Hard drive camcorder queries

[sidefall]

Hi,

I currently have a Panasonic GS400 camcorder which I like a lot. I dump the footage onto my Panasonic E95 hard-drive DVD recorder for basic editing, burning DVDs, and archiving on DVD-RAM.

But I have had a few head clogs and also tend to record long events (conferences, shows, etc) and tape changing is annoying.

So, I've been thinking of getting a hard drive camcorder...

Based on my initial research, it appears that only Sony and JVC make these at the moment.

And the JVC MG505 seems to be the only 3 CCD hard drive camcorder currently available (apart from the JVC MC500 which doesn't really count).

So, here's some questions for you guys:

1. Does anyone else make hard drive camcorders?
2. Is it worth considering a single CCD model, or will the picture be noticably worse than my GS400?
3. How does the MG505's picture quality compare to that of the GS400?
4. The MG505 records (I believe) a .MOD file in an MPEG 2 varient. How compatible are these files with video editing and DVD authoring software? How easy it is to do basic editing/DVD burning on a PC?
5. Are there any other 3CCD hard drive camcorders in the pipeline? (Panasonic must have something up their sleeve...)

Although I don't do much hand-held work, the optical stabiliser on the GS400 is useful to have, whereas the MG505 only has a digital stabiliser.

Any other relevant thoughts?

Thanks,

Dave

[redsox_mark]

Dave,

Does anyone else make hard drive camcorders?

No, just JVC and Sony currently.

Is it worth considering a single CCD model, or will the picture be noticably worse than my GS400?

I would't get too hung up on 3 CCDs. All being equal 3 is better than 1, but large is also better than small. Single chip camcorders with a large CCD or CMOS can compete with one with 3 small CCDs.

Having said that - the GS400 is an excellent camcorder, I don't think any of the Standard Def HDD cams will be quite as good.

How does the MG505's picture quality compare to that of the GS400?

MG505 is good, not quite as good as the GS400. Sony SR90 is similar in overall quality to the MG505 (Sony has a 1/3" CMOS chip).

The MG505 records (I believe) a .MOD file in an MPEG 2 varient. How compatible are these files with video editing and DVD authoring software? How easy it is to do basic editing/DVD burning on a PC?

With many packages simply changing the .MOD extention to .MPG is all you need to do. It is best to get a recommendation from the owner of one of these cams... but as long as you have an editing app that can handle these files editing is easy.

Are there any other 3CCD hard drive camcorders in the pipeline? (Panasonic must have something up their sleeve...)

Not that I know of. There is the Sony SR1 AVCHD camcorder; there is a recent thread on that. It's a single 1/3" CMOS, High Def, currently very limited editing support.