Hi,

Sorry for the newbie post, but I will openly admit to knowing nothing about DV Camcorders. I'm looking to purchase a camcorder and have a maximum budget of £500.

I have read that I should be looking for a camcorder with good aperture size, can deliver good colour definition and always to look at optical zoom first and not be drawn by digital zoom numbers.

I'm not at all bothered by the make of the camcorder but wouldn't mind a reasonable range of in's / out's from any model's recommended.

I had been looking at the Canon MVX25i, but any advice or recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for your help.
Dean.

Dean,
this is my opinion, and I wouldn't say I can give you expert advice. But, I just bought a Panasonic GS200 3 CCD Mini-DV. It really is one of best cameras on the market because it uses 3 CCDs vice 1 CCD which most cameras use.
It is full of many options, comes with good software, and can connect to the computer via USB 2.0 and Firewire.
The only problem is that it breaks your budget. If this one is a little expensive, try its "little-brother" the GS120.
Happy Hunting,
Leightos

Thanks for your post Leightos,

Quick question, I've done a search for the Camcorder you mention and its coming up with NV-GS200 and PV-GS200. Which one of the two is it ?

Thanks again.

Regards,
Dean.

For panasonics the prefix PV usually designates it as an american market camcorder, to be sure (to be sure), uk market camcorders will usually also have the suffix 'B' or 'E' (for panasonics it'll be the NV-GS200B).

This is important as an american market camera will almost sertainly be NTSC format, as opposed to the UK PAL format and won't have a UK warranty.

Hunt about for the NV-GS70B (try empire direct), now about a year old, superceded by the GS200, you should be able to get one of these within, or just over budget and is similar in most respects to the GS200 (except for lower res digital stills) and a rung above the GS120.

Cheers

Hi,

I'm going to the US later this month and I was thinking of taking advantage of the exchange rate etc. and buy a digital camcorder. My budget is around the same, at £500 and would like to know what you would recommend and most importantly, whether it will work satisfactorily back in Blighty.

Thanks, B.

[vonhosen]

Originally Posted by brcole

Hi,

I'm going to the US later this month and I was thinking of taking advantage of the exchange rate etc. and buy a digital camcorder. My budget is around the same, at £500 and would like to know what you would recommend and most importantly, whether it will work satisfactorily back in Blighty.

Thanks, B.

That question has been discussed here many times

usa vs uk

Thanks to everyone for their advice.

I checked the price of the NV-GS70B but it was actually more expensive than the NV-GS200. It seems that the NV-GS120 seems like a very good buy for the money and fits nicely within my budget.

Regards,
Dean.