[Lakes_Puma]

I will shortly become a dad for the first time and am toying with the idea of getting a camcorder to record all those unmissable moments.

I don’t really have a budget for one but could probably stick it on the credit card and worry about it later. That being said I don’t think I could justify any more than £500.

I have done some searching on this and other forums and see that the Panasonic GS300 gets good reviews but this it probably right at the top of my budget.

I have a reasonably high spec'ed PC and would like to edit footage on this and then probably burn it onto DVD to show on a LCD TV and maybe my projector.

I also have a decent digital stills camera so am not too fussed with the still performance of a camcorder.

So my question is what other camcorders should I audition and do I need to go to this level and budget to get good results.

[Andy98765]

Try this site http://www.steves-digicams.com/ excellent reviews. £500 seems very steep for a 800k camera.
Do recommend getting one that does 16:9 native as the finished product looks great on a widescreen TV.
Software for editing, I use Adobe Premiere and found this to be very user friendly, well much better than the rest. Don't forget make sure the DV cam and PC has Firewire, USB is too slow in transfer.

[WibXL]

Originally Posted by Andy98765

Don't forget make sure the DV cam and PC has Firewire, USB is too slow in transfer.

On paper USB 2 is faster than firewire but how that translates to real world use I don't know. The other thing is if you do go for firewire make sure your PC has a firewire port as a lot don't.

EDIT: When I said usb 2 was faster I was comparing it to firewire 400 but there is also a firewire 800 which is obviously a lot faster.

[redsox_mark]

In the £500 price range, I think the Panasonic GS300 is hard to beat. (Unless you can find a good deal on a GS250, which is discontinued). Another good site (US based) for reviews is http://www.camcorderinfo.com
If you look at their current ratings, you’ll see the GS300 is highly rated.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

For video performance, the number of pixels isn’t significant (as long as there is 800k or so). PAL video is fixed at 720x576, i.e. 414k pixels. The number of “effective pixels” is less than the total so a camcorder needs more than 414k… but 800k is enough. What is more significant is the physical size of the CCD, and the number of them. Cheaper camcorders typically have a single 1/6” CCD; in the £500 bracket you can get either a larger 1/3” CCD, or three 1/6” CCDs. A “pro” camcorder will typically have three large 1/3” CCDs.

The Panasonic GS300 has three 1/6” CCDs (each with 800k pixels) – one for each colour. This generally improves video performance over a 1 CCD camcorder… though the physical size of the CCD, and other factors such as the lens, the DSP, are also significant.

[Lakes_Puma]

Originally Posted by redsox_mark

In the £500 price range, I think the Panasonic GS300 is hard to beat. (Unless you can find a good deal on a GS250, which is discontinued). Another good site (US based) for reviews is http://www.camcorderinfo.com
If you look at their current ratings, you’ll see the GS300 is highly rated.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php

For video performance, the number of pixels isn’t significant (as long as there is 800k or so). PAL video is fixed at 720x576, i.e. 414k pixels. The number of “effective pixels” is less than the total so a camcorder needs more than 414k… but 800k is enough. What is more significant is the physical size of the CCD, and the number of them. Cheaper camcorders typically have a single 1/6” CCD; in the £500 bracket you can get either a larger 1/3” CCD, or three 1/6” CCDs. A “pro” camcorder will typically have three large 1/3” CCDs.

The Panasonic GS300 has three 1/6” CCDs (each with 800k pixels) – one for each colour. This generally improves video performance over a 1 CCD camcorder… though the physical size of the CCD, and other factors such as the lens, the DSP, are also significant.

Thanks for that info redsox, do you know if there is anything that will give comparable performance to the GS300 at a lower price band?

[redsox_mark]

Sony HC94 (just over £400) would be close in performance... or if you need DV-in the HC96 (~£450).

You can go still cheaper and still get good quality even in the sub £300 bracket... but it won't be as as good as a £500 camcorder. Whether the difference in quality is worth the money is a personal judgement and hard to say.

[redsox_mark]

This is a good thread about models in the £500 price range..
How to pick the perfect camcorder

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by WibXL

On paper USB 2 is faster than firewire but how that translates to real world use I don't know. The other thing is if you do go for firewire make sure your PC has a firewire port as a lot don't.

EDIT: When I said usb 2 was faster I was comparing it to firewire 400 but there is also a firewire 800 which is obviously a lot faster.

This is true and relevant if you are (for example) considering a USB2 vs. a Firewire drive. USB2 is slightly faster at the peak (480 vs. 400), but generally Firewire more consistent, and doesn’t put a load on the CPU.

But when talking about DV camcorders – the only way* to capture from the DV tape is to use firewire. Every DV camcorder will have firewire output. Models which also have a memory card include USB2 for copying files (photos or videos) from the memory card.

*DV was designed to work with Firewire. The capturing part of any DV editing software will be designed to use firewire only. There are ways to avoid firewire, e.g. capturing the analogue output..or maybe other solutions with some dedicated hardware… but to do a direct capture of DV to a PC requires Firewire. If a PC doesn’t have it, it is cheap to add a firewire card.