[eibborc]

Firstly have used old threads to get this far, but now am stuck

I'm looking for a new MiniDV camera for under £500, also must have AV input so that I can capture video from my old Sony Hi8 straight through to my PC.

I have narrowed my search down to:
Canon MVX460 or MVX350i (£330 / £450 resp)
Sony DCR-HC96e (£475+)

However when comparing the two Canons there is a difference between the USB connections - Can somebody advise what the difference between USB and USB 2.0FS is.

I have a new Dell PC with a hi-spec fast processor, and USB 2.0 ports as well as an external HDD, but I have no firewire and want to capture just using USB.

Any thoughts and advice please, and especially if you have used any of these cameras. Would prefer to go for the cheaper Canon if poss

Thanks in advance

R.

[MarkE19]

Canon choice.
Canon make life easy for users who want a camcorder with AV-in as the name of the cam with this feature will always end in an 'i'. Bassed on this then the MVX460 does not have AV-in and is therefore no good for your use, where as the MVX350i does!

Now for the capture bit.
You are looking to get a good quality DV camcorder, but you will ruin the quality by trying to capture via USB as it is just not up to the job. Only firewire can work at a consistantly fast enough speed to get full quality video onto the PC without problems. You can add a PCI firewire card onto the PC for around £10, so no need to worry about the cost. If you are unsure about adding the card then there are loads of people on here that can walk you through the process (it is very easy to do) or just do a search as it has been covered many times in the past.
USB2.0FS (FS stands for Full Speed) is just a faster version of USB than plain old USB (aka USB1.1), but even USB2.0 is not good enough for full quality video capture.

Mark.

[eibborc]

thanks Mark

On the Canon website it does say that there in AV-in in the tech specs, although I agree there is no 'i' on the end of the model

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Prod...PageID=26346#1

I thought UBS 2.0 was the same speed as Firewire, but if you're saying firewire is better then I'll go with that

Any other products worth considering?

Cheers

[MarkE19]

Firewire is 400mbs (there's also an 800mbs version, but this is not very common yet!)
USB2.0 is 480mbs so is actually faster than firewire

However firewire can transfer data at a constant rate where the rate for USB (1.1 & 2.0) is actually a peak rate and not contant. Video needs a constant transfer rate as the tape in a camcorder will only play at 1x speed and will not be able to slow down as the transfer rate drops on USB. Therefore you will likely get dropped frames etc if useing USB2.0 and possibly not be able to transfer at full quality. Many camcorders will only output a lower resolution picture via USB port to compensate for the variable rate.

Mark.