[navito]

Hi All

I'm looking for recommendations on mid range DVD camcorders.

Specific recommendations, things to look for, thoughts about which brand to go for.

Must be easy to use.

Many thanks

Navito

[MarkE19]

This is becoming a common question as these type of camcorders become more popular. Have a read of This thread for some points on them.

Mark.

[jomike]

As you can see from the above link, there are roughly 2 schools of thought on DVD cams, the purists who (correctly) say that they do not offer picture quality as good as a mini DV cam, and others like myself who maintain that they offer perfectly acceptable picture quality. I have the Sony DVD203, and can highly reccomend it. The DVD403 is even better if you can afford it (3M pixel CCD). They are very easy to use, being aimed at beginners. The 8cm DVDs are getting cheaper to buy as demand for them increases. You can also use a RW disc and copy your footage to the PC via USB (Unlike miniDV you do not lose any more quality using USB as you are transferring data) or by putting the finalised disc in your DVD drive, then reformat the RW disc and reuse it. You can then edit the clips using a specialised mpeg editor such as Video redo or Womple mpeg wizard (amongst others) and burning a (fullsize) DVD using eg. Nero. You can also, of course, play the finalised disc in your DVD player straight out of the camera. The Sony build quality is to their usual high standards.
The best is to try a few camcorders and see what suits your paticular needs.