[keithnolan]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new camcorder and have narrowed my search to be between the Panasonic NV-GS35 and the Sony DCR-HC22. I will be mainly using it for holidays, christmas etc. nothing too professional. I will be transferring to PC thorugh Firewire or USB and was wondering has anybody any experience with either or both models and can give me their opinion.

From searching this site the DCR-HC22 seems to be fairly well thought of, I can't find any mention of the NV-GS35. At first glance at their specs the NV-GS35 looks way ahead with a superior optical and digital zoom as well as the ability to store still images to a memory card, however I have read that it doesn't have true widescreen capablilities where the DCR-HC22 does, I'm not sure how big a deal this really is.

[MarkE19]

I have no experience with either of these 2 camcorders, but I can at least help with a few of your points

I will be transferring to PC thorugh Firewire or USB

Just in case you were wondering which is best - Dont' use USB!!!!!!!
Seriously, USB will not give you full quality capture as it is just not up to the job. Firewire is the only way to get 100% quality off the DV tape and onto a PC.

NV-GS35 looks way ahead with a superior optical and digital zoom

Ignore teh digital zoom! If you use it, the further you zoom in the lower the picture resolution (ie quality) gets. Stick to optical as no quality is lost with it.
Also consider how shaky the picture will be with even a fairly low zoom if the cam is handheld. Even on a tripod high zooms can make the picture uncomfortable to watch as it still shakes around with the slightest movement of the cam. I only have a 12x optical zoom and even this can be too much.

as well as the ability to store still images to a memory card

IMO get a dedicated stills camera for photos and use the cam just for video. Stills from a camcorder are never going to be that good, although they are getting better.

however I have read that it doesn't have true widescreen capablilities

This could be a big let down for this cam. If you record in widescreen on this cam it will mask off the top & bottom of the CCD to give a 16:9 image. This is ok, but it lowers the resolution and therefore PQ and if displayed on a large plasma or PJ the loss may well be too obvious. However on a smaller screen this may not be noticeable.

Hopefully the above ramblings have helped a little in the decision on which cam to go for, and not just confused things even more

Good luck,
Mark.

[keithnolan]

Thanks for that Mark. I'll be sure to take all that information on board. I'm veering towards the Sony mainly because I'm yet to read a bad review of it and can find hardly any reviews of the Panasonic.

[Tonel]

There's a review of the GS35 here http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der-Review.htm

Tony

[MarkE19]

I would also strongly recommend that you get to a shop and actually hold a few camcorders. No matter how good it is on paper, if it is uncomfortable to hold you wont use it as much as you would otherwise and it will therefore be an expensive mistake.

Mark.

[neilneil]

Originally Posted by MarkE19

I have no experience with either of these 2 camcorders, but I can at least help with a few of your points

Just in case you were wondering which is best - Dont' use USB!!!!!!!
Seriously, USB will not give you full quality capture as it is just not up to the job. Firewire is the only way to get 100% quality off the DV tape and onto a PC.

Well at the moment USB 2 is the ONLY way that I can get movies off my Panasonic GS250. I believe this is because microsoft have messed with the firewire drivers in service pack 2. I bought a firewire card and windows says it's working fine but when I connect my camcorder it doesn't recognise it is attached.
Under USB2 (and it has to be USB 2 or above) I get full quality movie grabs from the camcorder with full PC control of the camcorder and no frames dropped. The only thing I can't do under USB2 is send video back to the Camcorder.

-Neil

[MarkE19]

Neil, it sounds like you need This MS Hotfix. This should get the firewire connection working fine, but if you are still having problems after installing it then do a search on the MS website for 'firewire hotfix' and install any that sound like they will cure your problems - there are a fair few available
As for getting full quality via USB2.0 well just wait until you manage to get firewire working - I'm sure you'll be surprised at the increase in PQ that it can offer

Mark.