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Camcorders

kserg

kserg

Feb 20, 2004
10,832
85
45
San Jose, CA
#1
So my bro and his wife about to have a kid, so i need to find a camcorder for them (present).

Been looking around, kinda like the hard drive camcorders...

So my question, anyone have one? How is it?

This is a models i am stock on, any ideas guys?

SONY DCR-SR40 or Panasonic SDR-H18

Thoughts? Comments?

I am leaning towards Sony because my bro thinks that sony is da shiznizna... But I like the Panasonic...
 
#3
Last I heard is that the hard drive camcorders are not up to par with the MiniDV as far as image and sound quality. The Canon Elura series are highly rated and my friend has one. It has excellent picture quality and the sound is good.

I would not want a hard drive recorder just because of the inherent restraints of that format.

bc
 
#4
I would go with the Panasonic. In Japn they are highly revered. The MiniDV is cool. I don't know about the HD cameras but it makes sense. Still it seems to me that you'd have to download or burn it a lot in order to clear it. With a MiniDV you can just replace the tape and store it. We have one. It's really easy to make it digital. One cord. My camera is awesome (I don't know the model number and my wife has it with her currently - It's a Japanese camera anyway, but the equivalent is out here now). It has a bigger view monitor than the Sony and when I bought it had the highest megapixel still shot as well. Sony also tends to put a lot of cost on having their brand. Part of your price is paying for the Sony name.

EDIT: Oh yeah it records in 16 bit sound too. Works really good for recording the band.
 
#6
kserg said:
Hmmm, how much space on each MiniDV tape?


So basically MiniDV = better quility while hard drive = more convenient?

Oh and MiniDV can be reused right? How many times?

Thanks guys. :)
Click to expand...

That's about right. A MiniDV lasts about an hour. Yes you can rerecord on them. I've rerecorded many times (about 10times once) and haven't had any loss of quality. So I'm not sure how many times you could do it.
 
#7
Hmmm, thanks guys... that's a really tough choice... Especially since i have to make it for someone else...

On one hand, quality is good reason to go with miniDV

On other hand, dealing with tapes, tapes everywhere, reloading because you run out of tape... beh...

Then again, it's not like they are as big as Hi8 :smug: Could be easier to handle...
 
#8
kserg said:
Hmmm, thanks guys... that's a really tough choice... Especially since i have to make it for someone else...

On one hand, quality is good reason to go with miniDV

On other hand, dealing with tapes, tapes everywhere, reloading because you run out of tape... beh...
Click to expand...

The tapes aren't that big of a deal. They're tiny. It's convenient and easy to pop in a tape and show your 3 year old his birth for instance. The HD means you have watch it on your computer if it gets removed from the HD. Unless you're one of those hyper advanced families that has their computer hooked up the TV. (I'm not).
 
#9
MakiSupaStar said:
The tapes aren't that big of a deal. They're tiny. It's convenient and easy to pop in a tape and show your 3 year old his birth for instance. The HD means you have watch it on your computer if it gets removed from the HD. Unless you're one of those hyper advanced families that has their computer hooked up the TV. (I'm not).
Click to expand...

Well no, HD cameras you can hook up via S-video to TV plus just like miniDV you can put the videos on a DVD and store it/watch it on your dvd player...

How long does it take to transform miniDV onto your computer btw?

My job just got easier, i just told my bro what i am doing and now i presented with all positives and negatives shows him what you guys said and he gets to choose now...

:)
 
#10
kserg said:
Well no, HD cameras you can hook up via S-video to TV plus just like miniDV you can put the videos on a DVD and store it/watch it on your dvd player...

How long does it take to transform miniDV onto your computer btw?

My job just got easier, i just told my bro what i am doing and now i presented with all positives and negatives shows him what you guys said and he gets to choose now...

:)
Click to expand...

It's butt easy. I use iMovie. I just hook it up via USB. Not sure how it compares speed wise to the HD. Personally, if you're in the market right now, I think the HD stuff is still a little too new. A year or two and I'd say go for it.
 
#11
MakiSupaStar said:
It's butt easy. I use iMovie. I just hook it up via USB. Not sure how it compares speed wise to the HD. Personally, if you're in the market right now, I think the HD stuff is still a little too new. A year or two and I'd say go for it.
Click to expand...

That's what i was thinking... Good idea but... So many things that can go wrong...

So for 60 minute tape, does it take 60 minutes? or faster?
 
#12
kserg said:
That's what i was thinking... Good idea but... So many things that can go wrong...

So for 60 minute tape, does it take 60 minutes? or faster?
Click to expand...

Well you don't do it in sixty minute chunks. For instance. I filmed my sun swimming awhile ago. It was a total of 13 minutes of recording. I make a quiktime movie out of it. It didn't take 13 minutes to render that's for sure. I don't know the exact ratio. But this was just one part of the tape.

You say so many things that can go wrong. I've had my camera for 3 years now and it works beautifully. Nothing wrong.

EDIT: Sounds like your leaning to the HD cameras. That's cool with me. Whatever makes you happy. It's a cool gift though.
 
#13
MakiSupaStar said:
Well you don't do it in sixty minute chunks. For instance. I filmed my sun swimming awhile ago. It was a total of 13 minutes of recording. I make a quiktime movie out of it. It didn't take 13 minutes to render that's for sure. I don't know the exact ratio. But this was just one part of the tape.

You say so many things that can go wrong. I've had my camera for 3 years now and it works beautifully. Nothing wrong.

EDIT: Sounds like your leaning to the HD cameras. That's cool with me. Whatever makes you happy. It's a cool gift though.
Click to expand...

No no, I mean so many things can go wrong with the hard drive especially since it will probably get some abuse and lots of bumps... Not the miniDV... I am leaning towards the miniDV myself. Now after thinking about it, I've seen so many hard drivers go...

If it was myself i would go with miniDV as i prefer quality over comfort (That's why i have a DSLR camera, it's by far more pain in the arse then regular camera but quality is what counts). But since it's not for me i had to take in consideration what they might want... And well, I remember them complaining about Hi8 tapes.

I am actually glad i posted this, you guys helped me swing more so towards miniDV in what is now my recommendation. So my job now switched to recommend them something and then pay for what they choose... :)
 
#14
I just looked at the latest issue of Consumer Reports last night online. Based on their most recent surveys (apparently they had almost a million responses to their surveys this year) Sony and Panasonic are the two camcorder brands with the history of least repairs so they are the most reliable according to people's experiences from the surveys.

bc
 

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