[Freezy]

I've heard rumours that there are video quality differences between hard drive and sd card formats? I was wondering if anyone else has heard this? is it true?

[senu]

The actual storage medium should not affect video quality provided the optics video processing and encoding are identical
What is true is that there may be a tendency to produce smaller file sizes for footage destined for cards whereas those going to HDD may not need to have such constraints
But bear in mind some camcorders actually record to both card and HDD and the output is identical

[Mr Taylor]

Yup.

MPEG 2 codec isn't that good.

I'm still cautious about the AVCHD codec.

Love Mini DV.

Old analog is just a pain with my computer editing software.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Mr Taylor

MPEG 2 codec isn't that good.

Not necessarily: HDV is mpeg-2, as are all standard definition DVDs, and almost all television broadcast.

Originally Posted by Mr Taylor

Love Mini DV. Old analog is just a pain with my computer editing software.

Just to clarify for the OP as your post is ambiguous: mini-DV is digital video, not analogue.

[Mr Taylor]

Are we talking professional or home made situations?

(Good point about the Mini DV...the "DV" does stand for "Digital Video")
(Before that it was still tape but it was not digital, it was Analog)

The main point is that if you get a camcorder that writes to MPEG 2, chances are the quality will be be down from Mini DV.
This is a view gleaned by my own experiance and by reading the reviews on almost every camcorder on camcorderinfo.com.

I'm sure you can get Mpeg 2 to look great..but they they dont, not in consumer camcorders anyway.

[chrishull3]

Believe me mpeg2 can look very good my experience with the sony HC-1,fx-7 and canon HV-30 prove that.

[Mr Taylor]

Ohhhh..now I'm interested...I will keep an eye out for these cameras. thanks for the tip.!

[Mr Taylor]

That HV canon you just mentiond has about a 1/2 inch sensor.
It must be prettty impressive!
What did it cost you?
Any defects?
how do the editing progs deal with the Mpeg 2 variation?
What file extension does it produce?
questions questions...

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by Mr Taylor

That HV canon you just mentiond has about a 1/2 inch sensor.
It must be prettty impressive!
What did it cost you?
Any defects?
how do the editing progs deal with the Mpeg 2 variation?
What file extension does it produce?
questions questions...

The HV30 is now superseeded by the HV40 which in pal land is virtualy the same cam, i paid 530£ in the spring here in the uk,compared to the FX7 being a consumer cam it does not not have the same level of on cam controls and the lens is 10x not 20 like the FXs, what the HV30 has is progressive and cine mode which a lot of people like, personaly i keep to interlaced.
The only downsides are the onboard mic is poor[i use my RS external]the build quality gives the impression of being not as solid as sonys cams.
Editing i use pinnacle 12 ultimate which since the latest update has been better, editing mpeg 2 is easy there is no noticable loss in captured and finalised film. From this method hdv tape, blu ray disc, avchd disc and dvd discs can be made, i also store my material on hard drive.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Mr Taylor

That HV canon you just mentiond has about a 1/2 inch sensor.

1/2.7" to be precise - better to round down to 1/3 than up to 1/2.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Mr Taylor

That HV canon you just mentiond has about a 1/2 inch sensor.
It must be prettty impressive!
What did it cost you?
Any defects?
how do the editing progs deal with the Mpeg 2 variation?
What file extension does it produce?

The HV are HDV camcorders. This is hi def on tape and the mpeg is a different codec from SD mpeg2. It also has a fized encoding rate of 25mps and pixel size 1440 x 1820
The usual extension is m2t ( MPEG 2 with a transport stream header) not m2ts
Most current editng programs can edit it fluidly especially with more recent hardware

[Mr Taylor]

Originally Posted by A n d r e w

1/2.7" to be precise - better to round down to 1/3 than up to 1/2.

Now that is a crazy way to write a dimension.
Imperial and metric.

Still. it's pretty big.

I must get one of these cameras (second hand) to try it out.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by Mr Taylor

Now that is a crazy way to write a dimension.
Imperial and metric.

Still. it's pretty big.

I must get one of these cameras (second hand) to try it out.

remember its hdv tape and i have given its downsides, you will need an external mic for good sound.