£250 for Panasonic SDR-H40 or SDR-S7 or Canon FS100?!

[liamjf]

Hello, hopefully someone will reply to yet another "whichcamcordershouldibuy?" thread as I have spent hours reading here and everywhere else and still none the wiser!
I've decided it's time to get a camera as I want to capture some film of my new daughter growing up!
Read quite a few threads and basically decided:
Dont want High Def as they are more expensive, I dont have a HD TV, I don't have a Blue Ray burner on my PC or a Blu Ray player, my PC probably isn't up to handling the editing of the video.
Much prefer SD cards or even hard drive recorders as I can just connect them to my card reader/USB and download files. Should be a lot easier to edit and make DVDs to send to parents etc.
The three models in the title are favourites but I am not sure which will have the best image quality. As far as I can tell the Canon suffers in low light but the battery does last for 3 hours which is a great bonus. I'm not sure if the diference between the two Panasonics is just the additional hard drive on the H40 or if the quality/features differ.
Does anyone have any thoughts?
I've seen the Panasonic SDR-S7 for £168
the Canon FS100 for £200
and the SDR-H40 for £240.
Any others I might consider?

Thanks in advance, Liam.

[liamjf]

Anyone?

[newbie1980]

yes i have thoughts!!!

I am not yet familiar (will go off and read) the SDR-H40, but have held both the S7 and the FS100 in my hands today.

I too have been looking for a camcorder for a few weeks to film my 14 week old daughter

originally wanted an HD cam, i do have an HDTV, but now i am thinking to get a cheaper one and go for an HD cam in a year or so, provided I will actually use a camcorder, since I have never owned one before.

The FS100 is definitely a bit better than the S7 in my opinion. but as you know it is an extra 30-50 quid, depending on where you buy. I however really like the panasonic because it is so small. plus it is less than 200 quid so even if i only get it out twice a year, I won't feel like i've wasted too much money.

I know this isnt very expert/technical advice since I have never owned a camcorder before, but I hope this helps a bit. My final advice is, go to a place and actually try them out before you buy any of them

[daz4590]

i bought my canon fs100 for £220 a week ago and am really impressed. its light but sturdy and outside footage is great - inside footage isn't the best but when it's static near some light from a window its not bad.

check out my review and some sample clips from the camcorder at:
http://daz4590.co.uk/wordpress/?p=46

Have fun picking a nice camcorder!

[liamjf]

Thanks Daz, had already looked at your review so cheers for that!
Perhaps you could let me know how you have got on transferring your videos to your PC - One of the reasons I am drawn to the SDR-7 and the FS100 is that they both connect via USB (which I have on my PC) instead of the DV tape cameras via Firewire (which I don't have). Is it easy to transfer/edit/burn to DVD the mpeg2 files?
I have seen all 3 cameras in the flesh but not actually held them - Jessops was just closing but I am actually put off the SDR-7 and the FS100 as they are so small! I'm almost tempted more by the SDR-40 and other hybrid varients as they look easier to handle! However I know even less about these models and not sure what files they write and wether they have usb/firewire outputs etc. And they cost more!
The SDR-H40 appears to be similar to the SDR-7 but with an added 40GB hard drive - it still takes memory cards as well. However I'm not certain! The specs for the two Panasonics are certainly similar but the maximum aperture is listed as F1.9-F4.3 on the SDR-H40 and F1.8-F2.4 on the SDR-S7 which would indicate the SDR-S7 has a better lens (Certainly should be better in low light-especially at the tele end of the lens. However, the H40 goes wider (1.8mm) than the S7 (2.3mm). Not sure how much difference that makes. Also the S7 has Electronic Image Stabilizer and the H40 an Advanced O.I.S (optical?). Again, not sure which is better.
Whilst we're at it the Canon FS100 has a maximum aperture of F2-F5.2, making it, in theory, worse than both Panny's in low light. It has an Electronic Image Stabiliser. It does, however have a slower shutter speed than the Panasonics (1/6th sec compared to 1/25th sec)
Of course, specs mean next to nothing in the real world so I was hoping someone had used both and managed to compare!
Anyone know of any good review sites?
Cheers for the replies guys, Liam.

[daz4590]

just to answer your question, for the pc there is some supplied software which I havn't used but you quite easily just drag the .mod files off the camcorder which comes up as a external disk drive into your own folder heirachy. As I use a mac the supplied software does not work so I just drag and drop.

[liamjf]

Cheers Daz, I'm justa bit confused as your blog of getting FS100 video files on to your PC at all (never mind burning to a dvd!) seems very convoluted whereas Canon (and Panasonic!) reckon it's oh so simple!
DVD authoring programs (Ulead etc.) also say that they are compatible with any kind of DV Cam so I'm a bit lost!

Cheers, Liam.

[newbie1980]

got the panasonic sdr s7 today and so far i love it. i tried the canon in the shop as well but didnt like it all that much. slightly better than the pana but not worth the extra 50 quid IMO, plus i just love how small the pana is

[daz4590]

Originally Posted by liamjf

Cheers Daz, I'm justa bit confused as your blog of getting FS100 video files on to your PC at all (never mind burning to a dvd!) seems very convoluted whereas Canon (and Panasonic!) reckon it's oh so simple!
DVD authoring programs (Ulead etc.) also say that they are compatible with any kind of DV Cam so I'm a bit lost!

Cheers, Liam.

just to clear it up, getting the files onto the computer is easy with Canons supplied software and without it. its just when you want to edit it which will mean you might have to do something however i updated the blog yesterday i don't know whether you saw it but the software SDcopy makes it really simple apparently.

[liamjf]

Cheers Daz, I haven't checked your update to your blog yet but I will! I will definitely want to edit the files into a DVD I can send to relatives!
As an update, I went into Jessops yesterday (Charing X branch) to test out the three models for themselves. However, they only had one (FS100) in stock and when I asked to see it in action despite faffing around for about ten minutes he assistant admitted he couldn't turn it on! (assume battery, which wasn't in camera to begin with was flat but can't you use a mains adapter?)
Suffice it to say that Jessops have no chance of my custom!

Liam.

[daz4590]

yes i found jessops service far from satisfactory when I was looking at a camera last year...i seemed to know more than they did...

[crazyal]

In case people are worried about the .mod file format of this camera, simply rename the created files to .mpeg and jobs a good 'un.

Saves faffing with file conversion anyway.

Got mine last week and so far am very impressed for the money. Quidco is tracking so all in all I paid £162.

[liamjf]

Well another few days of web browsing and I have changed my mind again!
Now I'm coming round to the idea of using mini DV tapes as apparently they are of a higher quality and the cameras cost less.
So I've had a look at (in Jessops again!) the Canon MD-235 which can be had for £165 at Pixmania. (Actually it was the MD-215 in Jessops as they don't have the MD-235 but they look the same. The MD-235 has a better sensor)
Anyway, I was impressed with the MD-235 (It has a viewfinder as well which I think makes it a lot easier to handle) and it's not too small!
So my plan is to get this, and then some JVC tapes (does it matter about brands of tape?) and then buy a firewire/USB card for my PC!
Finally I'll need some software. I've seen Sony Vegas Platinum (8?) and Ulead 11.5. Any thoughts on which is better? (Actually, one of the firewire cards I've seen comes with a basic version of Ulead 8LE, will that be enough to make a basic DVD or is it too basic?
I've discounted the Panny SDR-7, and the H40 as they are 1, too small and 2, too expensive so it's a straight shootout between the Canon FS-100 and the MD-235.
Any final thoughts either way?
Cheers, Liam.

[Barky]

I got a FS100 for my sisters birthday. Its absolutely rubbish, my 3 year old Panasonic GS150 miniDV is far far better! I'm taking it back to get a refund, it is shockingly bad, inside footage is just so grainy with lots of pixelated colours. Avoid at all costs if you plan to shoot indoors under normal lighting! So now I don't know what to buy her, planning on giving her the money instead so she can put it towards getting a Panasonic SD9.

[fastra]

Originally Posted by liamjf

Well another few days of web browsing and I have changed my mind again!
Now I'm coming round to the idea of using mini DV tapes as apparently they are of a higher quality and the cameras cost less.

I think I've come round to this way of thinking now.

Had a FS100 for 4 months and sent it back (see my comments here)

I think while these things look very nice and all that, the fact is that the technology behind them hasn't advanced enough to compete with MiniDV - well for £200-250 its not anyway.
Sure if you spend on a HD camcorder then you'd be happy.

But for my £250 I'm going to be looking at either MiniDV or DVD.