[civiccoupevti]

I know very little about camcorders, but i know i want one with a built in Hard drive.

I am going to be a dad by year end so i am wanting to capture everything on the camcorder.

I have £300 to spend max so can anyone recommend one for me.

any help appreciated

[redsox_mark]

Take a look at this thread (and there are other similar ones...)
Looking for decent camcorder...

The short answer is: HDD cams under £300 aren't that good.... if that is your budget and it must HDD then choose what you like the look of between Sony and JVC models in that price range; there isn't much in it.

If you want a better camcorder for £300, look at DV. If you can increase your budget and must have HDD, look at Panasonic H250 or Sony SR190... (or if you can increase it even more High Def models...)

[senu]

Originally Posted by redsox_mark

...The short answer is: HDD cams under £300 aren't that good.... if that is your budget and it must HDD then choose what you like the look of between Sony and JVC models in that price range; there isn't much in it.
..

That is infact, also the long answer. I have used a Sony and JVC HDD for that price range on test and was, underwhelmed TBH.
I suggest you up your budget , get a much better tape model, or be prepared to be , Like me at the time of testing,
to be dissapointed at the quality of the video, and features

[civiccoupevti]

i get some discount from boots.com they have the sony DCRSR32E and i can get this for £314.

is this any good?

cheers for youre help

[redsox_mark]

Consistant with the previous responses, the answer is "no, not really".

See this thread
Sony DCR-SR32E atroucious picture

It depends on your expectations though. The SR32, or other similarly priced HDD models, aren't that good compared to either DV models in that budget, or higher priced HDD models. In ideal lighting conditions it won't be bad... maybe it's good enough for you, but I would not recommend this model.

[civiccoupevti]

thankyou, what would you recommend for me then? it looks like a decent HD camcorder is out of my league for the budget i have.

It is just going to be used for filming every move of my newborn.

will be used on holiday and thats it.

I may be able to stretch to £350 but thats the max i can afford

thanks

[redsox_mark]

I would suggest

Panasonic GS320 £275
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/8-86...Prices?q=gs320

Or Sony HC96 (£322), though this is hard to get... ebuyer seem to be out of stock
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/108048

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by civiccoupevti

thankyou, what would you recommend for me then? it looks like a decent HD camcorder is out of my league for the budget i have.

It is just going to be used for filming every move of my newborn.

will be used on holiday and thats it.

I may be able to stretch to £350 but thats the max i can afford

thanks

You can get the Panasonic H250 HDD camcorder for that price and it gets very good reviews. I know a lot of experienced people here all recomend dv cameras but you you would be buying old technology with this. I guess it would be like buying a very good dvd player rather than a mid spec blu-ray player.

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by Sandman

You can get the Panasonic H250 HDD camcorder for that price and it gets very good reviews. I know a lot of experienced people here all recomend dv cameras but you you would be buying old technology with this. I guess it would be like buying a very good dvd player rather than a mid spec blu-ray player.

You will see I already suggested the H250 if he could stretch his budget. But I totally disagree with our analogy of comparing a dvd player with a blu-ray player!! Blu-ray is higher resolution...it is a technically better solution. This is not the case when comparing DV with a Std Def HDD cam. DV is actually a technologically superior solution, as it has less compression, better colour space etc. (and the same resolution).

HDD does have a convenience factor, so I have no problem if people want that and are willing to pay more and/or sacrifice quality. But to buy an inferior product only because it is "newer technology" seems daft to me.

Usually newer technology brings improved quality. DVD quality much better than VHS. High Def better than standard def. But in the case of camcorders, HDD or DVD formats this is not the case.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by redsox_mark

You will see I already suggested the H250 if he could stretch his budget. But I totally disagree with our analogy of comparing a dvd player with a blu-ray player!! Blu-ray is higher resolution...it is a technically better solution. This is not the case when comparing DV with a Std Def HDD cam. DV is actually a technologically superior solution, as it has less compression, better colour space etc. (and the same resolution).

HDD does have a convenience factor, so I have no problem if people want that and are willing to pay more and/or sacrifice quality. But to buy an inferior product only because it is "newer technology" seems daft to me.

Usually newer technology brings improved quality. DVD quality much better than VHS. High Def better than standard def. But in the case of camcorders, HDD or DVD formats this is not the case.

I stand corrected.

[redsox_mark]

If one is worried about getting old technology, I wouldn't get any standard definition camcorder. Though with a £300 budget that doesn't give you many options; you could consider the Sanyo HD2, though it's not my cup of tea...
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/8-89...Compare-Prices

[senu]

Originally Posted by Sandman

You can get the Panasonic H250 HDD camcorder for that price and it gets very good reviews. I know a lot of experienced people here all recomend dv cameras but you you would be buying old technology with this. ..

Without meaning to rub it in, HDD camcorders are newer than tape but not "better.".
In order to get them to sell the "marketing" depts of the camcorder world have had to "outmode" tape.
Apart from linear access and real time transfer DV AVI on tape (SD). is as "digital" as the mpeg2 from HDD camcorders and quality is better,
AVCHD (Hi def )is similarly not better than HDV
It is true that tape is older but the "newer formats" are playing catchup in the video quality stakes. at least for now
I love the convenienceof an HDD camcorder but I wouldnt have it as my main camcorder TBH..
And re the OPs query, the less costly ones are simply less impressive. Video clips of ones newborn (IMHO) deserve to be more than just "watchable"

[rhubarbe]

Yep. My HDR-HC1e (HDV) knocks the spots of my HDC-SD7 (AVCHD). It's just sooo much bigger to carry around.