Videotaping Tips PLEASE HELP ME!

[101disneyfan]

Hello fellow Disboard members!

I have a question that I need your help with. It;s fairly simple.

We have two video cameras: #1 is VHS-C and #2 is Mini DV

#1- VHS-C:
The tapes are cheaper to buy.
It has a VCR adapter.
The tapes are each 90 minutes.
And we have a DVD Recorder to put it on DVD, computer...
Also, it has a viewfinder while the Mini DV only has an LCD screen

#2- Mini-DV:
The tape is digital so that we don't have to worry about the airport x-ray.
Digital tape for better quality
It's doesn't has a viewfinder, only LCD.
You have to plug the camera in to watch home movies.
The tapes are more expensive and don't run as long.

Can you kind folks help me?
What I want is an easy vacation that I can record and look back at twenty years from now. I don't need HD quality video. I want home movies that I can watch nice and easily. I don't want to be wondering the parks with 2 or 3 tapes. But on the DV side, I don't want to worry about the airport xray, which I wouldn't have to with digital tape.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[hakepb]

I think mini-dv is also magnetic tape like a VCR. Its a higher quality media to record more data and may be less likely to experience an airport issue (based on a quick google search)

I always preferred the quality of my old mini-dv but now the camcorder is acting up. So I understand the long life viewing. Actually 3 of my VCRs wouldn't play a tape when I tried to watch a older Disney movie this year. But buying a DVD/VCR would be cheaper than a mini DVC camcorder.

If you can plug on your mini dv into your DVD recorder, then I would use the mini dv.

 

[photo_chick]

I'd go mini-dv. They are both magnetic and subject to all the things that affect magnetic media. They're both going to degrade with time. If you want to be able to watch them in 20 years then digitizing them should be something you consider. This is really easy to do with Mini-dv if you have a firewire port on your computer. It's not as easy with VHS-C since you need an additional peripheral to get it to the computer.

We got our VHS-C in the late 90's and can't watch some of the tapes. We got our mini-dv in 2004 and some of the older tapes are starting to degrade a little but instead of muddy audio and screwey tracking (what happens to VHS-C) you get dropped frames which you can fix in post to a degree. We still use mini-dv right now because I keep buying DSLRs and not video cameras. I even used mini-dv (Canon XL1) to shoot my video projects for a film class I took a couple of semesters ago.

 

[TerryLP]

Your mini-dv tapes are smaller and easier to carry around. This way you can carry more of them. You want to consider asking to have you tapes hand checked instead of scanned. Most security people will do this for you.Be sure to check your owners manual. Most of the mini-dv cameras that I have seen or owned have a setting to allow you to record up to 90 minutes on a tape. It is like setting your VCR from SLP to LP to SP. Since you are not concerned about the degree of quality this my be the way to go. You should consider digitizing your videos since your tapes will eventually go bad.