Please help me pich the bst economy hd 1080i camcorder in the uk

hotchef · 13-04-2008, 9:34 PM

I have just had my 4th child and my camcorder is buggered , so i need to upgarde very fast

i would like a hd camcorder so i can enjoy it properly ,
but i dont have a big budget

so i need so advise on what is good in the lower price bracket

and also what to steer clear off

thanks

daniel

Gazza AK47 · 13-04-2008, 9:57 PM

I bought one of these,,

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...CL._SS400_.jpg

Its a Sanyo Xacti HD700 records in either 1080i or 720p and the picture is very good, way better than my old JVC Everio 20gb HDD.

Got it off Ebay brand new for £180. It stores the clips in Mpeg4 format and plays back in Quicktime or Nero.

The seller on Ebay has a few up for grabs,,
http://photography.search.ebay.co.uk...assZluzerntech

I did have some problems with recoding but have downloaded a copy of Nero 8 which supports HD recoding.

hotchef · 13-04-2008, 10:47 PM

do you not find it a little limted with sd card?

and the format

slowpoke · 13-04-2008, 11:04 PM

The format is a little bit of an issue with the sanyos. It does take p to 8gig SDCH cards though so thats not an issue

redsox_mark · 14-04-2008, 6:57 AM

Sony HC5 (HDV tape) is excellent value; available under £400.

hotchef · 14-04-2008, 7:31 AM

The sony looks good

but with the hdv tapes do you loose quality against a disc or hard drive model.

my panasonic sometimes went fuzzy

daniel

redsox_mark · 14-04-2008, 7:48 AM

No, you don't lose quality with HDV tapes vs the high def formats on HDD (or flash media). In fact HDV models still tend to be the tops for video quality, though recent AVCHD models have closed the gap such that it is pretty much non-existant.
Don't confuse format or resolution with media. Your old camcorder I assume was not high definition.

hotchef · 14-04-2008, 7:51 AM

i found for just over £400

HITACHI DZ-BD70E Blu-ray Disc Camcorder

i saw this on the gadget show it lost to a sony thou.

cant remeber why it lost thou

but again it sounds impresive but i am reading blu ray probably into it as a selling think they have

Mr Lazy · 14-04-2008, 1:41 PM

Spend your 400 quid more wisely ie. the Sony HC5 (or any other Sony or Panasonic or Canon) over the Hitachi, the video quality is apparently not very good:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...Conclusion.htm