What camcorder should I buy?

Yes, I know it’s an impossible question – but you just can’t find the information to find this out for yourself. I’m probably going to have to go into town to somewhere like Dixons or Jessops and get some actual demonstrations, but it’d help if I could have some advice from some people who know more about this than me.

My only experience has been a way-old JVC camcorder from the 1980’s which weighs the same as a suitcase and is about as large. It took the old fashioned tapes which you connected to your VCR and transferred it across to a regular VHS.

Last Christmas (you gave me your heart) but my girlfriend gave me a Mustek DV4000 – which for those who don’t know, costs about £100 and is frankly bloody awful. The picture quality when expanded onto a 21” TV becomes all pixelated and looks rubbish, no detail or clarity of image.

Compared between this and the good old JVC, it seams the old tapes can’t be beaten. I’m quiet a technophile and don’t image this to be true, but the evidence on offer at the moment, the specifications between models is just bewildering.

Can anyone offer their opinion on what’s the best camcorder for clarity of image about for anywhere between £200-£500.

I’m after something that’ll last for a long time and can do anything from capturing days out in the country to videoing my best friends wedding later this year?

Any links to sections on this website or external websites which may be of help would be appreciated.

Best wishes

Budget Sonys never dissapoint, buy MiniDV, buy MniDV, buy MiniDV I'll say it again, BUY MINIDV!!!!! Don't be weasled into a DVD camcorder, under ANY circumstances!!!!!.

Panasonic 3ccd's probably win out on image quality, but lose out on other specs, decide if you are going to burn to dvd or go back to best quality digital tape, decide if you want to capture your old analogue footage ont o your PC.

If you are going to output your shows on DVD and dont need your old footage on a PC then you can live without DV-in and AV-in.

Budget for a spare battery, a UV filter and a tripod. You'll get a better deal in Jessops and the staff know a bit more about the gear.

I get the impression that MiniDV is the way to go – I’ll stick to that.

Looking at a couple of sites I see the Sony DCR-HC22 and HC19 seam to be getting good press. The trouble is though I’ve also read somewhere someone recommending the Mustek DV 4000 – which is worrying. Who’d you believe?

At the moment, my PC is a big pile of poo, I’m probably going to get a Mac soon with a DVD-RW (the prospect of being able to do quick and exciting editing is one motivator). I’m likely very soon to get a DVD recorder also (Mr Money bags indeed), I’ve got to do something about my VHS collection, burning them onto a DVD seams a good idea.

Presumably you can do a straight burn from a digital camcorder to a DVD recorder easily? (plug in and press record?)

I can piece my way through features like AV in/out (transfer out of camcorder, transfer back in) and other stuff. My main concern is really the crispness and quality of colour, brightness and overall “quality”.

It’d be easier if each camera review was accompanied by a simple “Dots per inch” or “lines of resolution” that way the higher the score the better the picture. But such is a flaw of the internet in general, the lack of consistency and accuracy causes much confusion – anyway.

Cheers Roy, if you or anyone else have anything to add, I’ll be very happy.


All the best

[lurcher]

Hi,
£500 is going to get you into a 3ccd Camcorder, I currently have the Panosonic NV GS 120 model and the picture quality is excellent.
I see there are JVC hard drive Camcorders hitting us over the next couple of months.
Does anyone know what the picture quality will be like ?. Am I right in assuming it will be similar to the current DVD cams mpeg 2.
I am interested in a camcorder that will record several hours footage without the need to change disc/tape and offer immediate replay via access to scenes, and wondering if this is the way to go.
Not as a replacement for the Panny but a more user friendly operation for a particular requirement.

Any thoughts.

[MarkE19]

Don't get tied up in the technical side of things as it can be very misleading. Many cams are advertised as having a multi-megapixel CCD, but for video this is mainly irrelivent. In the UK all DV camcorders use the PAL TV standard that has a fixed resolution of 576 lines.
My advise is to find a couple of cams that do all you require and then get along to a local Jessops and get a demo of them. See which one feels best in your hands. Then all you need to do is find the best UK based internet price for the cam and Jessops 'should' pricematch it for you.

Good luck with the searching,
Mark.

Marks right, DPI is pretty misleading for TV screens, its a fixed resolution, so really the dpi depends on the size of your TV set!.

All of the current crop of miniDV cams give you around 500-540 lines, so as near as dammit to broadcast quality (an ambiguous term) but plenty sharp and with a 3ccd block, great colour depth, even for DV!

Forget Musteek, forget solid state for just now (when they launch an AVI DVPAL version then it's a runner) you get astounding value with miniDV and it is still by far the best consumer format.

[AFC]

I'm new to all this and have never owned or even used a camcorder but after reading lots of magazines and reviews have opted for the Sony DCR HC22 as seemed to fit my requirements. From my understanding this model has the docking station which the HC19 doesn't have?! It also has the DV in and does 16:9 widescreen.

One thing I didn't check, basically because I didn't know how to check was if this will be ok viewed on my 42" plasma. Will the picture pixelate when viewed at that size. This is now worrying me reading the earlier post that hte picture was pixelated on a 21" TV.

My camcorder is on order from Amazon who have some good prices. I had originally ordered from www.internetdirect.co.uk but this turned out to be a disaster and you can read my experience in a separate thread in the digital cameras thread Internetdirect - was Internetcamerasdirect

Cheers

JEsus H Christ - that was a luck one, last Saturday I was indeed going to get a camcorder from Internetdirect.com aka internetcamerasdirect.com. I only stopped as I thought that I didn't know enough about camcorders to buy straight away - I'm very glad I didn't now - thanks very much for the warning.

I think the best bet is indeed to go into Jessops and trial a few and then see what I can find elsewhere, and according to one earlier poster here. Jessops should price match the camera (presumably only if they have it in stovk though - is this correct or will they source it for you?)

Can I ask what is 3ccd cameras? (with reference to an earlier post suggesting Panasonic 3ccd cameras have creiper quality)

Thanks again all, you've all been very helpful.

All the best

...woops, should of spell checked, that was "crisper quality" not crieper quality, what ever the hell that means.

[MarkE19]

Jessops internet pricematching is at the managers discression, and not guarenteed. IMO if they refuse then walk out and try a different store.

A digital camcorder uses the CCD to capture the light that comes in through the lens and convert it to a digital image. A cam with 3 CCD's uses one for each of the 3 primary colours (Red, Green & Blue - RGB) which normally gives better colour reproduction.

Mark.

[AFC]

Well, I must say I'm very impressed with Amazon. I ordered on the internet on Sunday evening and the digital camera and camcorder turned up at 10am this morning. Basically one working day to process the order and one day to deliver. Amazon are not the cheapest on the net but are very competitive and obviously (in my recent experience) very reliable.

[MartinImber]

Pricematch at JEssops - brilliant - saved 200 on my TRV33

Many thanks again, I'll stop hogging the forum now and let someone else have a go. I imagine that "what camera should I buy" is a pretty common question here so thanks for your patience.

In summary.

• Buy Mini DV

• Sony budget cameras are a good place to start

• A CCD is a component which captures light and transfers it into a digital image. 3 CCD cameras have 3, one for each Red, Blue and Green - therefore producing a higher quality image.

• Visit your local Jessops where you'll be able to test out cameras and see which one best suits your needs. The manager, at his/her discretion, should be able to price match a camera with ones found online.

• Amazon is a competitive on-line alternative, not the cheapest but as it's such a large company you have some comfort in knowing the chances of the business folding and them weltching on guarantees and/or service agreements is reduced.

If anyone can add anything to this let me know, otherwise I'll say thanks and get down to Jessops at dinner (I take it Jessops is like any other electrical retailer, it's best to go mid week while the proper staff are there and not the 17 yearold monkey boys/girls)?

[MarkE19]

Yep, that just about sums it all up

One thing to remember though is that Jessops will only pricematch a UK based web site, although I have heard of people getting away with a European site as the manager obviously didn't realise
In my experience you can normally rely on the Jessops staff to be fairly knowledgeable, even the weekend ones. It obviously helps that they only sell a small range of products, unlike Dixons etc that try to sell everything with a plug or batteries

Mark.

Sorry got another question - just the one.

My girlfriend asked me why I don't buy a camcorder with a digital memory card - such as a SanDisk or something and not a MiniDV tape?

I tried to explaine in my layman terms that even "professionals" that record for TV programmes etc would use a tape of sorts. But then I got thinking and it did seam quiet a good idea - in that it'd be recorded onto a "hardrive" of sorts cutting out the tape middleman so removing any chance of loss of quality.

I don't know!?!?!

I've got an incling that MiniDV is best, but no reason to back it up - so why MiniDV tapes and not digital media cards?

Cheers