Which camcorder ?

C

coolio24

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Hi guys,

I'm looking into getting a new camcorder, hopefully in time for the arrival of my new little bundle of joy, ( March ) but can't decide if I should get one with a hard drive, flash drive, or straight onto DVD, also don't know if I should go for the HD camcorders or the SD ones - the price is way different I know, and I don't know if it's worth it

I am set up at home with HD TV's, but havwen't yet got a HD PVR - waiting for a better version

Any advice most welcomed
 
If you can get the HD, go for that. Test, and test again how the cam performs in low light conditions (even indoors during the day causes problems for some cams)

When I was buying I was told to avoid the straight to DVD versions, I have a digitial to tape.
 
Thanks, carudden

I've just checked out the prices and a hard drive camcorder will cost around 6k, while a HiDef version costs around 12k - yikes - double the price - my daughter better appreciate it
 
coolio24 said:
Thanks, carudden

I've just checked out the prices and a hard drive camcorder will cost around 6k, while a HiDef version costs around 12k - yikes - double the price - my daughter better appreciate it
Click to expand...

If you can afford HiDef, you definitely should go for that option. I have 30GB Harddisk Sony Camcorder. The quality is superb on normal TV but drops on my 32" LCD.

Anyway, even with HiDef, you may want to pay attention to the following key features that differentiates between good models and the rest.

- Check for "Low light performance" because that is the greatest weakness of camcorders. Generally the bigger the CCD the better. A larger CCD means more light is taken in with the image resulting in brighter pictures with better colors. Another key distinction is the difference between one and three CCDs.

- Check for "Optical Image Stabilizer". Optical Stabilizer performs better than Electronic Stabilizer. Unfortunately, most camcorders come with Electronic image stabilizer.
 
thanks,

It's one of those situations, I'd like to get the best, but then I have to think if I'm only using it for home videos - should i spend over ten k on it - (BTW - just got my bonus pay - so my head is swarming with ideas )
 
Definitely try and get a hi-def one. The mini-dv versions (the ones that uses tape), produces the best quality, but they take time and plenty hard drive space to transfer to pc. Also avoid the DVD versions as previously mentioned. Get one with a hard drive or one that uses mini-dv. I think for convenience, rather get one with a hard drive. Then it's a simple matter of transferring the media to your pc via USB and it's pretty quick. Then you need to get some software if you wanna do some editing or make family DVDs. There are many, such as Pinnacle, Adobe Premier Pro, Sony Vegas, Avid. The list goes on and on. In which city are you located?
 
Go to New World or Sony Centre in Menlyn.

I suggest that you go for HD (if only for future proofing). solid state or Hard drive for convenience. Tape for quality.
 
coolio24 said:
(BTW - just got my bonus pay - so my head is swarming with ideas )
Click to expand...

:D Its a great feeling. Can't wait for Friday Bonus pay myself.

Oh, back to your original question, you should go for hard disk camcorder that also supports flash cards. I can imagine that HD footage will occupy quite a lot of space.

Look at some models like Canon HG10, Canon HG-20, Panasonic GS-230, Panasonic HDC-SD1 and Sony HDR-SR5E.
 
The Sony UX10E is ( or was) selling for R6999 at Makro. Unfortunately that takes DVD's but the price is very good.
 
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