every few days. You could take it round a do a "Greatest Hits" tour of your favourite places.

So I would say - if you can afford it and it won't mean going without something else that would be better for you - go for it!

Karen

 

[SplashMtn]

Id say definately go for a video camera!- I must admit that last year at the world I did go slightly over the top with about 10 hours of video........and yes I narrated for about all 10 hours! But Im so glad I did now with a conservative estimate of how many times Ive watched back the Festival of the lion king being 150....

About connecting it to your PC, that would only be for if you were planning to edit your movies yourself e.g. re ordering scenes and adding graphics/ soundtracks. But to do this successfully you would need a digital camcorder with a firewire card on your pc anyway: and a very high spec pc too plus software! So for just some normal touristy video-ing a non- digital camcorder would be fine. The Hi8 camera you mentioned almost has the video quality of digital but for a lower price and a physically bigger camera.

Good luck with the choice!

 

[rhysd2]

thanks for the advice guys. looks like i'll probably be picking one up over there.

one more question for you all though. Is the super steady shot worth the extra money?

as for the editing my own movies etc yes i probably would do that and then burn them to a dvd via my PC. it would also enable me to take snapshots from various videos to use as pictures for things that my digital camera didnt get around to capturing or was out of space to capture heh. the digital camcorder i was peeking at claimed it actually has a USB port on it so the firewire wouldnt be necessary though i will go back and re check it just in case.

either way i have a beefy spec'd pc and could easily lay my hands on the software to edit it.

though i definetly agree i wouldnt take it everywhere hehehe. when i said that about my digi cam i meant to various functions and parties i go to, not carrying it around every day lol.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I don't think that the prices in Orlando are that good. Remember, you can't buy the models in Circuit City or Walmart because they will be American format (NTSC) rather than British format (PAL). Therefore if you want to buy a camera in Orlando you will normally have to visit one of the tourist shops on the i-Drive or the 192, and I've found that they don't sell for anything less than a decent mail order outlet in the UK.

As for the camcorder I would strongly recommend you go for a digital camcorder with a Firewire port as this will allow you to edit your videos on a computer with no loss of quality. Even if you don't think you'll be editing this stuff now, you may want to in the future and a digital camcorder is a much better option than an old Hi8 model.

Regards

Rob

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by rhysd2
the digital camcorder i was peeking at claimed it actually has a USB port on it so the firewire wouldnt be necessary though i will go back and re check it just in case.

The USB port will not be fast enough to transfer full resolution video - it will be designed to transfer digital pictures (stills) but not video. To transfer video you will need a firewire port, but as far as I can tell just about every digital camcorder comes with firewire.

Regards

Rob

 

[rhysd2]

DOH you know the format difference never even crossed my mind!!

so if i buy a digital camcorder that uses Digital8 tapes it will be recording in NSTC as opposed to PAL?

Both the VCR's in my house will actually play NSTC format though, so will they record the playback from the camcorder to PAL tapes if i plug the camera into the back of the VCR?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

No, your VCR probably won't record NTSC unless it is an expensive multi-standard model (very unusual for a domestic VCR). The way it plays NTSC is to sort of convert it on the fly to pseudo-PAL so that PAL-only TVs can display the video signal. On the whole it is much better to buy a PAL camcorder, either here or in the US.

If you do plan on buying in the US do some research into prices in the UK before you go so that you know whether you are getting a bargain or not. As I said, whenever I've looked at PAL specification camcorders I've not been impressed with the prices in Orlando.

Regards

Rob

 

[rhysd2]

ah well bang goes that idea unless i find a cheap pal one. thanks for pointing it out.

i know plenty about pc's etc but camcorders/cameras im not so clued in on. man would that have sucked to bring one home to find it doesnt record properly.

i'll poke my head in a few places while im over there to see whats around but i doubt i'll get one now.

already researched english prices alot to compare the two. so got in my head how much they will be here.

 

[AlexE]

I was recently in the same situation as you - wanting a new toy - but not quite sure which one to choose and why, due to not understanding the techie side of it.

However I bought a Sony 18E from Amazon for £289, instead of nearly £400 in Jessops and am very happy with the quality.

Havent attempted to download onto PC yet but am quite happy to transfer to a video.

Hope this may help you make a decision.

Elaine

 

[rhysd2]

Thanks Elaine

as it stands now i'll probably wait till christmas rolls around and myself and my wife will buy ourselves one as a joint big gift. shame really because the prices on the USA websites were amazing heh.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

If you do want to buy from a shop rather than mail order, Jessops are normally very good for price-matching any UK website selling UK specification camcorders. I recently bought a Sony PC109 and Jessops reuced their price by £149 to match a mail order outlet.

Regards

Rob

 

[rhysd2]

thanks for the advise rob. i've used jesops a few times but have never been happy with their sales people or general attitutde towards me. but i'll be sure to give them a try.

that being said im fine with ordering stuff off the web and having it mailed to me. heck i did all my xmas shopping last year online as i didnt fancy facing the insane crowds.

 

[patdavies]

The NTSC/PAL incompatability is a red herring, unless you are intending to feed directly from your camera to TV.

A digital camcorder records a simply digital signal - it doesn't use NTSC, PAL or even SECAM - these are broadcast standards.

If you are dumping to DVD via a PC then these don't concern you. The DVD player will take the raw digital data from the DVD and send it to the TV in the format required. If you intend to play on you PC monitor, this uses the direct digital signal.

BTW, The high PC (with loads os disk space) is only absolutely necessary for dealing with analogue video streams. Digital streams are compressed and manipulated in much smaller amounts

 

[rhysd2]

hang on so a digital camcorder using digital 8 just records in its own format? /boggle. OK so i can hook this up to the pc and it'll download fine.

what about hooking it up to the VCR to record onto VHS?

and what about a regular Hi8 camcorder?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

And what would happen if you wanted to use footage shot by freinds or family, edited into your own footage on the PC? While Pat is technically correct, from a practical point of view I think operating an NTSC camcorder in a PAL country brings too many problems to be worth the small saving in cost that you might make.

Regards

Rob

 

[rhysd2]

OK so we've established i can take the camera, hook it into my pc. edit it and put it on dvd.

but what im still not following is whether or not i can buy a camcorder there and hook it into the VHS and it will record onto my vhs? you guys are confusing me Lol. anyone else able to shed some light?

anyone else bought a camcorder from over there?

 

[patdavies]

Hooking up to the VCR is probably fine as long as you use a dedicated video interface - like S-video. Again the VCR will add the necessary broadcast standard.

I don't know about Hi8 - this is analogue I believe and could record in Chinese for all I kow. Seriously, AFAIK, analogue cameras record in thier own format.


Rob,

If you're editing on PC, everything is done at the raw digital level - the source is immaterial. So you can mix recordings

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Pat, aren't frame sizes and frame rates different for PAL and NTSC? When I transfer a miniDV tape to my computer the resultant quicktime movie is very clearly identified as 25 fps and 720x576 pixels. Video that I've ripped from a R1 DVD is 29.97 fps and 720x480 pixels. Mixing footage from these two sources in the same project doen't work without converting the NTSC footage to PAL (or vice versa) so I'm currently looking at a software package which will do standards conversion. I might be being thick here (wouldn't be the first time) but I can't see how you can mix footage which has different frame rates and different frame sizes. My video editing package (Final Cut Pro) can't handle both types in the same project without some software conversion.

Regards

Rob

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

I'm getting confused..............