I’ve been using an old video tape recorder for a long time; it’s big and bulky and the tapes start looking fuzzy after being watched over 5 times. The only real features it sports are zoom and non-zoom, although the zoom is pretty good.
Now that I have a 4-year old and 6-month old triplets, I want to buy something new and state-of-the-art, etc. I had thought to buy a recorder that records directly to DVD. My husband suggested I look into “digital” recorders where you can transfer it to the computer, and then burn it to DVD. My question is, why would I want to transfer it to my computer, unless I decided to get into editing and all that?
In any case, can anyone make any good recommendations? I dont’ want the cheapest one out there, but we’re not millionaires yet. I just want to be able to see my kids in 20 years on good quality media. The only features I really have to have are a very good zoom and I would like to not have to ram my eye up against it; i.e, a viewing screen of some sort. Also, smaller is better.
Are you talking about a Video Camera? If so there are digital models (Mini-DV) out there that record to digital tape. The tape can be played from the camera directly to the TV, or it can be transferred to a PC for editing or DVD conversion. These models can be had for less than $350 on sale.
The direct to DVD models are typically much more than that($750 - $1000). And some use 3" DVDs which may or may not be playable in your home DVD player.
A DVD recorder drive can be added to a computer for about $100, and will come with software to capture and convert the video camera signal to DVD. You may need to add a Firewire or USB 2.0 card to your PC to capture the video, these run about $50.
The direct models will be simpler to use and make DVD’s from, but at a cost of 2-3x that of a mini-DV model and any needed add-ons for the conversion. Keep in mind that the movies can be kept on digital tape and played directly from the camera, and you can upgrade your PC to make DVDs later if you desire. Or, if you have a tech-geek friend, ask him to make the DVDs.
I agree with** MC$E** and will add my two centavos…
It isn’t only the media that has to survive twenty years, it is also the player. Or more precisely, the format of the player. Formats come and go and it is virtually certain that today’s DVD format will be replaced well before 20 years which means it may become difficult to find a player that will play your discs in 20 years. (Try finding a Super 8 projector at your local camera store). At some point it is likely that some sort of conversion will become necessary so I wouldn’t think of any format as a permanent solution. Get what suits you best now and plan on converting at some time down the road if and when it becomes necessary.
Not all DVD players are created equally. I gave away my older, but still perfectly good, DVD player because it couldn’t play any format of recordable DVD. Check the specs of your current player to see what sorts of disks it can play and either select your camcorder based on that information or plan on also buying a new player to match the format of the camcorder disks (if you go that route).
Also, I wouldn’t dismiss editing so quickly. Even if you leave the entire movie “as is” it is nice to be able to add text and/or a voice-over at the beginning or end of a movie that records the time and date (without resorting to the ugly and intrusive time/date stamp in your videos) as well as the circumstances of the shoot. “Here is Tommy on his fifth birthday with Aunt Ellen and that crazy looking guy with the Hawaiian shirt is her neighbor Bill who claimed he could talk to fish.” Your memories of the details of the occasion will fade in time and it is nice to be able to record them as well as the movie itself and often you will want to add comments that may not occur to you to add during the shoot.