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Thread: Want to buy a camcorder

  1. #1
    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    Default Want to buy a camcorder

    Hi all

    Is there anyone here with a good knowledge of camcorders? I want to get one for home use, taking videos of my son and all that, but I haven't a clue how to find a good camcorder. I made some enquiries at a shop today, and the salesman wanted me to buy the Panasonic NV GS230 - does anyone know anything about that model? I've searched all over the net and there are hardly any reviews of the thing, probably meaning that not many people have bought it and hence no reviews.

    What are the options for camcorders? Do I get one with tape or one which stores to a hard-disk? I assume things like tri-colour thingie and stabilising thingie are pretty much needed for good quality videos. How would a tape playback? Would it be a real hassle to have a tape camcorder, and only record videos in, say, 5 minute intervals? If I want to take a 10 minute video, and download it onto my pc, and do it almost every day, would I need to rewind the tape back and forth a lot, or do camcorders store clips with digital menus and all the rewinding is done beneath a nice interface so you don't notice the searching?

    Anyone have a nice camcorder they could recommend? My budget is probably around RM2-3k. I really haven't a clue what to look for.

  2. #2
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    Hi Ian,

    You can try this site for camcorders information: http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

    There is also a thread discussing the topic:

    http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t137089.html

    First, I have to say I use the camcorder for recording vacations, trips, gatherings and kids activities like sports, etc. I am not too much into editing or doing extra work after the recordings.

    I have an old camcorder - a Sony Digital 8 using tape. My camcorder does a very good job recording in sunny days, good on indoors. I think for your case, a lot of recordings might be done indoors.

    I have compared with other friends who also own camcorders - different brands/models like Canon, Panasonic, JCV and of course other Sony's models. In most cases recording outdoors on a normal day, not much difference between the machines - we are talking digital not the HD ones. Mine is D8 and supposedly inferior to the DV ones, but it's hard to differentiate the recording quality.

    Going indoors, I noticed there is differences on the recording. In birthday parties, usually at night and using only the normal home lighting, the DV machines are better. I might be wrong, but I think Sony DV perform noticeably better in this situation. I don't remember the Sony my friend has - is a DV using tape, has only 10x optical zoom, but the quality of indoor recording is much superior to mine.

    Like you said, you might be taking short clips and running to the computer. Would you consider a camcorder using DVD-RW media as alternative? You may not need to go to your PC every day and can play your recordings in your DVD machine.

  3. #3
    Senior Member oGaKirA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Liew View Post
    I made some enquiries at a shop today, and the salesman wanted me to buy the Panasonic NV GS230 - does anyone know anything about that model? I've searched all over the net and there are hardly any reviews of the thing, probably meaning that not many people have bought it and hence no reviews.
    Looks like there's only a PAL version? That's prolly why not too many reviews.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Liew View Post
    Anyone have a nice camcorder they could recommend? My budget is probably around RM2-3k. I really haven't a clue what to look for.
    Sorry Im ignorant to malay money. NOt sure what your budget translate to in USD.

    Yes the best thing is checkout online review sites. That'll have the best collection of info. As far as media, it's really your preference whether miniDV, HDD, or DVD.

    Personally, I think Canon is the best in imaging equipment. I have a pro-sumer Canon camcorder Canon XL2 which i use for special occasions like weddings, girls etc. Then I bought the Canon HV20(~$800 usd) so that I can use it to play the miniDV tapes while viewing or dumping into my puter.(saving wear and tear from the XL2) This way, I can use the smaller camcorder while just having fun too. To dump to computer, firewire. Has tape search end feature. It's HD(high def) and SD(stand def). They also sell minidv decks but they are pretty expensive too. But all the other indexing features you asked..I think it's not so important on the camcorder. Just dump everything to computer then do your editing and organizing.

    You can't go wrong with Canon or Sony. Just go to there site and look for one to your preference and budget. They both usually have equivilant models.

    Tips: I only use premium tapes. Less wear and tear on the camcords play heads

    Get a head cleaning, lense cleaning kit

    To protect the original lense, can get filter lenses
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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    Thanks for the quick replies, everyone. Since I'm completely ignorant on camcorder technology, my strategy is to get one good reputable model, and slowly learn the ropes once I have it. As long as it's not a crappy model I should be able to learn to love it eventually. Thanks for the warning about the Panasonic - although I should have guessed that the lack of reviews was due to lack of sales.

    I've checked out the HV20 on the web, and it seems to be pretty good and solid - rated best camcorder of 2007 or something. I'll take a look at the shop tomorrow. - it's a good RM1k more expensive than the Panasonic, but will probably be worth it in the long run.

    USD1.00 = approximately RM3.80


    Ian

  5. #5
    atlantean0208
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    RM2K - 3K is more than enough, you can get a DVD camcorder with that sum of money. Why don't you by a Sony Camcorder. I bought a Sony DV-tape camcorder in 2004, and its still working till now and have great picture even after transfer to PC using firewire connection and VideoStudio. I think with any Sony HD/DVD camcorder you're fine.

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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by atlantean0208 View Post
    RM2K - 3K is more than enough, you can get a DVD camcorder with that sum of money. Why don't you by a Sony Camcorder. I bought a Sony DV-tape camcorder in 2004, and its still working till now and have great picture even after transfer to PC using firewire connection and VideoStudio. I think with any Sony HD/DVD camcorder you're fine.
    I was told by the salesman that DVD camcorders have lower picture quality than tape, and it was better to record with tape, then burn to DVD if I really wanted DVD.

  7. #7
    atlantean0208
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Liew View Post
    I was told by the salesman that DVD camcorders have lower picture quality than tape, and it was better to record with tape, then burn to DVD if I really wanted DVD.
    I already try that, mini dv, transfer through firewire (using VideoStudio) and burn as SVCD/DVD, very good picture indeed

  8. #8
    Senior Member wandering's Avatar
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    dvd camcorder = 2 gb of data being saved
    mini dv= 15gb saved on the tape
    hard disk drive (HDD) = i think you can toggle the quality based on how much gig you want the video to use. never used one of these.

    i brought the canon hv20 a few months ago and it's an awesome camera.
    You get to record in hd quality. And the prices for it is around US $730 when you find it on sale.

    The other choice you can go with is the sony hd-hc3, hd-hc5, or hd-hc7 series.
    They got a nicer body than the canon hv20 does. But they are pretty much equivalent to one another from the reviews I've read. Obviously, there are particular pros and cons to each one.

    Seems like people are moving toward the dvd or hdd camcorders, but from what i read the quality is lower than that of the mini dv since min i dv can hold so much more information. inconvenience of the mini dv is that you have to transfer it to another media if you want it to give it to friends and family. dvd or hd camcorders have the benefit of being convenient and easy to access and transfer.

    This is my opinion,
    if you want quality, go with a mini dv based hd camcorder.
    If you want quick and easy access to your footage, go with the hdd or dvd camcorder.
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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    Thanks for the input - one more question!

    The salesman mentioned something about re-writability being better on tape than it is on DVD. Does this mean I can rewrite more often on the same tape than I can on a DVD, or the quality suffers over each rewrite on a DVD?

  10. #10
    Senior Member wandering's Avatar
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    on the mini dv, i've notice weird degradation of picture quality when reusing tapes like weird snowy flickering in different part of the video, so i never reused tapes since tapes are about $2.50 a pop. I considered that pretty reasonablly priced.

    maybe someone else with experience with using tapes might have more input.

    i think with the dvd camcorder, you would want to use the rewritable media though. from my experience with standalone dvd recorders, and i'm not sure if this transfer over to camcorders or not, but if u use non rewritable media, it have a finalized step at the end, and if it doesn't finalized properly, your disk is basically usesless....with a rewritable media, it doesn't have to be finalized after it is recorded....and i've never seen any degradations from reusing rewritable media unless you accidentally scratch the disc somehow.
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