Advice Sought on DVD Camcorders

[lfcrule1972]

I noticed the other day that DVD Camcorders have come down quite a lot in price and also in size, our current Camcorder is a 7-8 year old Sony one the size of a house brick and not far off the same weight as well.

 

The Mrs and I thought we would upgrade ours in the next week or so and I would really appreciate some recommendations from you lot ! If you have personal experience of a model please post the model details, price you paid, where you bought it from, ease of use, life of battery etc.

 

I also saw some some HDD camcorders, not sure if they are a better option than the DVD Camcorders so will happily look at both !

 

Thanks

[dontasciime]

They are cheap now, i think the hdd ones use microdrive. (edit they are 1.8 inch hd,s)

 

You got mini dvd, mini dvi (firewire)

 

Go for the highest optical zoom over digital zoom everyday.

 

Get one with auto focus and manual, a lot of sony ones neglected this.

 

Lux lower better.

 

Iso higher the better

 

check CCD specs, see if you can take still images, get one with image stabiliser.

 

Check to see if it does proper widescreen as some say they do but are cheating. Get one that is capable of stereo recording, you can get High def ones now not sure of specs or price on those.

 

I need a new one as well as my old samsung is just too embarassing to take out now.

 

 

I would check out the Jvc g series ones. http://www.jvc.co.uk/site/g_series/

Edited November 28, 2006 by dontasciime

[lfcrule1972]

Thanks donta - food for thought there !

[dontasciime]

Welcome.

 

I will get mine sometime next year for spring/summer/ when i have finally decided which one myself.

[lfcrule1972]

In general do you think the HDD camcorders are better than the DVD ones ? I can see that they are smaller and boast long recording times but you have to hope that the technology is up to the job. I guess it's only a development on the PC HDD's tho...

[dontasciime]

http://stuff.tv/review/id-1868/

 

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/325014/art...o-gz-mg505.html

 

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/JVC-I...-Camcorders.htm

[polopony]

I noticed the other day that DVD Camcorders have come down quite a lot in price and also in size, our current Camcorder is a 7-8 year old Sony one the size of a house brick and not far off the same weight as well.

 

The Mrs and I thought we would upgrade ours in the next week or so and I would really appreciate some recommendations from you lot ! If you have personal experience of a model please post the model details, price you paid, where you bought it from, ease of use, life of battery etc.

 

I also saw some some HDD camcorders, not sure if they are a better option than the DVD Camcorders so will happily look at both !

 

Thanks

 

whatever unit you choose I'm sure will be fine but for Gods sake please hide the the discs from the children until they're old enough to say :& OMG thats our parents,disgusting

[lfcrule1972]

I don't know what you're talking about polo

[lfcrule1972]

http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=1892

 

This one looks ok - 20gb HDD, whilst 30gb is great it's quite a lot more and this one also does SD Mem Card for photo's etc It doesn't appear to do real widescreen video tho

 

Still it's a possibility as we don't use the camcorder an awful lot and I would prefer to spend mega bucks on a LCD tv...

[lfcrule1972]

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/259468/art...#fichetechnique

 

Not sure what the difference is with this one .....

[dontasciime]

decent price, maybe look at cheaper mini dv from samsung

[lfcrule1972]

I haven't even looked at mini-DV yet mate ! Was trying to avoid the hassles of tapes etc hence the HDD Camcorders seemed like a good idea.

[dontasciime]

http://www.tecno.co.uk/Store/s37701/0/Camc...er/details.aspx

 

next one up 48 quid more and gives firewire in and out

 

 

its all about sacrifice which is why i aint yet decided

Edited November 28, 2006 by dontasciime

[random]

I got a JVC a couple of years back, this one

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MOD...d=26&page=1

Good quality video, size is great, much better than the Super eight Sony..... however I WOULD GET ONE THAT HAS A HARD DRIVE. This one looks good, check out the video at Best Buy.

 

http://snipurl.com/13hxi

 

This is the link to the video, almost makes you want to be like Mrs. Jergonson.

mms://media1.jvc.com/everio/EverioOnBoard21.wmv

Edited November 28, 2006 by random

[lfcrule1972]

Hi random - the second one you posted is the one that I found above too - looks ok and will mean I get to lose all the bloody cassettes etc !!

[random]

Hi random - the second one you posted is the one that I found above too - looks ok and will mean I get to lose all the bloody cassettes etc !!

 

yeah I sure wish I had that one over what I have which is the first one, but hey I got it two years ago and it has been used little, I am not replacing it although I like the movie on the second one, really sounds like the way to go!

 

Good luck on your shopping!

 

 

I did not realize you posted the same model, must be worth looking at, I love the quality of the JVC I have, so I am sure with the 20 gig hard drive that this would be a real nice one. I had purchased the Sony but returned it as I thought it was big and was not happy with the results compared with the JVC.

Edited November 28, 2006 by random

[SPA_CE]

I would get this one --> http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP....DefinitionVideo

 

Or This One--> http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP....DefinitionVideo

 

[lfcrule1972]

Thanks for that I have had two Sony's up until now, one was purchased 18 years ago and the last one 7 years ago. It's good to know that you rate the JVC quality in comparison to the Sony you had.

[dontasciime]

I would get this one --> http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP....DefinitionVideo

 

Or This One--> http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP....DefinitionVideo

 

 

I would love those but for porn they are just overkill

 

 

edit also no good for dark shots in fact terrible (2nd one which is dearer) 1st one would be good for very low light

Edited November 28, 2006 by dontasciime

[lfcrule1972]

Jeepers nice cameras but I ain't made of money !!