What is best for me ?

[Garf]

Hi,

Over the last few weeks, it's been sports days, school plays etc and my ancient JVC MiniDV is pretty much on it's last legs.

As such, I am looking to get a replacement camcorder, which will mostly be used for stuff as above, family days out, holidays etc - nothing too demanding and I wondered what would be suitable for me and what would be overkill.

I have a budget of £300 maximum at the moment, and am guessing either a Hard Disk or SD card model would be best ? I am also assuming that a standard def model would be better for me given my budget ?

I've been looking at a few models such as:

Canon Legria FS2000
Panasonic SDR-S26
Sony DCRSX50E or DCRSR37ES

There is also a budget Toshiba HD camcorder (Camileo H20) which is very cheap, but I am guessing you get what you pay for ?

All seem pretty good to me, but there is something telling me I should also look at the more expensive HD models for future proofing.

Given the casual usage I will likely have, would the models above be suitable for me or should I look at spending more ?

Also, is there much difference between a HDD or SD card model - I am guessing the main ones are weight\size and recording capacity ?

Thanks in advance..

[senu]

Originally Posted by Garf

Hi,

Over the last few weeks, it's been sports days, school plays etc and my ancient JVC MiniDV is pretty much on it's last legs.

As such, I am looking to get a replacement camcorder, which will mostly be used for stuff as above, family days out, holidays etc - nothing too demanding and I wondered what would be suitable for me and what would be overkill.

I have a budget of £300 maximum at the moment, and am guessing either a Hard Disk or SD card model would be best ? I am also assuming that a standard def model would be better for me given my budget ?

It would appear so

I've been looking at a few models such as:

Canon Legria FS2000
Panasonic SDR-S26
Sony DCRSX50E or DCRSR37ES

There is also a budget Toshiba HD camcorder (Camileo H20) which is very cheap, but I am guessing you get what you pay for ?

This is tre
Im not very sure of theSD HDD / SD card models in terms of quality compared to a decent MiniDV. Ive yet to find one nder £450-500 I m imprssed with but YMMV

All seem pretty good to me, but there is something telling me I should also look at the more expensive HD models for future proofing.

The video looks by far better but they are by no means without own issues especially if your PC isnt a recent model ( editing /playback) and you are used to poorer lighting conditions

Given the casual usage I will likely have, would the models above be suitable for me or should I look at spending more ?

Although your stated use is casul, and money is an issue with us all now, buying the best you can afford means you will not end up using the camcorder even more casually because its output is underwhelming and footage never gets a second viewing

Also, is there much difference between a HDD or SD card model - I am guessing the main ones are weight\size and recording capacity ?

Yep!




Unless you are dead set against tape.. Get an HDV tape model (Canon HV 30) hopefully for £130 ect or so more
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[Garf]

Thanks for the reply - quite a bit to think about.

Not dead set against tape, it's just I wasn't aware you could still get them - the big players seem to advertise their hard drive and sd card models more prominently !