Best recording format when travelling

14-07-2005, 8:02 AM

Hi, I will be travelling to asia for 6months and want to send footage home to the family(never owned a camcorder before). What is the best format for doing this?. Was looking at straight to DVD and was wondering best DVD camcorder Hitachi DV MZ580 or one of the new Sony's. Don't want to spend too much
Thanks

14-07-2005, 10:35 AM

I would have thought mini-DV was the best format - surely someone in your family has a camera here at home they could just pop the tape into and view on a TV.

Mini-DV tapes are so small you can just drop them into a fairly standard envelope and drop them in a post box, DVDs - even mini ones - need to be protected in a package and run the risk of being bent in transit - remember that across Asia not all post offices are as efficient or careful as ours.

Mini-DV tapes are also considerably cheaper and easier to buy than mini-DVDs and the cost might be significant if you plan to send a lot of video home. You can also get longer video on a tape than a DVD so you will need to send less often.

Also when you get home of course you will be able to collect up the tapes and transfer them to your PC for editing at absolute best quality - DVD cameras of necessity compress the video to MPEG which is not a good format to edit.

Forget DVD - buy a reasonable mini-DV tape camera.

MarkE19 · 14-07-2005, 3:19 PM

I totally agree with what Beejaycee has said regarding DVD vs DV camcorders, well everything except:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beejaycee

not all post offices are as efficient or careful as ours.

Beejaycee, sorry mate, but what planet are you on

Mark.

14-07-2005, 5:03 PM

well I was trying to be polite, but I could put it another way : -

"and remember that post offices across Asia are even worse than our own postal services for care and efficiency"

14-07-2005, 8:02 AM	#1
Waldo Guest Posts: n/a	Best recording format when travelling Advertisement Want to Advertise? Hi, I will be travelling to asia for 6months and want to send footage home to the family(never owned a camcorder before). What is the best format for doing this?. Was looking at straight to DVD and was wondering best DVD camcorder Hitachi DV MZ580 or one of the new Sony's. Don't want to spend too much Thanks
	Quote

14-07-2005, 10:35 AM	#2
Brian110507 Guest Posts: n/a	I would have thought mini-DV was the best format - surely someone in your family has a camera here at home they could just pop the tape into and view on a TV. Mini-DV tapes are so small you can just drop them into a fairly standard envelope and drop them in a post box, DVDs - even mini ones - need to be protected in a package and run the risk of being bent in transit - remember that across Asia not all post offices are as efficient or careful as ours. Mini-DV tapes are also considerably cheaper and easier to buy than mini-DVDs and the cost might be significant if you plan to send a lot of video home. You can also get longer video on a tape than a DVD so you will need to send less often. Also when you get home of course you will be able to collect up the tapes and transfer them to your PC for editing at absolute best quality - DVD cameras of necessity compress the video to MPEG which is not a good format to edit. Forget DVD - buy a reasonable mini-DV tape camera.
	Quote

14-07-2005, 5:03 PM	#4
Brian110507 Guest Posts: n/a	well I was trying to be polite, but I could put it another way : - "and remember that post offices across Asia are even worse than our own postal services for care and efficiency"
	Quote