dvd / digital camcorder

[Krusty]

I'm in the market for one of these. Never owned a camcorder before and basically haven't a clue on which model is best to go for. I've had a look at previous posts and the Canon MV830i has been mentioned a few times. I'd considered going for one of the straight to DVD types.
Any ideas???

[ErnestM]

Mini-DV tape cams are still the best. The problem with straight to DVD types is that you will eventually want to edit/create a compilation of your movies and getting the movies in from the DVD is problematic at best as most don't offer the ability to stream DV from the cam (movies are saved using DVD spec compressed MPEG)...


ErnestM

[Prof Higgins]

Depending on the quality of video you are after you might be interested in one of these.

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000E3GWN/ref=br_lf_li_1_2/026-0083657-8624478

Just ordered one myself but not arrived yet so cannot vouch for it completely, if it works well it will be a decent enough snappy camera and also be able to produce decent enough video all in one small package. Key advantage is that it shoots straight to MP4 format onto standard SD card and then you transfer onto computer so no messing around, keep it on the PC or if you want then you can burn it onto CDR to play in most DVD player.

Found a sample of the video quality here and thought it was more than acceptable for my needs (bit of children growing up stuff primarily)

www.photographyblog.com/images/reviews/sanyo_xacti_vpc_c1ex/sample_photos/VCLP0044.MP4 (6.5MP)

Mine is lost in the DHL network (should have been here 2 days ago) but will update with comments when it arrives. Not sure how much longer Amazon will have it for but at the price looked worth a punt to me.

[marctwo]

Prof - when you get it any chance you could post a small review? It looks really interesting but I do have a few questions about it that I can't seem to find answers for. Namely:

Does it have a tripod mount on the bottom?

Does it do widescreen recording?

Thanks!

Marc

[FourWheelDrift]

Sony DVD 202 Handycam records straight to DVD, no messing about.

www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_26041.html

[Prof Higgins]

marctwo said:

Prof - when you get it any chance you could post a small review? It looks really interesting but I do have a few questions about it that I can't seem to find answers for. Namely: Does it have a tripod mount on the bottom? Does it do widescreen recording? Thanks! Marc

Will do but in the meantime have a look through this:

www.photographyblog.com/reviews_sanyo_xacti_vpc_c1ex.php

Picture in here of the bottom and does look like what might well be a tripod mount but can't find a reference to it specifically.

[ErnestM]

A more complete review of the Fisher FVD-C1 (which is the Sanyo under another name):
www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Fisher-FVD-C1-Camcorder-Review.htm

Also, Sanyo have a new model out (the C4):
www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sanyo-Updates-Flash-Camcorder-with-4-Megapixel-Sensor-VPC-C4.htm

Cheers

ErnestM