Digital Video Cameras

mercurial

mercurial

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any guru's on this out there? i am looking to purchase one but i am terribly confused as to which make/models to go for. i know that mini-dv produces the better quality, but it's a shlep to transfer it to pc, as i was told this is done as streaming video ie: if it's 1 hour of video it takes 1 hour to transfer it to pc. i would prefer a hard drived based one(not too keen on the dvd-camcorders) because of quick transferral to pc. any advice?
 
errrrrmmm......i don't think i wanna go higher than 5 or 6 grand. i've been to this website www.sacameras.co.za but there are so many cameras. i've read reviews on other sites but they just confuse me.
 
What sort of quality are you looking for? Standard def or HD?
 
yeah i saw that one. i went through most of them. panasonic and sony and canon are usually the most reliable one's to go for. the thing is, i'm temped to go for a 3CCD make, but they cost more, but the quality is breathtaking.
 
3CCD is usually a marketing gimmic at the lower price level. It doesn't help to have 3 chips when the cheap lens has chromatic aberrance.

Having said that,

I'd consider this one if SD quality is what you're looking for: http://www.sony.co.za/product/dcr-sr200e/sku/dcr-sr200e++e34?site=hp_en_ZA_i
It's bit out of your price range but has a really good lens and a really good CMOS imager.

You'll also need a good editing package for MPEG2 Video.
 
arf9999 said:
3CCD is usually a marketing gimmic at the lower price level. It doesn't help to have 3 chips when the cheap lens has chromatic aberrance.

Having said that,

I'd consider this one if SD quality is what you're looking for: http://www.sony.co.za/product/dcr-sr200e/sku/dcr-sr200e++e34?site=hp_en_ZA_i
It's bit out of your price range but has a really good lens and a really good CMOS imager.

You'll also need a good editing package for MPEG2 Video.
Click to expand...

thanks, yeah it is a nice camera. i have the software sorted ;)
 
Best to read the reviews. Those extra CCDs can make a difference to the low light performance. You also need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the various formats. Optical image stabilisation versus electronic. How much manual control do you want? Sony seem to be good at automated cameras.
 
i don't wanna spend so much money on a camera. if it weren't for the mini-dv of the canon hv-20, i would've gone for that one. it's absolutely brilliant. true HD :)
 
noxibox said:
Best to read the reviews. Those extra CCDs can make a difference to the low light performance. You also need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the various formats. Optical image stabilisation versus electronic. How much manual control do you want? Sony seem to be good at automated cameras.
Click to expand...

what's the difference betwen to optical image stabilisation and electronic or which is better?
the reviews confuses me. it's always 50/50.
 
Go for the Panasinic SDR-H200 or SDR-H250 my sister has the latter :)
 
mercurial said:
what's the difference betwen to optical image stabilisation and electronic or which is better?
the reviews confuses me. it's always 50/50.
Click to expand...
Optical without a doubt. I've yet to read a review where electronic was as good as an equivalent with optical.

mercurial said:
i don't wanna spend so much money on a camera. if it weren't for the mini-dv of the canon hv-20, i would've gone for that one. it's absolutely brilliant. true HD :)
Click to expand...
I don't know about the codecs used for HD on mini-DV, but for SD mini-DV definitely seems to be the way to go.

I have read in several places that the motors in Canon mini-DV cameras are quite noisy. Definitely something you should check before buying.
 
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