Hi,

I am looking at buying my first camcorder as I am about to have a baby (well the wife is . I have an existing still digital camera but am looking at the camcorder to also replace this as I understand most camcorders can now take still photos I am not looking to make movies, just a camcorder for in the house and garden. Something with a flash is probably useful for taking still photos. I would like to be able to do basic editing and send short excerpts via email to my family who are in England. I have an windows XP operating system on a 1 year old laptop.

I was thinking of a Canon 750i or Sony TRV 60 or 80 which are now on sale in Australia (TRV 80 is about 600 sterling). What are main differences between these cameras and what views do people have? Any recommendations apart from those shown?

Thanks for all replies

[Elad]

I was in the same position as you - young child, require camcorder, etc etc.

My choice came down to the Sony HC18 and Panasonic GS15. Both were the same price £330 sterling.

After testing both for a couple of weeks I went for the Panasonic. For the money it had far more features and did not have a buzzing sound every time I switched it on!

Pros and cons of each:


Panasonic Zoom x 24 - great and the digital zoom which I use up to 60x is very good as well. Why restrict yourself to 10x - have some fun with the larger zoom.

Picture stills onto SD card - I read in magazines that the quality was poorish - I have been impressed. I am not interested in printing them out so I cannot comment on the hard copies but for viewing on the computer and for emailing its is excellent. (I can email you an example if you wish).

LCD Screen - opens out to 120 degrees. I also found the Panasonic easier to view outdoors than the Sony although it really should be the other way about due to Sonys over rated hybrid screen which was very hard to view.

Viewfinder - far better quality and larger on the Panasonic than on the Sony.

Seperate battery charger - will be buying a spare battery so this will be handy. Not supplied on the Sony.

Outdoor quality - about the same.

Indoor - the Sony was sharper and performed better under indoor lights.

Battery time - Panasonic was better by about half an hour.

Panasonic has the ability to edit the recordings and transfer them back onto tape.


There you go - I would go for a camera that offers as much as possible for the money. The Sony was a great size and produced a good video but for the money the Panasonic edged it out.

I have also tried the Canon 600i - not impressed - poor indoors and noisy motor.