Could someone recommend to a 1st time buyer

[paulcollins10]

Hello all,

The wife and i are expecting our first anyday and i'd quite like to get a camcorder to capture some nice memories of the first few weeks/months.

Not being particularly technically minded i have no idea what i'm looking for. is it better to go with cassettes, DVD, memory card or hard-drive ones and what sort of spec should i be looking out for?
I'm not planning on spending much on one, couple of hundred really and i also don't have editing software or a DVD burner on my computer so want to keep the technical side down to a minimum.

Could someone please point me int he right direction and recommend me a decent one?

Thanks in advance

[A n d r e w]

Most camcorders allow you to connect them up to a TV for viewing your recordings, so you don't have to use a computer to import / edit / burn your clips if you don't want to.

Camcorders that record directly to mini DVD (not to be confused with miniDV camcorders, which record on tapes) allow you to play the DVD in something other than the camera, but they can be unreliable (e.g., some DVD players may refuse to play the DVDs), the quality is mediocre, and I think in the opinion of most around here they're more trouble than they're worth.

As far as picture quality goes, for under £300 miniDV camcorders (recording to tape) give best value for money. You can rewind the tape, connect the camcorder to your TV, and play it back that way if you like. Tapes are also an instant archive (though you'll want to look after them, and they will gradually deteriorate with repeated viewing).

Even very basic movie-making software, such as Windows Movie Maker (which comes with Windows or can be downloaded for nothing I think) will permit you to import your clips from tape and turn them into files for viewing on your PC, putting on the web, or burning to DVD pretty straightforwardly.

I think the next decision you need to make (you've already decided how much you want to spend) is what format you want to go for. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately there is no perfect camcorder, no matter how much money you have!

If you go to Amaz*n and do a search for "mini DV camcorder" you'll see what's what tape-wise. Canon, Sony, and Panasonic all offer reasonable quality miniDV camcorders between £200 and £300. Perhaps the Canon FS100, which records to flash memory, is also worth looking at (though I've heard mixed reports about how easy it is to import the clips from the FS100 onto a PC).

Post any further questions you have, and we'll do our best to help out.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[paulcollins10]

Andrew thanks a lot for your response, i'm very grateful!

I think i'm probably looking at a miniDV camcorder then but not entirely sure what sort of spec details i should be concentrating on to get best value for money - optical zoom, megapixels etc? Could you possibly advise?

in summary, what would you suggest is the best quality budget MiniDV camcorder (as close to £200 as possible)??

Thanks again in advance

[paulcollins10]

anyone??? please???

[senu]

Canon MD 235

[A n d r e w]

I'd say either the Canon MD235 or MD255: both are close to your budget limit. Feature set is going to be dictated by your budget, but I'd say these are as good as you're going to get for the money, in terms of picture quality and usability.

MD235 spec sheet here. MD255 spec sheet here.

Cheers,
Andrew.

[paulcollins10]

thanks Senu and Courtaj.

How would i connect the said Canon to my computer or TV?

[senu]

Originally Posted by paulcollins10

thanks Senu and Courtaj.

How would i connect the said Canon to my computer or TV?

All camcorders come with an AV connecting cord which will fit into the camcorder usually as a 35mm jack , and to the TV via 3 X Phono type ( called RCA) jacks.
Red and white for 2 audio channels and yellow for video.
Most TVs have one. If yours does not , it will have SCART and there are SCART adaptors for the 3 input jacks

[paulcollins10]

thanks Senu,

How about connecting to my Computer?

[A n d r e w]

MiniDV camcorders like the Canon use Firewire for connecting to PCs. You'd need to get yourself a Firewire cable and have a Firewire port on your computer.