[R08]

Hi,

I'm about to buy my first camcorder and I'm trying to choose between these 3 hard drive based models:

http://www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id=...K&catid=100094

http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProdu...ard+Disk+Drive

http://www.panasonic.co.uk:80/html/e...trackInfo=true

Given that I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to this stuff I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice from anyone who does.

Thanks In Advance,

Rob.

[senu]

They are all "entry level" HDD camcorders.
I don't think there is a great difference but unless things have changes in the last few months, I have not personally been wowed by the lower cost HDD models.
The promise of many hrs art very suspect quality, poor low light and motion handling and not great audio have been my own experience
Maybe someone on here will have something more positive to say but Ive found that the £4-500 mid range models seem to be worth the extra but at that price range there are competing even better tape models ( Hi def too)
Do a search on here for HDD camcorder and see what previous threads have stated

[R08]

Wow,

thanks for the prompt reply.

Recording time is not really an issue for me, the thing that's been putting me off the DVD and MiniDV models is more my own ignorance than anything else.

So please feel free to broaden my horizons a bit.

What I'm basically looking for is a camcorder costing between £250 & £300 that I can connect to my Core Duo MacBook and transfer the captured footage for editing in iMovie or possibly Final Cut Express...

I've heard some good things about the Canon MD235 but looking at the specs it doesn't seem to have USB or Firewire ports for connecting to the computer, am I missing something?

Once again thanks for any help or suggestions,

Rob.

[senu]

The canon does have firewire; It is defacto in a minidv camcorder

Tape technology is mature , perhaps "old" but has the best video quality for the money at the lower price range.
While you may find it had to think of tape as a digital recording medium next to HDD or flask card, it is.. once the video is off the tape it is the same as if from HDD
The issue with tape apart from perception of old tech is that transfer is real time and access to clips until they are on PC (or Macs) HDD is linear
Also the DV SVI clips are huge 13Gb /hr
But some of us still like it for quality and video editing software are "used" to it
One other advantage is that DV AVI ( the format from tape) does not degrade with repetitive effects and rendering ( so -called generational quality loss) as badly ( if at all) as mpeg2 ( from non tape camcorders)
However, if you aim to spend more, The HDD camcorder have quality which is very close to tape but have the advantage of Direct access, to clips, very quick non-real time USB transfer, smaller files and less time to turn to DVD if editing is not desired
As such there are advantages and disadvantages of both.
Lower cost HDD camcorders let the side down with quite poor video quality which may actually have the effect of putting you off using them

[R08]

Ok,

after doing a lot of reading I finally understand that MiniDV can be transferred to the computer in real time which is fine by me, I'm in no rush as long as I can get the footage onto the machine to edit then I'm happy.

Sorry to keep pestering but I just can't seem to find any real source of reviews for camcorders.

What would be a good choice of camera for me? I just want something that will work reasonable well in different kinds of light and can give me a good, detailed stream to work with at 720 * 576 (preferably wide).

As I said before, I've had a couple of people mention the Canon MD235 to me but at about £180 I could afford to spend a little bit more if need be (up to about £300).

If anyone can point me to a better model closer to this price point it would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Rob.

[senu]

camcorderinfo ( american with perhaps different model nos) is a respectable source of reviews but even they don't review everything
PS : I dont know the MD235 and guess it would be unwise to comment on it based on specs alone

[R08]

Thanks for the pointer, I'll get reading...

[John7]

You can get a 3CCD hi-def model from Scan for just over £300 - records to DVD and/or SD card

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=782248

[senu]

Originally Posted by John7

You can get a 3CCD hi-def model from Scan for just over £300 - records to DVD and/or SD card

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=782248

It does seem fine although Im not sold on DVD camcorders as a matter of personal preference . ( not dismissing them)
I would ensure mac compatibility though

[R08]

Thanks so much for all the advice,

I ended up busting the budget after seeing the HDC-SX5 and going for this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-HD...8013954&sr=8-1

Just hope it's worth all that hard earned, reviews of it are excellent anyway.

Once again, thanks a million for taking the time to read this post and offer advice.

Rob.

[senu]

No worries
do a search here in these forums before hitting the "buy":button( if you have not already done so)
it is well liked