Digital Hard Disk Camcorder

stuppy

stuppy

stuppy

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Hi,

I am looking for a new hard disk camcorder since our old tape one bust. Does anyone have any they recommend? Hoping to spend around 350 quid. Was looking at the Sony DCR-SR32 - any thoughts?

Any help appreciated. Thanks
 
I'd stay away from HDD/DVD ones to be honest. HDD will be using compression so time will be limited and the DVD ones are expensive for the media.

Have a look for a Sony DV one - Media is under 2quid per tape! I use 2 DV cameras for my motoring videos.
 
As said above. I've always used miniDV. I prefer it as it feels, to me, to be a more perminant medium. And now top end DV isn't really that far off HD so quality isn't really an issue.

If you do have you heart set on a HDD camera then I can't be much help. :p
 
naffa said:
And now top end DV isn't really that far off HD so quality isn't really an issue.
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Its a pretty long way off to be honest! I would however echo these comments that miniDV is the best for a camcorder. HDD and DVD still seem to have a long way to go. I would always recommend Sony, but they seem to have pretty much phased out miniDV - which is a big shame :(
 
The reason I wanted HDD is because I want it to be super simple to transfer the files to the computer and then to put them on DVD. I hate the fact that I have to play the movie into the computer. I knows only one time you have to transfer it, but it would be so much more simpler to grab the media files from the camcorder and drag them onto the computer.

I take it this is how miniDV works, playing the videos from the camera into computer??

\Would I be able to do this using a Macbook Pro? How does the camera connect to the computer to record th emovies into the computer?

Quick answers would be great. I wanna get it ordered tonight really cause Im going away soon.

Thanks
 
stuppy said:
The reason I wanted HDD is because I want it to be super simple to transfer the files to the computer and then to put them on DVD. I hate the fact that I have to play the movie into the computer. I knows only one time you have to transfer it, but it would be so much more simpler to grab the media files from the camcorder and drag them onto the computer.
Click to expand...

I was told that wasnt the case... i was told they come off in a different format and have to be converted to anything remotely useful.



I take it this is how miniDV works, playing the videos from the camera into computer??
Click to expand...
That would be correct.
 
Looks like a good choice. You will need a firewire cable (might come with the camera, not sure) this will plug into the firewire connection on the camera and into the firewire port on your macbook pro (I am sure it must have one at least!) and yeah you do have to play it real time, but you can just leave it capturing to be honest. Mini DV tapes are only an hour long (in normal play) so it's not too bad. Just have a cup of tea or something and it will soon be done :)

Hope it works out well for you :)
 
stuppy said:
Just ordered Panasonic NV-GS180EF-S MiniDV camcorder. Seems to be ok.
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Good choice, got that one myself and it's a very good and easy to use camcorder. Fit's nicely into my hand, plus it comes with software (which I presume is for capturing - haven't actually used it!).

Doesn't come with a cable but I found one for a few quid.
 
I had a similar dilema to you recently and opted for HDD because I wanted the simplicity of transfering video - my wife is not all that techy and I am lazy.

I bought the Sony SR90 which was £550 and is great, the only issue I have with it at the moment is that it struggles to maintain focus sometimes, but I figure thats not a factor of it being a HDD recorder so is probably irrelevant to you.

Let me know if you want some raw footage to have a look at, I'm sure the quality is not as good as you might get from other media types due to compression but Im more than happy with it, possibly in a few years time when I move to high def tv and want to upscale the dvds then I might notice the difference but for now I cant say I have any issues.

My advice would be to go and try out some of the Sony on JVC ones, I read about a few of the cheaper ones not being that great in terms of IQ (jaggies etc) but there is at least one new model out now since I bought mine and that should bring down the price of the SR90/100.

Stu
 
Cheers for that, but Ive already ordered a MiniDV Panasonic one. £370 quid - it was a package, get the camcorder, 5 tapes, spare battery, a memory card and a bag. Which is pretty much what I wanted. Will be all set for the holiday now :) The camera looks tiny as well which is what I wanted.

I did want something I could just transfer onto the computer simply - but like others have said I think it would make it harder to edit, since its already a file. Where as with DV, I can run it into iMovie on my Mac and edit it in there from the off. And its only a couple of hours worth of video that will have to be run in - and can just do other things while its doing it. So hurrah!
 
good luck with the new camera :)

I have not had any problems editing - not sure how it can be harder to do it with avi's than with minidv, just drag a file into premier pro or the windows jobby and away you go or burn directly to a DVD from the camcorder :confused:
 
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