Which video camera (£450 budget)
Discussion
We currently have a MiniDV type Sharp thing and it was OK but never really that good in quality of defintion. Not bad if viewed on a smaller TV but a bit lacking on our 32"
I'm sure things have moved on a lot in the last 3 years!
I know some now have hard drives, some have mini disc and some still have the miniDV tape; I don't really fancy another tape type of video to be honest.
What's the best way to go these days?
Budget is around £450 but I'm not sure whether that's enough to get anything decent or just stick with this current old timer we have and spend upto £1k in a couple of months time?
I'm sure things have moved on a lot in the last 3 years!
I know some now have hard drives, some have mini disc and some still have the miniDV tape; I don't really fancy another tape type of video to be honest.
What's the best way to go these days?
Budget is around £450 but I'm not sure whether that's enough to get anything decent or just stick with this current old timer we have and spend upto £1k in a couple of months time?
Mini-DV tapes are the most common digital recording media. They're easy to store and easy to use.
They offer a lot of recording time for your money: a 60-minute tape costs around £3. Switch to long-play mode and you'll get 90 minutes of recording time, but if you do this, you can't later add a soundtrack to your recording on computer. There may also be some compatibility problems if you try to play the tape in another camcorder.
Mini-DV is the best camcorder format if you want to get into video editing on your computer. - So don't write off tape machines yet!!
DVD
Digital camcorders recording on blank DVDs are growing in popularity, however DVD camcorders aren’t as simple as record, pop DVD into player and play. After recording, you need to finalise your disc in the camcorder – this process prepares the DVD for playback in a home DVD player, and can take some time.
DVD camcorders take 8cm discs. These are smaller than regular DVDs, but you can play most types in a DVD player or a computer.
You can normally only record about 20 minutes on these DVDs at the camcorder's highest-quality setting. However you can also get double-sided discs, which double the recording time, but you have to flip them over when one side of the disc is full. A few camcorders also take dual layer discs that offer 1.8 times the amount of recording time that a normal disc takes.
Discs themselves come in five main recording formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM, each with slightly different features.
You can't play DVD-RAM discs in most DVD players. But with DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs, you can do a little bit of editing on the camcorder itself (rather than having to transfer it to your PC and use editing software).
DVD-R discs are the cheapest type, costing around £3 each, but, unlike the other types, you can record on them only once.
Hard disk
Without the need for tape or DVD, hard-disk camcorders are often smaller and lighter with a cleaner design. They usually record on an internal fixed hard disk drive.
These internal hard disks are usually up to 30GB in size - enough for up to around 7 hours of recording at the highest quality level.
To transfer footage to your computer, a USB2.0 connection on your computer is virtually a must
You'll be struggling to find a decent hard disk recorder within your budget.
There's loads of capable affordable kit about. Go to Smiths and buy What Digital Camcorder Magazine or look on some internet review forums to help you choose.
They offer a lot of recording time for your money: a 60-minute tape costs around £3. Switch to long-play mode and you'll get 90 minutes of recording time, but if you do this, you can't later add a soundtrack to your recording on computer. There may also be some compatibility problems if you try to play the tape in another camcorder.
Mini-DV is the best camcorder format if you want to get into video editing on your computer. - So don't write off tape machines yet!!
DVD
Digital camcorders recording on blank DVDs are growing in popularity, however DVD camcorders aren’t as simple as record, pop DVD into player and play. After recording, you need to finalise your disc in the camcorder – this process prepares the DVD for playback in a home DVD player, and can take some time.
DVD camcorders take 8cm discs. These are smaller than regular DVDs, but you can play most types in a DVD player or a computer.
You can normally only record about 20 minutes on these DVDs at the camcorder's highest-quality setting. However you can also get double-sided discs, which double the recording time, but you have to flip them over when one side of the disc is full. A few camcorders also take dual layer discs that offer 1.8 times the amount of recording time that a normal disc takes.
Discs themselves come in five main recording formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM, each with slightly different features.
You can't play DVD-RAM discs in most DVD players. But with DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs, you can do a little bit of editing on the camcorder itself (rather than having to transfer it to your PC and use editing software).
DVD-R discs are the cheapest type, costing around £3 each, but, unlike the other types, you can record on them only once.
Hard disk
Without the need for tape or DVD, hard-disk camcorders are often smaller and lighter with a cleaner design. They usually record on an internal fixed hard disk drive.
These internal hard disks are usually up to 30GB in size - enough for up to around 7 hours of recording at the highest quality level.
To transfer footage to your computer, a USB2.0 connection on your computer is virtually a must
You'll be struggling to find a decent hard disk recorder within your budget.
There's loads of capable affordable kit about. Go to Smiths and buy What Digital Camcorder Magazine or look on some internet review forums to help you choose.
budget of £1000?This site might also help
www.camcorderinfo.com/
I'm under the impression that DVD and hard disk camcorders are not quite as 'clean' in their image as mini-DV as they have to do a slightly quick and dirty compression on the video to fit it onto the disk/drive. Hard disk recorders also have the problem of not producing a video format that is particularly easy to edit, though the edit software will no doubt catch up over the next year.
www.camcorderinfo.com/
I'm under the impression that DVD and hard disk camcorders are not quite as 'clean' in their image as mini-DV as they have to do a slightly quick and dirty compression on the video to fit it onto the disk/drive. Hard disk recorders also have the problem of not producing a video format that is particularly easy to edit, though the edit software will no doubt catch up over the next year.
Tuna said:
This site might also help
www.camcorderinfo.com/
I'm under the impression that DVD and hard disk camcorders are not quite as 'clean' in their image as mini-DV as they have to do a slightly quick and dirty compression on the video to fit it onto the disk/drive. Hard disk recorders also have the problem of not producing a video format that is particularly easy to edit, though the edit software will no doubt catch up over the next year.
www.camcorderinfo.com/
I'm under the impression that DVD and hard disk camcorders are not quite as 'clean' in their image as mini-DV as they have to do a slightly quick and dirty compression on the video to fit it onto the disk/drive. Hard disk recorders also have the problem of not producing a video format that is particularly easy to edit, though the edit software will no doubt catch up over the next year.
That's quite true. The other thing is that if you fill your hard disk drive up, you have to remember to empty it before you can start recording again. Whereas with tape, you just get another for £3.00 and acrry on filming.
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff