[Reaperman]

Gents
I am looking to replace my current "micro tape" DV camcorder with something a lttle mor up to date...

My spec is

HDD/SD
30g min
20hrs continuous recording (SD)
£300 MAX

Any ideas...?

[senu]

If by your "micro tape" , you mean MiniDV, the HDD models arent nessesarily more up to date,
Although the technology is more recent there are still recent tape models too
HDD itself may be ousted by flash card soon

If you are used to good quality from the tape camcorder, you may want to be aware that the lower cost HDD models are not goning to win any medals for video and audio quality

Also 30Gb will not get you mpeg2 files of up to 20hrs , If it does, the quality will be seriously questionable.
DVD uses mpeg2 , at best quality that is 4.7Gb /hr or 4.7Gb for 2 hrs at "standard" PQ. beyond that you may be looking at VHS or VCD type
Deducing from above you'll need about 50Gb to get you 20hrs at "standard" quality

I would suggest you
Buy within your budget but be aware of the difficulty in getting acceptable quality ...and a big enough HDD
or
Up your budget to £4-500
Ironically , by doing that you may be getting to Hi def territory
Good luck

[gaffer-uk]

I'm looking as well, check out the hitachi dhzs-500e at empire direct, was 400 now 200 quid. Matches your spec with change as well, not many reviews on it but looks a bargain.

[senu]

Be careful. Many camcorder bargains are that .. because they don't sell

This may be a good model but Hitachi have not addressed the camcorder market seriously enough to not be wary when they have a low cost "unreview ed" model IMHO

Originally Posted by gaffer-uk

I'm looking as well, check out the hitachi dhzs-500e at empire direct, was 400 now 200 quid. Matches your spec with change as well, not many reviews on it but looks a bargain.

I have an DZ-HS500E, bought new for £179 (well known auction site), it does everything I want. See here for Hitachi spec http://www.hitachidigitalmedia.com/p...ion&pt=4&pg=15

I am not using it for anything but point and shoot (wildlife, aviation and railway), and am really pleased with the quality (for the price), the 30Gb HDD gives only 7, 11 or 23 hours, depending on quality. It also has a 8cm DVD drive built in, for recording and dubbing.

The focus seems fast to me, though I should say this is my first camcorder.

I believe the 501 version is better quality?