gaemul

Hey we're looking to get a new video camera. I'm looking for something with a hard drive instead of mini-DV. We're looking to spend around $500. Any suggestions?

Thanks

cheapie

me too! and i have NO idea what to buy!

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dsuds

JVC has had hard drive cameras out for a while now. I looked at my neighbor's GZ-MG27 when he first bought it. Outdoors it was fair but indoors was awful. My findings also echoed the reviews over at camcorderinfo.com. The only JVC unit that has gotten good reviews so far is the MG505.

Sony is a relative newcomers to the hard drive camcorder market. Every one of their camcorders that use the large CMOS sensors have gotten very good reviews so far, regardless of the recording media.

Panasonic has also just released a couple hard drive camcorders, but they're not available yet. Their 3 CCD camcorders are very good (I own a PV GS-180), and if their 3 CCD hard drive model is done right, then it would be worth a look. But honestly, I don't see Panasonic staying in this market as they are concentrating on using flash memory (SD & SDHC) as their "next generation" media.

If you have to have a camcorder NOW, go with the Sony DCR-SR100. If you can wait a couple months, then your options should be a bit broader, if not better.

Dave

ps. I'm kinda picky about video quality, so if you're just looking for something to film the kids, then even the JVCs will work OK. But for better quality (and a higher price), look at the Sony.

cheapie

why will options be broader later? prices coming down? more products on the market?

and what do you do with the video once you've uploaded it to a computer? burn it to dvd after editing it?

LPMiller

As camcorders go, it is one of the few product areas I actually have faith in Sony in. They usually do really well with picture quality and durability.

I am also a big fan of panasonic - mostly because I love their lumix line of cameras. I have the FZ7, it's great.

JVC tends to have quality issues, I dunno that I'd buy from them.

Canon is pretty good too. I dunno that I'm a big fan of harddrive cameras, because harddrives just aren't the most durable thing in the world, so I haven't looked into that kind of camera yet. But I'd imagine the better brands like Sony, etc, would be the place to start.

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cheapie

have you checked out the canon HV10? looks pretty cool. the only reason i'd go with that over the Sony DCR-SR100 is that i can get it on dell.com. i can get some dell GCs from amex rewards which would help.

cheapie

man...as usual...when i start looking for something to buy, i go right to the top and start looking at stuff way out of my initial price range. i just want something that's going to look decent on my tv and is easy to upload on the mac or my pc. lol.

dsuds

Well, this year at CES, several manufacturers introduced hard drive camcorders to replace their MiniDV offerings. Sony only has the SR100 currently available, with 2 new models at CES. Panasonic isn't shipping any yet, but did introduce one or two. Currently the prices are still a little high, with a good hard drive unit (think MG505 or SR100) going for $800-$1000. If you can't afford that, then your best bet may be to wait for Panasonic's flash memory units.

I generally just burn DVDs and then discard the original footage. With the newer compression codecs, it should be possible to save the original footage as data DVDs as well. As dual layer media comes down in price, this will be even easier.

dsuds

Funny, I've had a Panny FZ3 for a couple years now and LOVE IT! For the money I don't think there's a better still camera than the FZ's. I can only imagine what more megapixels would do for mine. Are they as good as a DSLR? No, but in good light it'll come close.

The Panny camcorder line is currently in a state of flux, so I'm not sure if I'd whole heartedly recommend one. This bothers me because I'm such a Panny fanboy. They were known for great manual controls, and some really good cameras like the PV GS400 & 500. But currently they're making 3 changes: 1) MiniDV to Flash media, 2) Standard to High Definition, and 3) because of the change to High Def, a new H.264 codec call AVCHD. It may take a year or two for Panny to get everything just right.

dsuds

The HV10 is rated pretty highly, but it is high def. And I'm not sure the time is right to move to up. The manufacturers are pushing high def, but the only ways to play the video are either on your computer or directly from the camera. This will remain the case until HD DVD / Blu-ray recorders, players, and media are available. Plus it takes a very high end computer to edit high def video.

I just bought a MiniDV cam because I saw this coming, plus MiniDV produces slightly better video than either hard drive or DVD camcorders. I figure by the time this one wears out, the technology will have matured.

spigidygak

IMO, it's too early to dip into the HD (meaning both hard drive and high def) based camcorders, especially at the $500 budget. The main issue with hard drive camcorders is the format they record in and still render a lot of pixelated images compared to a simlar DV tape 'corder. The main issue I have with a hd camcorder is the format they record in. For the sony line they mostly use AVCHD, which is pretty much unusable on most editing platforms. The JVC everios just use a pita scheme where it takes a bit of twiddling to make usable in an editing program. Granted both of them will come packaged with some generic crappy editing software for windows. But outside of that you'll have to transcode the stuff before it's usable in the more usable NLE programs.

A really good site for reviews is camcorderinfo.com. As for my personal choice in that range, I'd take a close look into sony, canon and panasonic.

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Markel

Just noticed mention of the Canon TX1 ($500) on engadget.

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spigidygak

The TX1 is very interesting but in the end is really sucky imo. 39mm is not wide enough for practical use, especially when indoors. Also the fstop of 3.5-5.6 makes it a very slow lens which means low light is probably really janky on it.

gaemul

Ok I realized I'm not going to get anything for $500. So I've bumped up my budget to between $1000-1200. Any suggestions?

spigidygak

if you can wait for the canon hv20 to come out. It's looking quite good. Fixes all the major flaws of the hv10 and should retail around the $1000 range.

gaemul

Ok, I've woken up and realized the technology isn't available yet at the price/quality I want. So I think I'm just gonna go with a mini-DV again. Any recommendations?

dsuds

If you do much indoor filming you'll want the largest chip in the camcorder you can get in your budget. The Sony DCR-HC96 is an excellent model available for $550. The price has come down from $729 just a couple months ago. The Panasonic PV-GS320 is another model to look at for $499, but really the Sony's a much better buy.

The pros/cons of these 2 cams:

Sony - Pros: large 1.3" CMOS chip, very good color and low light performance, AV pass thru. Cons: proprietary microphone jack, ports on expansion dock.

Panasonic - Pros: small size, very good color (in good light), ports on cam, manual adjustments. Cons: smaller chips (3 x 1/6"), no AV pass thru, screwy microphone workaround.

If you go much cheaper than these models, you'll find about all the MiniDV cams give up a lot in quality. These cams will spec out at 1 CCD, 1/6", 680k-800k pixels. The colors won't be very accurate and the low light performance will suck.

cheapie

based on your recommendation i picked one up today from butterfly photo for $514. they had a bunch of good reviews at camcorderinfo so i took the risk of using them. plus some other people here have used them.

now i have to get a dvd burner, right? should i get one that works with my pc or one that i can hook up to the tv?

stufine

if i had to buy the dvd recorder again i would get an external for pc. you can also burn the video to cdr if you stay under the 700mb

cheapie

just got the Sony DCR-HC96. it's pretty sweet looking. very small and seems easy to use. a ton of options. actually, maybe a few too many as my wife doesn't like too many choices. i'm still getting used to the playback to review what you've just taped. i'll likely be buying a dvd burner in the next couple of week so we'll see how that works.