nice video camera?

[samsaymore]

Hi!
I used to have a Sony Handycam (in 2006) which recorded to mini dvds and I thought it was a decent camera (rubbish still images thou).
I now want to buy another (Cheap) video camera but I am kind of stuck!!!
I have been looking at a few like the cannon fs2000 (or something like that) or the sony 4gb ect ect.
I like the sony's because of the Zeiss lens and that I can easily copy it to my pc and edit it (Adobe prem and after effects).
What is the best (Cheap) video quality vid cam I can get, and which is better to record to HDD, DVD (like my old one) or to Minidv. I've googled and people stay to tape is better but if I got one of those, which camera and which additional software/hardware would I need to buy so i can edit it in my software...

Thanks!!!!!

 

[mercurial]

MiniDV is the best quality, but HDD ones are easier for transferring data from video camera to PC. Have a look at www.orms.co.za and www.sacamera.co.za.

 

[Sherbang]

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[Grimspoon]

I can highly recommend the Sony HDD Handy Cam's. I bought one about a year and a half ago and it is still going strong.

The video and sound quality are exceptional, I can't fault either. Even night vision is impressive. Still images are still terrible, but that's why I have a Digi cam

I have the 30GB model and seriously battling to fill it, I have only used about 18 GB since I got it and I have a wack of video on it.

Makro have the 60 GB on special at the moment.

http://www.makro.co.za/live/content...t=1117&ProdId=16344&Sku=000000000000155853|EA

 

[Mr Feesh]

Have to go with Sony HDD Handy Cams, Have a Sony HD 60GB, great for action sports video, has this cool feature where it shoots at more frames per second for a few seconds in slow mo,, REALLY AWESOME! Have seen stuff that i could just not notice before. Ease of use is really nice, just plug it in and copy.

ONLY Downside is that you need a powerful pc to edit it since its HD.

 

[Sherbang]

I've got an SR47 (the one in the Makro link above) that I'm trying to sell. It's less than a year old, perfect condition, if you're in CT and interested in a second hand one...

 

[Luke7777]

What's the battery life like on the HDD cams ?

 

[kilos]

Depends oon what you want to use the video camera for ?

I bought my Sony 8 Gb HD Model HDR UX20E from B&H Photo for $460 (can take a 16Gb Sony Duo card
additionally as well as write to mini DVD)(discontinued) ,
very happy with the quality, will never go back to Standard Definition or Tape
Battery life: 1 HR

Negative: Sensitive Zoom to Wide button & battery life, run an Inverter in the vehicle to charge the battery

Bought an External Microphone: Sony ECM-HST1
Purchased Cyberlink PowerDirector 8 video editing software (online R560), perfect for my amateur videos
Comparison of Video Editing Software

When you create HD videos, you need a powerful CPU to render them
10min HD took +-60min , Dell Laptop Dual Core 2 Ghz (too slow)

Here are some HD clips that I uploaded to Youtube (Click on HD)
Video size: 1280x720 did not select full HD 1920x1080
Aspect Ratio: 16x9

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spPOnrCIqbI[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssEb3lcNyT8[/ame]

 

[samsaymore]

Thanks a lot guys! I think I will go with the sony handycam. Only heard good things about it

 

[noxibox]

Sony's OK, and they probably have the best auto-everything mode, but they don't seem to measure up to what Canon and Panasonic produce.

 

[ColinR]

I can't fault the video on the Sony Cybershot H-20, I found we never used our main Video Camera, because it's easier to carry just one thing around. And now that the H-20 captures better video than my dedicated Canon, it's relegated to the cupboard!