Hi all,
i bought a canon mvx450 but had to bring it back to the shop because of the terrible motor noise recorded by the mic. As all the review give a good score to the 450, i want to try again and buy it from an other shop. But it is almost impossible to find it on a street store. One also told me that it was discontinued. Is it true? Do anybody have any news about this?

[Spafon]

Jessops are still selling it

http://www.jessops.com/Products/Prod...px?SkuId=34922

[cjb]

I have just got one from Jessops after trialling a Panasonic 180. I read in some reviews that although a good all rounder it suffered from motor noise, but after finding the 180 a problem with hand held stabalisation I tried the 450. I have found no noise whatever on my test shoots and have been very impressed with the 450 which, for the price, is very functional.
So I would assume some units may have this noise and others not. Get it replaced if u can.

[Darkstar_surfer]

I have been looking for a Canon MVX460 but after seeing the MVX450 for £242 I am not sure if the MVX460 is worth the extra. Does anyone actually use the AV in feature and how useful is it.

[redsox_mark]

The only difference is the AV in and DV in on the MVX460.

Whether they are useful or not depends on how you plan to use it. For shooting video, editing on a PC, creating DVDs, or of course simply playing the camcorder out to the TV you don't need either.

AV-in is only useful if you want to take any analogue source and convert it to DV for editing. For example: An old VHS tape, output from an old analogue camcorder, video output from a TV, etc.

DV-in is useful if you want to save your edited projects back out to DV tape. Before the days of DVD this was really essential if you wanted to edit, otherwise how could you save your editied project? But with DVD many people simply output to DVD and don't need this. I always like to create a master copy of my editied project in the original DV format (less compressed, higher quality) which I keep as an archive.

[Darkstar_surfer]

Thanks Mark I was hopping you would reply. The question I have to answer is if AV and DV in are worth £70. I think the offer may only last the day so not much time to make my mind up.

[cjb]

and if u do use Jessops, search for the current Discount voucher and when u buy from the website u get 10% off and free next day delivery. Excellent service from a good company... and u get 28 days peace of mind, but don't open any of the sealed packs while trialling, so u can return if neccessary !!

[Bigpikle]

AV in is also useful if you want to record your finished edited movie back to DV tape for keeping long term. DVD's have a limited life compared to tape. If you record back to tape, you have a full quality original of your movie that can simply be transferred to any computer again in the future, should you wish to re-edit or make more DVD copies, or played back at full quality to a tv etc. If stored correctly, they will outlast DVD's by a large margin for keeping your movies longer term.

I too looked at the 450 vs 460 but hesitated as I felt the AV in function would be useful. I admit the price is VERY tempting though, especially if you get a 'quiet' camera

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by Bigpikle

AV in is also useful if you want to record your finished edited movie back to DV tape for keeping long term.

One small correction - it is actually DV-in you need to record the movie back to DV tape from your PC. Unless you are using video out from a PC, but of course DV is better.

The 450 doesn't have either DV or AV in, so your point is still valid.

[Darkstar_surfer]

Is there not a means of transferring to and from DV tapes and your PC without using a camcorder. If there is how much do they cost and what sort of quality do they provide. That £70 saving between the MVX450 and the MVX460 is very tempting.

[redsox_mark]

To transfer to or from DV tape you need a device which can play the tape... that means either a DV camcorder or a DV deck. However DV decks are not common and are much more expensive than most DV camcorders.

Transferring from tape to the PC is not a problem, as all DV camcorders have DV output. So with the MVX450 you can upload your footage to the PC and edit. You can create DVD videos (MPEG2 format). You can also save your edited project in the original DV format on your PC. The only thing you can't do is output this back to tape.

If you think you will want to output back to tape there is no cheaper way then paying the extra to get DV-in. If you don't think you'll ever need to do that, then stick with the MVX450.