Digital Video Cameras

noxibox said:
It's not such a big deal. On expensive cameras you can save a huge amount of money too.

TV Systems: A Comparison

You can convert if you really want to, but it isn't strictly necessary.

Also depends whether you're buying an HD or SD camera. No point paying local premiums for an HD camera, just import.
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What does that have to do with format conversion?
 
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noxibox said:
It's not such a big deal. On expensive cameras you can save a huge amount of money too.

TV Systems: A Comparison

You can convert if you really want to, but it isn't strictly necessary.

Also depends whether you're buying an HD or SD camera. No point paying local premiums for an HD camera, just import.
Click to expand...

thats what I was trying to get to as HD is universal, pal/ntsc doesn't matter in that case
 
Thought I'd chime in here. After doing stacks of research, I'm going to get the Panasonic NV-GS230. It costs R4800 at Tafelberg Furnitures - so far the best price I could find. My budget is R5k which does eliminate HDD and HD cams.

Neverliess, it is a great camera on paper. 3CCD, MiniDV, microphone and headphone jack (this is VERY important to me - need to do interviews, etc), small, stabilizer, gosh, so much more. So check out this cam too.
 
pyrit said:
Thought I'd chime in here. After doing stacks of research, I'm going to get the Panasonic NV-GS230. It costs R4800 at Tafelberg Furnitures - so far the best price I could find. My budget is R5k which does eliminate HDD and HD cams.

Neverliess, it is a great camera on paper. 3CCD, MiniDV, microphone and headphone jack (this is VERY important to me - need to do interviews, etc), small, stabilizer, gosh, so much more. So check out this cam too.
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it seems a beauty of a camera http://www.sacamera.co.za/productdetail/PANNV-GS230 and http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Cameras-Camcorders/Camcorders/MiniDV-Camcorders/model.PV-GS320_11002_7000000000000005702
but like i said before, it takes too long to transfer to pc and in terms of actual recording time...how long is it? probably 40 minutes at a time, whereas with a hard drive model you can record for hours and hours and then when u want to transfer to pc, it's as quick as snapping your fingers.
 
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mercurial said:
the panasonic SDR-H200 is looking like my baby. it's a great, great camera.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SDR-H200-3-1MP-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B000M4KJV4

http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-...ders/model.SDR-H200_11002_7000000000000005702
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Very nice camera indeed, but can you get it in SA? If you are getting it from the USA, keep in mind that it is most probably natively NTSC which is crap compared to PAL. So, look out for that. Unfortunately, the HDD cams are so expensive and way above my budget hense I'll suffer with the transferring from DV tape to my PC. Plus this cam does not have a mic and headphone jack which is a huge dealbreaker for me.

Once you get your cam, please post a review. Would like to hear what you think about it.
 
pyrit said:
Very nice camera indeed, but can you get it in SA? If you are getting it from the USA, keep in mind that it is most probably natively NTSC which is crap compared to PAL. So, look out for that. Unfortunately, the HDD cams are so expensive and way above my budget hense I'll suffer with the transferring from DV tape to my PC. Plus this cam does not have a mic and headphone jack which is a huge dealbreaker for me.

Once you get your cam, please post a review. Would like to hear what you think about it.
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yip it's available at www.havetohave.co.za as well as www.wholesaledigital.co.za but the first one is much cheaper.

like u said, it is NTSC. does that mean bad quality? u said not a good microphone?
 
Posts by arf9999 in this thread touched on NTSC and so recommended that it isn't a good idea to have an NTSC cam in SA since SA TV's are PAL - yeah, most SA TV's are multisystem, but still you see the picture in NTSC. PAL has a better resolution as well.

For my cam purchase, I could buy a cam from the USA, but the fact that it is NTSC is a huge dealbreaker for me. As for the mic, you misunderstood me, I need a mic and headphone jack in my cam so that I can use my cam to do interviews with an external handheld mic. For many consumers, that is not a dealbreaker. I cannot afford a pro camera with XLR connectors for external mics, so I have to get the best for what I can afford.
 
Why are you people even talking about NTSC? This is not an NTSC region. It's as simple as that. It's a PAL region.

Repeat after me: :o

"SA is a PAL region."

"SA is a PAL region."

Very good. :)

One more time.

"SA is a PAL region." :cool:


I'm just yanking your chains, guys, but really... NTSC? WTF? :D
 
pyrit said:
Posts by arf9999 in this thread touched on NTSC and so recommended that it isn't a good idea to have an NTSC cam in SA since SA TV's are PAL - yeah, most SA TV's are multisystem, but still you see the picture in NTSC. PAL has a better resolution as well.

For my cam purchase, I could buy a cam from the USA, but the fact that it is NTSC is a huge dealbreaker for me. As for the mic, you misunderstood me, I need a mic and headphone jack in my cam so that I can use my cam to do interviews with an external handheld mic. For many consumers, that is not a dealbreaker. I cannot afford a pro camera with XLR connectors for external mics, so I have to get the best for what I can afford.
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oh ok.
 
56kMan said:
Why are you people even talking about NTSC? This is not an NTSC region. It's as simple as that. It's a PAL region.

Repeat after me: :o

"SA is a PAL region."

"SA is a PAL region."

Very good. :)

One more time.

"SA is a PAL region." :cool:


I'm just yanking your chains, guys, but really... NTSC? WTF? :D
Click to expand...

lol the camera comes straight from america. on the website(www.havetohave.co.za) they specfically say this:

"This Video Camera, is sourced in the United States and therefore operates on the NTSC Standard, officially South Africa uses the PAL standard - however most VCR + TV's sold recently do support multi zones, when output is to a computer it will work perfectly as all systems are UNIVERSAL"
 
You might also want to check B&H Photo. They have a small selection of PAL cameras.
 
mercurial said:
lol the camera comes straight from america. on the website(www.havetohave.co.za) they specfically say this:

"This Video Camera, is sourced in the United States and therefore operates on the NTSC Standard, officially South Africa uses the PAL standard - however most VCR + TV's sold recently do support multi zones, when output is to a computer it will work perfectly as all systems are UNIVERSAL"
Click to expand...

well that's a bit of an oversimplification. It'll work but you're sacrificing quality... if you're buying a SD camera, buy PAL.

wikipedia said:
PAL vs. NTSC

Because the PAL format has greater resolution than NTSC, it is generally accepted as being of higher quality.[2] NTSC receivers have a tint control to perform colour correction manually. If this isn't adjusted correctly, the colours will be faulty. The PAL standard automatically removes hue errors by utilizing phase alternation of the colour signal (see technical details), so a tint control is unnecessary.
Click to expand...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL
 
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