newbie: which camcorder? (hd or sd)

[Stephen99]

Hello,

We are expecting our first baby and thought that there will be times when a still photo won't be enough, so thought about buying a camcorder to capture those moments. I've never had a camcorder before.

At the moment we do not have a hd television but since the future seems to be hd, would it be worth getting a hd camcorder now? I imagine we could watch the recording in sd now and hd when we eventually get a hd tv?

I have done some reading of this forum and I understand that I can buy cameras that record to hdd, sd card, or tape. I'm not too keen on the hdd option because (1) I worry it would be more fragile than the other media options, and (2) if an sd card or tape gets full you can plug another one in, I don't imagine you can swap disc drives easily can you?

What about long term storage? I presume you have to copy files from the hdd or sd card to dvd to archive them? Is this just a drag and drop process with no conversion involved? If there is conversion, is it lossless?

With tapes, would you just keep the footage on tape and watch direct from that, like you would with a vhs tape?

From what I have read tapes have a higher bitrate 25Mbps IIRC versus 15Mbps for the other media and so some people think they are best. OTOH I understand the resolution is not quite 1080 unlike the sd and hdd options. Is there a consensus about which is best or does this still cause wars?

I read that the canon tape cameras were best. Is that so? I also read they can pick-up some noise of the motor winding the tape. Are hdd and sd card cameras silent in this regard? IE no moving parts to hear?

I am puzzled about camcorder tapes. Some threads talk about striping; what is that? I also read that sd tapes can be used to record hd; how does that work? Do you still get hd?

What is the life of a tape? Will it last forever or should it be backed-up to dvd/bluray? Can they be recorded on over and over again or should they be used once only?

What equipment can play back the tapes? I presume only camcorders can, in which case if the camcorder ever breaks or tape machines are discontinued will I be unable to play the tapes back?

I guess I will be using the camcorder indoors so what is "low light"? Does it mean night or does indoors count as low? If so, will I be able to record well inside under standard domestic lights?

Thanks in advance.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by Stephen99

Hello,

We are expecting our first baby and thought that there will be times when a still photo won't be enough, so thought about buying a camcorder to capture those moments. I've never had a camcorder before.

At the moment we do not have a hd television but since the future seems to be hd, would it be worth getting a hd camcorder now? I imagine we could watch the recording in sd now and hd when we eventually get a hd tv?

I have done some reading of this forum and I understand that I can buy cameras that record to hdd, sd card, or tape. I'm not too keen on the hdd option because (1) I worry it would be more fragile than the other media options, and (2) if an sd card or tape gets full you can plug another one in, I don't imagine you can swap disc drives easily can you?

What about long term storage? I presume you have to copy files from the hdd or sd card to dvd to archive them? Is this just a drag and drop process with no conversion involved? If there is conversion, is it lossless?

With tapes, would you just keep the footage on tape and watch direct from that, like you would with a vhs tape?

From what I have read tapes have a higher bitrate 25Mbps IIRC versus 15Mbps for the other media and so some people think they are best. OTOH I understand the resolution is not quite 1080 unlike the sd and hdd options. Is there a consensus about which is best or does this still cause wars?

I read that the canon tape cameras were best. Is that so? I also read they can pick-up some noise of the motor winding the tape. Are hdd and sd card cameras silent in this regard? IE no moving parts to hear?

I am puzzled about camcorder tapes. Some threads talk about striping; what is that? I also read that sd tapes can be used to record hd; how does that work? Do you still get hd?

What is the life of a tape? Will it last forever or should it be backed-up to dvd/bluray? Can they be recorded on over and over again or should they be used once only?

What equipment can play back the tapes? I presume only camcorders can, in which case if the camcorder ever breaks or tape machines are discontinued will I be unable to play the tapes back?

I guess I will be using the camcorder indoors so what is "low light"? Does it mean night or does indoors count as low? If so, will I be able to record well inside under standard domestic lights?

Thanks in advance.

firstly as far as i am concerned you should get the best HD cam you can afford or you will regret it in the future.
Regarding type i am in the minority i still prefer tape[but hdv cams are far from cheap]i have dv tapes 13 years old and hdv material on tape from 05 tape is a good storage but i also store my hd material on BLU RAY and hard drive externals,you can use other cards when they are full if you go card type record cam also of course tapes can be changed, i have had a avchd cam in the past [hard drive- card type]they are the most popular now and have some advantage but i prefer to watch my film as it captures on the pc also avchd may download fast through its usb it does take a fair time to get the material down to a working timeline and you need a powerful pc to edit avchd my quad core was not up to the job, but if you do not need to edit you can store avchd material on a drive for now if thats the way you go,
quality wise a good hdv cam and avchd cam are similar and it is far easier to get the whole quality of hdv made films as avchd needs in most cases to be down converted although i think some manage to edit full quality avchd without converting.35 minutes of hd can be put on standard dvd discs classed as avchd discs the format does not matter.Good luck

[ronaldkwok]

I am also a newbie to camcorder and I just bought my first camcorder, a Sanyo HD2000. This is a full HD camcorder with option to record in SD as well. I actually wanted to get a SD camcorder but my wife insisted on a HD (more out of media ads influence rather than technical) and I relented since it was for her use mainly. I have not regretted since the HD video quality is amazing on HDTV or even on a PC with the right playback software.
So this is just my opinion and not an advice. Go for HD now instead of SD since you will have all you HD videos ready for your HDTV when it arrives as you will not be able to go back in time. Meanwhile you can still watch the HD videos on normal TV (with SD quality only, of course). The files can be stored in your PC for editing later and can be burnt on Blu-ray DVD or just normal DVD-video for viewing as required. My Blog on the HD2000 has details of my experience on this but other camcorders should be very similar.
BTW, the Sanyo is not one of the popular brands; the top 3 popular consumer brands are Canon, Panasonic and Sony. Others are Sanyo, Samsung and JVC. Each one has its own pros and cons (with varying price range) and it is best to test them out to see which is best for you.
I am happy with the low-light performance of the Sanyo but other brands should also be OK for normal indoor shooting.
Handling SDHC card is much simpler and may probably be cheaper than tape.
In the end it is your personal preference and choice. Good luck in your quest.