What camcorder should i buy

[aesp1408]

Hi i am a complete noob and have never had a camcorder and would like some advice on what make and model to buy.

Just to be used for family use and holidays.

Have looked at Sony and Jvc also should i go for miniDV, Hard drive, DVD, DV, or HDV

Also whay dose it mean when it says hybred

[A n d r e w]

Hi there,

A bit more information might help here:

1. How do you intend to view and share your home movies?
2. Do you want standard definition or high definition video?
3. Do you own an HDTV or any other home cinema gadgets?
4. What kind of budget do you have in mind?
5. Have you taken a look at any camcorders in a store, and if so, which did you like the look of the most?

As well as Sony and JVC, Canon and Panasonic are popular brands.

MiniDV offers the best picture quality for camcorders under £300. Good high definition camcorders, which record to either SDHC flash memory or harddrive, start around £400. Camcorders that record straight to DVD don't have many fans around here.

"Hybrid" refers to a camcorder which records to both harddrive and SDHC card, though is sometimes used even when the only things that get recorded to SDHC are stills images.

Andrew.

[aesp1408]

Hi Andrew thanks for your reply.
I was going to view them on my PC if i can.
I was just going to go the standard route to start with and see how i go.
I do have a Sony Bravia LCD TV and my budget would be £200 - £300

I am also going to the USA soon and thought they might be cheaper to buy over there.

Any advice on which way to go would be grateful.

Alf

[A n d r e w]

Right, well for £200-300 your best bet is miniDV (tape). If you do a search on Amaz*n for "Canon mini DV" or "Sony mini DV" or "Panasonic mini DV" and so on, you'll see what's out there and for how much.

In that price range there's also the Canon FS100 which a few people on here own - though it has received mixed reviews. It records to SDHC flash memory cards.

Out of the two, I'd back miniDV for being the simplest to import to your PC, though importing from a camera like the FS100 isn't rocket science, either. With a miniDV camcorder, your computer needs to have Firewire support (a.k.a. IEEE 1394): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire

Camcorders do tend to be cheaper in the States. The problem is that you'll get an NTSC camera, not a PAL one. Does this matter? Well, if you're only going to be viewing the videos on your computer and uploading to the web for friends and family to watch, then no - it doesn't really matter. But if you want to make DVDs to share, things can get a bit more complicated. This issue is discussed frequently here, so do a search for "NTSC" and read the relevant threads.

Andrew.

[aesp1408]

Thank you Andrew for taking the time and explaining a few things too me.
I will take a look on Amazon and take a look at the makes you mentioned.
I will also look at the Canon FS100 .