DVD Camcorder needed

Vegeta · 29 Mar 2007 at 22:51

Hi, I need a DVD camcorder, i'm going away on holiday soon and i'd like a dvd camcorder so I an record moments and burn it onto the dvd via the camcorder, ideally I'd also like to be able to edit the videos easily.

I don't have a budget as such, cheaper the better obviously but I want the best bang for buck as it were.

Jimmy_Lemon · 30 Mar 2007 at 12:07

DVD camcorders are still pretty pricey. I would deffinatly go for Sony - probably slightly more expensive, but its going to out live any other camera, and in my experience the quality is always much much better than others (though I have never used a DVD camcorder, and am basing this on minidv machines).

After a very brief search they seem to be around the £300 price mark for the basic SONY DCR-DVD 106 model (can find it for about £250 if you look around)

unknowndomain · 30 Mar 2007 at 13:17

Could you get a DV camera and DVD burner for your pc?

Vegeta · 30 Mar 2007 at 14:26

Hi, whats a DV camera? I have a dvd burner for my pc.

Jimmy_Lemon · 30 Mar 2007 at 14:54

a "DV Camera" or MiniDV Camcorder is a camcorder that records on miniDV tapes instead of DVD - the cameras are generally cheaper (as low as £180 for a decent Sony) One down side is that you have to record to you PC at real time, but on a plus side its a far more trusted format.

Sirrel Squirrel · 30 Mar 2007 at 15:52

If you want to edit your footage do not buy a dvd camcorder they are only good for recording and playback on a dvd player, they are absolutely useless for editing, I recently had to edit a dvd recorded by a camcorder and could not get it to work in any editing programs, in the end I had to play the dvd at work and capture it to a minidv with our equipment for editing, more hassle than it's worth.

So in summary, buy a MiniDV camera, edit the footage on your computer and then burn the result to DVD.

Jimmy_Lemon · 30 Mar 2007 at 15:54

aha thanks Squirrel - was wondering what they were like editing wise

(just out of interest do you know what camera it came from?)

Sirrel Squirrel · 30 Mar 2007 at 15:59

It came off my uncle's Canon, not sure on the model number, think it's the one that sells for around £400. It's ideal for my uncle as he isn't going to ever edit the footage because he has no idea how so the camera just makes life easy for him as he can record and then watch it straight away. It's just unfortunate that he asked me to edit my cousin's christening, I had no idea how many problems I'd have when I agreed to do it

Vegeta · 30 Mar 2007 at 17:14

What mini dv should I buy then boys? These tapes are cheap and easy to get yeah? Just take a whole host of them on holiday and bring them back and upload to my pc?

unknowndomain · 30 Mar 2007 at 17:29

Vegeta said:
What mini dv should I buy then boys? These tapes are cheap and easy to get yeah? Just take a whole host of them on holiday and bring them back and upload to my pc?

The tapes are about £3 each and last 1 hr each. Windows and Mac both have video import via Windows Movie Maker and iMovie respecivly however you will probably need a firewire port or capture card (strange shaped usb port (nothing to do with usb though ))

My uni has about 50 panasonic dv cameras they seem to be good.

Sirrel Squirrel · 30 Mar 2007 at 17:32

Panasonic dv cameras are good, as long as your computer has a firewire port you'll have no problems capturing from the tapes, which can be bought in any shop/website that sells cameras.

Jimmy_Lemon · 30 Mar 2007 at 18:13

Would recommend a Sony camcorder still for miniDV - The cheapest around at the moment (for Sonys) seems to be the Sony DCR-HC37E at about £190

looks like this -

Panasonic is a good name too, but the lens and build quality on the Sony is second to none in my experience. I have had one for about 4 years now and its been all over the place and dropped a few times, and it just carries on working.