Video Camera's ..whatya reckon

[John Saxton]

Ok I'm looking to purchase a digital DVD/video camera, what are folks preferences?

1) Tape
2) HDD
3) DVD disk

After the move to Qld we're looking at an extended trip o/Seas so one that is light and easy enough for both to have a grasp of & readily!

Tape appears be one option that looks good but might have to carry a swag of tapes for time we're away.
HDD which I have a leaning towards and with 60Gb of capacity however a laptop and external HD is more to carry.
DVD disk also looks good and the disks could store quite readily however according to sales personnel they're not a patch on the HDD.

If any you folk out there have any experience with the pros & cons of any or all I would be appreciative of your input.

Thanks in anticipation.

Cheers

[KevM]

I bought a Sony with 30Gig HD in July last year. More than happy, only ever ran out of space once when I had 3 soccer games, an indoor soccer game & a couple of Athletics competitions on the HDD.

My reason for buying the HDD was that I could not fit a full soccer game on a single DVD.

I have now got into the habit of downloading the recordings regularly to the home PC.

The charger for my previous camera enabled the battery to be removed to be recharged, I could continue to use camera with a fresh battery while recharging the old battery. My latest Sony requires the charger to be plugged into the camera unless I purchase the battery holding accessory.

[Glenn_M]

I bought a video camera in the new year and did a bit of reading first. In the end I opted for a tape (MiniDV) camera.

The media had enable high quality recording and have enough space. HDD based cameras were expensive compared to the tape / DVD models, particularly if you wanted large capacity. If you are travelling then a laptop or some other means of downloading from the camera may be required.

So I decided removable media was for me. Looking at tape vs DVD I found tape offered better quality (of the cameras I was considering) and cheaper media. Tapes are also smaller and I think easier to handle in the field with less risk of damage.

However - given that I usually have a 90min tape in the camera and download the video to PC as i take it, I rarely remove media from the unit it normal situations around the house.

However I have taken it on two trips away already and found the removable media a great benefit.

Of course, you usage and criteria for selection may be different and warrant different considerations. Just my two cents.

BTW I bought a JVC unit and am very happy.

Cheers,

Glenn

[John Saxton]

I bought a Sony with 30Gig HD in July last year. More than happy, only ever ran out of space once when I had 3 soccer games, an indoor soccer game & a couple of Athletics competitions on the HDD.

My reason for buying the HDD was that I could not fit a full soccer game on a single DVD.

KevM;
I'm impressed with the sony HDD models but do have some reservations regarding downloading to DVD especially with the limitations of DVD capacities.

Cheers

[John Saxton]

I bought a video camera in the new year and did a bit of reading first. In the end I opted for a tape (MiniDV) camera.

The media had enable high quality recording and have enough space. HDD based cameras were expensive compared to the tape / DVD models, particularly if you wanted large capacity. If you are travelling then a laptop or some other means of downloading from the camera may be required.


Glenn

I had the older style video camera that took tapes which worked ok but took up space when travelling but I notice the tapes of today are about 1/4 the size and I suppose I could always mail them home rather than downloading them to a handy media and re-formatting.

Cheers

[bsrlee]

I recently bought a basic Sony MiniDV video camera - currently on sale for $499 at SonyCentral. For my purposes the MiniDV is more rugged than miniDVD and offers more recording time (by swapping tapes) than the HDD based cameras. Unfortunately Sony seem to be dropping or reducing the number of models in their MiniDV cameras in favour of the HDD models, but the format is still going strong.

Sony seem to have also changed their portable recorder 'brick' from hard drive to double layer DVD - still about $400, and can record all types of memory card as a bonus and it seems to be multi-voltage but not battery operated. The old HDD one is still kicking about in some stores for the same price.

[Iain]

I have found that Sony and Canon seem to lead the field with excellent optics.
I have owned both and find it hard to tell them apart, never had any problems with either, Sony 8mm, Canon Hi8 and Sony Minidvt, tapes about the size of a compact dictation recorder.
My preference for tapes is Maxell (Hitachi) found the quality good, not a great fan of TDK and had some shocking results from them, prices have dropped dramatically over the years and I buy in packs now from places like JB HiFi when on special.

[Bleedin Thumb]

All I know John is no matter what you end up buying within 6 months it will be obsolete and the new model will be heaps better and half the price. But what do you do???
I have a Sony DCR trv20E -mini tape - a bit old now but works fine ( cost something stupid like $2k or $3k new}. I think what is more important than the machine is your editing software and its ease of use if its overly complicated you end up with a draw full of tapes that you never look at again. like super 8 reels.
Interesting what you say about tapes Iain, I'll have to do a comparison.

[John Saxton]

All I know John is no matter what you end up buying within 6 months it will be obsolete and the new model will be heaps better and half the price. But what do you do???
I have a Sony DCR trv20E -mini tape - a bit old now but works fine ( cost something stupid like $2k or $3k new}. I think what is more important than the machine is your editing software and its ease of use if its overly complicated you end up with a draw full of tapes that you never look at again. like super 8 reels.
Interesting what you say about tapes Iain, I'll have to do a comparison.

I guess BS we're all victims of the technological age and you're right about it being old some months down the track.I've still got a Canon super 8 and projector bothstill work fine as does the Panasonic video camera just over 10 yrs old.
Definately the managing software is paramount in any digital situation,however a real good quality camera can also smooth the path as Iain has so rightly pointed out.

and Bsrlee
I recently bought a basic Sony MiniDV video camera - currently on sale for $499 at SonyCentral. For my purposes the MiniDV is more rugged than miniDVD and offers more recording time (by swapping tapes) than the HDD based cameras. Unfortunately Sony seem to be dropping or reducing the number of models in their MiniDV cameras in favour of the HDD models, but the format is still going strong.

Sony seem to have also changed their portable recorder 'brick' from hard drive to double layer DVD - still about $400, and can record all types of memory card as a bonus and it seems to be multi-voltage but not battery operated. The old HDD one is still kicking about in some stores for the same price.
24th Feb 2007 08:03 PM

I'm seriously leaning towards Sony as choice this time but I'm still doing some pricing and research into some of the current models they have.
I'm probably going to defer to "CHOICE" magazine and view their in depth analysis on the video digitals.

Thank you to all you folk that pointed out some interesting issues with cameras.

Cheers

[Coldamus]

Sorry to come in late but it may be worth considering another option. DVDs and tapes will still be around for a few years yet but with the advances being made in flash memory technology, it is only a matter of time before they will be phased out.

Nearly every digital still camera these days also takes movies and their movie facilities are improving rapidly. Up to now, limited memory storage has been a problem. For example, my camera with a 1 gigabyte card allows about 10 minutes of video at 640 x 480 resolution and 30 frames per second. The movies it produces are quite good but not really competitive with a dedicated video camera and the amount of control is also inferior.

However that situation is rapidly changing. High capacity secure digital cards (HCSD) are now becoming available. At present only 4 gigabyte HCSD cards seem to have hit the market but the specification allows for up to 32gb. That would allow at least an hour and a half of video even at high definition. With no moving parts, they are inherently more reliable than tape and DVD mechanisms without the power consumption of hard disk drives.

Video and still cameras are also starting to merge together. For example, Canon have just released this stunning little device, the TX1 - 10 optical and 4 digital zoom, image stabilisation, 7.1 megapixel still shots, high definition 1280 x 720 wide-screen movies with stereo sound and 30 frames per second, time-lapse movies, auto-focus with face detection and all this in a unit about the size of a pack of playing cards.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0702/07022203canontx1.asp

RRP in Australia is $699 which probably means a street price of around $550 to $599.

Damn, I sound like an advertisement! Anyway, what I meant to say is, be aware of the merging of technologies between still and video cameras. Its early days yet but soon it will be hard to tell the difference.

[John Saxton]

Sorry to come in late but it may be worth considering another option. DVDs and tapes will still be around for a few years yet but with the advances being made in flash memory technology, it is only a matter of time before they will be phased out.

Nearly every digital still camera these days also takes movies and their movie facilities are improving rapidly. Up to now, limited memory storage has been a problem. For example, my camera with a 1 gigabyte card allows about 10 minutes of video at 640 x 480 resolution and 30 frames per second. The movies it produces are quite good but not really competitive with a dedicated video camera and the amount of control is also inferior.

However that situation is rapidly changing. High capacity secure digital cards (HCSD) are now becoming available. At present only 4 gigabyte HCSD cards seem to have hit the market but the specification allows for up to 32gb. That would allow at least an hour and a half of video even at high definition. With no moving parts, they are inherently more reliable than tape and DVD mechanisms without the power consumption of hard disk drives.

Video and still cameras are also starting to merge together. For example, Canon have just released this stunning little device, the TX1 - 10 optical and 4 digital zoom, image stabilisation, 7.1 megapixel still shots, high definition 1280 x 720 wide-screen movies with stereo sound and 30 frames per second, time-lapse movies, auto-focus with face detection and all this in a unit about the size of a pack of playing cards.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0702/07022203canontx1.asp

RRP in Australia is $699 which probably means a street price of around $550 to $599.

Damn, I sound like an advertisement! Anyway, what I meant to say is, be aware of the merging of technologies between still and video cameras. Its early days yet but soon it will be hard to tell the difference.

Thanks for those salient points ...I have'nt kept up with whats coming but no doubt the digital market is about to explode upon us to some large extent yet.
Have had a look art a recent comparison test on camcorders by Choice Magazine and I cannot say that I am impressed with those that were included in the test.

However that being said I'm now going to go around the various manufacturere sites for my own satisfaction.

I still have a bit of time up my sleeve to make a decision and I dont want to rush into this as It'll probably be the last reasonable in regards to a digital camera purchase.

Cheers