I’ve heard that the price of video cameras is coming down, so I’m thinking about getting one for my husband for Christmas - in order to have enough $ when the time comes, I’ve got to start saving and thinking about it now.
I really don’t know what to look for in a camcorder, other than I’d like it to be able to work in low light conditions. We also need to be able to take whatever recording medium it uses and convert it so it will play on our combo VHS/DVD player - the DVD player only plays factory-manufactured DVDs, so I’m expecting we’ll need to be using the VHS part of the machine to play whatever video we record.
We have a JVC mini DV camcorder. Its nice because with some editing software you can make your own custom movies with your computer. That would be an extra purchase though and will not come with the camera. If it is VHS playback for you then you will need to check out a VHS-C recorder which tapes on a smaller cassette that then is inserted into a convertor for playback in a VHS machine. I have always liked Sony, JVC and Canon brands.
I would strongly recommend that you make sure you purchase a digital camcorder. It doesn’t need to necessarily use those little DV tapes, but you do want to be able to transfer your video in DV format to a PC.
They are still selling analog tape cameras, pretty cheap too, but I would recommend not going that route. If you ever want to edit your video, you will suffer.
For the digital editing, all you need is a DV card (firewire) to do the transfers and a hell of a lot of disk space (40-80G is nice).
Microsoft has a free movie editor application that lets you do standard editing that used to take hours in a matter of seconds. They have lots of cool transitions and stuff too.
I tried the computer route, which took too much time & etc. Then I got a Sony High8 video camera ($250 or so) & a Panasonic e30 dvd recorder ($350 or so), which I use instead of a vcr cause that’s what it’s for. Then I copy from the Sony to the e30 with s-video & it makes a perfect dvd-r with chapters & menu. Yummm.
I assume since cost appears to be a buying factor in the OP, romansperson won’t be going the digital route.
All I can tell you is I have a Sony Handycam (TRV-something, can’t remember the exact model) and it’s prefect for day to day use.
It also has a really neat ‘night shot’ feature which is basically an infrarared-type scope that allows me to shoot decent video in ZERO light. The resulting video is pretty much black and white, but it’s great for shooting night scenes!
I still strongly recommend going for the extra $$$ and getting a digital camcorder. Unless you are certain that you will not want to edit anything and you are not concerned with the ability to view your recordings several years down the road.
[ul][li]Editing analog video is painful.[/li][li]Watching someone else’s unedited video is more painful.[/li]Seeing my analog tapes from the early 90’s deteriorate is depressing.[/ul]
My husband is not a techie, so I doubt he’ll be even the least bit interested in editing tapes on a computer (his computer is too old and slow for that anyway, and he isn’t interested in buying a new one), but the fact that tapes deteriorate over time is definitely a factor in favor of the miniDV-type cameras, since I could at least copy the footage we like best to my computer. I really don’t want to have to buy software or a DVD recorder in addition to the camera, though.
Thanks very much for the advice, everyone - you’ve brought up some good points I’ll be thinking about.
I was about to start a “recommend a digital camcorder” thread, but decided to piggyback/hijack this one instead…
So, does anyone want to recommend a digital camcorder for me? I was toying with the Canon ZR60, which is available for a measly $410. But then I read some reviews that complained about the background noise and the very grainy low-light footage, and am having second thoughts.
I plan to import my footage into my computer for later editing, so special effects and fades aren’t important. As long as it takes good quality footage, I’ll be happy. Assuming I can spend up to $400-600, what should I look into that will fit the bill?
What’s the deal with camcorders that use Memory Sticks or some other type of solid-state storage? How can they store any practical length of video at a decent quality? They come with some small amount of storage, somewhere around 32-64 MB.
Yup. You can put a teeny-tiny film on it. They also can take still pictures. Unfortunately, even on a really nice video camera, you are going to have pitiful still-picture quality. Use a still camera for pictures and a camcorder for video.
Oh and rjung, I was really happy to find out that the Sony cameras that use standard 8mm tape can play analog tapes as well, converting on the fly and sending the video over the Firewire connection. This saved my aging 8mm video collection.
Camcorders usually don’t make very hot still picture cameras. They are pretty bulky & the picture quality is so-so compared to a real digital camera.
Another thing is, if you get a tiny camcorder for video you have to deal with shake because it’s so small. Thus the Sony High8 models are nice because they are just the right size, for my hands.
I like the Panasonic camcorder that records directly to dvd-r/ram media but it’s too pricey for me.
