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Camcorder Recommendations

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Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
New grandson, 15 year old _dead_ camcorder :-(

What's the newest game in town that you would recommend?

Price is _almost_ no object, I have so many freebie points available
on my Amex that I probably won't have to spend a dime for most things
I've seen.

...Jim Thompson
 
J

Jan Panteltje

Jan 1, 1970
0
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Martin Griffith

Jan 1, 1970
0
I think he said 'almost' ;-)
15 years is still very young, things get smashed.
It's quite cheap, actually, for the performance it gives.

The OP did say "newest game in town", so I gave it. He didn't ask for
a camera/phone. Maybe his kid is talented, who noes?


Martin
 
T

Tam/WB2TT

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
New grandson, 15 year old _dead_ camcorder :-(

What's the newest game in town that you would recommend?

Price is _almost_ no object, I have so many freebie points available
on my Amex that I probably won't have to spend a dime for most things
I've seen.

...Jim Thompson

If you expect to do any editing, you are probably best off with a tape based
camcorder. If this is an HD camcorder, you really need to dig in to the
tradeoffs between tape, Hard Drive, semiconductor, and DVD. People I know
who are into this seem to sneer at the DVD based recorders.

Tam
 
M

Meat Plow

Jan 1, 1970
0
New grandson, 15 year old _dead_ camcorder :-(

What's the newest game in town that you would recommend?

Price is _almost_ no object, I have so many freebie points available
on my Amex that I probably won't have to spend a dime for most things
I've seen.

...Jim Thompson

Sony digital (kind that uses a tape). I have a small Mini DV Sony that
takes wonderful movies in 16:9 or 4:3. Has a touch screen display, Super
Night Vision, remote, USB etc...etc... and fits in the palm of your hand.
 
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Tam/WB2TT

Jan 1, 1970
0
Meat Plow said:
Sony digital (kind that uses a tape). I have a small Mini DV Sony that
takes wonderful movies in 16:9 or 4:3. Has a touch screen display, Super
Night Vision, remote, USB etc...etc... and fits in the palm of your hand.
I have seen really bad reviews on the touch screen, and would go with Canon
or Panasonic. Most important is to be sure it works with whatever editing
program you plan to get, Adobe, Pinnacle, and Roxio; probably in that order.

I have a non HD Canon (16:9 & 4:3) and use it mostly with Pinnacle Studio.
For low light use, the Panasonic is a lot better because of the 3 CCD
pickup.

Tam
 
Q

Quantsuff

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
New grandson, 15 year old _dead_ camcorder :-(

What's the newest game in town that you would recommend?

Price is _almost_ no object, I have so many freebie points available
on my Amex that I probably won't have to spend a dime for most things
I've seen.

I'll probably get totally flamed for even thinking this... But my
recommendation is to get a Casio EX-V7 Camera.

Last year, on a trip to Japan I bought a Sony DVD - I have the DCR mini-dV
at home but did not want to lug the camera around so I could transfer images
and video into the computer. The DVD concept was neat as heck, and the super
Night shot was great! But, within a month, I'd given up using it - it was a
power-hog and the DVD's were prone to errors.

Then I bought the under-$300 Casio camera - a 7-MPix camera with a 7x
optical zoom that also takes hi-res Mpeg4 video with stereo sound (playable
with Quicktime and others). It uses SD and SDHC cards - currently up to 8GB
capacity are available and you can fit about 1 hour of video on each GB. The
package is about the size of a deck of playing cards without any protruding
lens. I've since taken over 40 hours of video and untold hundreds of images
with excellent results. And I can carry it everywhere all the time in my
jacket pocket.

So, get the Sony or the recommended 3-ccd job, but get the Casio as well. In
all likelyhood, you'll end up using the little digicam more that all your
other video toys put together!

QS
 
D

David L. Jones

Jan 1, 1970
0
New grandson, 15 year old _dead_ camcorder :-(

What's the newest game in town that you would recommend?

Price is _almost_ no object, I have so many freebie points available
on my Amex that I probably won't have to spend a dime for most things
I've seen.

The new Hi-Def MiniDV's are out. While that may sound great, they
store compressed video onto the tape, in contrast to standard MiniDV's
which store raw uncompressed data. Haven't tried one though so can't
comment.

One's with a 3 CCD sensor have much better low light performance.

"True" 16:9 widescreen performance is a must have i.e. a widescreen
sensor and not just a software solution where you sacrifice
resolution. No reason to shoot 4:3 these days.

Definitely get a MiniDV tape, and not the hard drive or DVD versions.

External MIC input and mounting point is very nice. Most of the
cheapies with the built-in mic you can actually hear the low level
tape motor noise in the background. Ok for casual use, but you regret
it when you need it for more demanding uses.

Dave.
 
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Robert

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
New grandson, 15 year old _dead_ camcorder :-(

What's the newest game in town that you would recommend?

Price is _almost_ no object, I have so many freebie points available
on my Amex that I probably won't have to spend a dime for most things
I've seen.

...Jim Thompson

Canon's got a pretty nice miniature HDTV Camcorder for about $950 street
price, the HV10.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/canon_hv10

If you've got that kind of display may be worth it.

Robert H.
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
The new Hi-Def MiniDV's are out. While that may sound great, they
store compressed video onto the tape, in contrast to standard MiniDV's
which store raw uncompressed data. Haven't tried one though so can't
comment.

One's with a 3 CCD sensor have much better low light performance.

"True" 16:9 widescreen performance is a must have i.e. a widescreen
sensor and not just a software solution where you sacrifice
resolution. No reason to shoot 4:3 these days.

Definitely get a MiniDV tape, and not the hard drive or DVD versions.

External MIC input and mounting point is very nice. Most of the
cheapies with the built-in mic you can actually hear the low level
tape motor noise in the background. Ok for casual use, but you regret
it when you need it for more demanding uses.

Dave.

What about the ones that store to flash (SD or Sony Memory Stick)?
(combined with a DVD writer and/or HDD).

With 4G+ available on a tiny card, what is the advantage of slow noisy
mechanical tape mechanisms? Cheaper media, I suppose.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
J

John Ferrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
...Jim Thompson
A couple of years ago I bought a Canon ZR90. It is small, about $500,
uses tapes OR SD cards. It has enough features to meet my needs and
not so many as to keep me confused. The SD cards have come down in
price enough to make me consider them instead of tape!

I tend to take my cameras wherever I go and about half of them expire
to accident, theft or loss.

John Ferrell W8CCW
"Life is easier if you learn to
plow around the stumps"
 
G

G

Jan 1, 1970
0
A couple of years ago I bought a Canon ZR90. It is small, about $500,
uses tapes OR SD cards. It has enough features to meet my needs and
not so many as to keep me confused. The SD cards have come down in
price enough to make me consider them instead of tape!

I tend to take my cameras wherever I go and about half of them expire
to accident, theft or loss.

John Ferrell W8CCW
"Life is easier if you learn to
plow around the stumps"

I got an older Sony just before everybody downsized a few years ago. The downsized models didn't
have full A/V inputs and outputs, so I'm still satisfied. The model I have also has great
sound. It doesn't overload like many. I have recorded bands and jet dragsters. Well the
jet does start to overload somewhat. One thing I hate about mine is when there
is a memory stick in there, I sometimes put it into Stick opperation, then
I soon got a memory full warning, thinking I was going to tape. Through the Sony, I converted
a bunch of VHS video tapes to computer, video in/ firewire out, edited and made CD's.

greg
 
M

Meat Plow

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have seen really bad reviews on the touch screen, and would go with Canon
or Panasonic. Most important is to be sure it works with whatever editing
program you plan to get, Adobe, Pinnacle, and Roxio; probably in that order.

Mine is 4 years old and works flawlessly. You're going to have isolated
problems with any brand. As far as software goes, Pinnacle works fine with
Sony stuff.

I have a non HD Canon (16:9 & 4:3) and use it mostly with Pinnacle Studio.
For low light use, the Panasonic is a lot better because of the 3 CCD
pickup.

Tam

My sony works in no light.
 
T

Tam/WB2TT

Jan 1, 1970
0
Meat Plow said:
Mine is 4 years old and works flawlessly. You're going to have isolated
problems with any brand. As far as software goes, Pinnacle works fine with
Sony stuff.
It works. Some people find it annoying as hell, though.

Tam
 
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Tam/WB2TT

Jan 1, 1970
0
Robert said:
Canon's got a pretty nice miniature HDTV Camcorder for about $950 street
price, the HV10.
Something to be said for the HV10 and HV20. They contain an A/D converter
which allows you to connect any analog source to the camcorder, and download
it to a PC via Firewire as digital. I know Jim's old camcorder does not
work, but when I was in the same shape I borrowed an HI8 camcorder from a
friend so I could make digital copies of my old HI8 tapes. I used a PCI
analog capture card, which I would not have needed with one of these Canons.

If you look at the HV10, look at the HV20 also. Both have Firewire. You
don't want to have to use HDMI.

Tam
 
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RST Engineering \(jw\)

Jan 1, 1970
0
We use the Canon Elura 85 around the lab for making promo and product videos
and as yet, there hasn't been a thing I've needed that it didn't have.

Jim
 
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Jim Stewart

Jan 1, 1970
0
RST said:
We use the Canon Elura 85 around the lab for making promo and product videos
and as yet, there hasn't been a thing I've needed that it didn't have.

I second the Canon brand. Seems to be more
reliable and have better features than most
other brands.
 
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Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
We use the Canon Elura 85 around the lab for making promo and product videos
and as yet, there hasn't been a thing I've needed that it didn't have.

Jim

What do you use for a video editing program?


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
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