[FooAtari]

I'm looking into buying a camcorder for our Honeymoon next month. I've never owned one before and used one only a few times so I'm pretty clueless in this area.

While looking at different cameras and reviews I've seen several different types of media being used from hard drive, to SD card to mini DVD's etc etc and I'm not sure what the best type is. Im looking to probably spend between £2-300. I'd obviously like the picture quality to be quite decent but it's just for casual use for our own benefit. I'm not looking to put together a high quality DVD to give to friends and relatives or anything like that.

Also, how good are camcorder for taking pictures? Currently I have a "point and shoot" Nikon Coolpix 5600 but have been thinking of getting a better camera for a while now.

Thanks for the info

[senu]

Camorders as still image takers are a mixed bag.. Good for spontaneous moments. not that good as the primary camera

Formats:
DVD camcorders , I would avoid at any rate
HDD or SD camcorders for your budget exist but most are underwhelming
MiniDV tape for the money The Panasonic GS330 Canon 235 are both decent performers if you can stand the thought of tape

What I say when people say their camcorder is for casual use, is that c**p video will mean you watch the videos once and never again. as time goes on the camcorder will stay on a shelf and gather dust
We become used to BBC or Sky images and tend to use them as an unconscious basis for comparison and then wonder why our kit is so less capable
Poor low light with noise smearing, dull colours ( or oversaturated ones) with dodgy auto focus and poor audio do not make for nice viewing of even casual use
If you want to get a better performing HDD or SD card Standard definition model .. up your budget a bit
Otherwise You are in decent budget MiniDv tape territory ATM

[FooAtari]

OK, point taken on the image quality

I didn't think they would perform well for still images.

I can stand the thought of tape if it's good for another three years or so at least. I don't want to have to replace it within 12 months.

I'll look into what a decent HDD camera costs and see if I can up my budget.

Whats wrong with DVD? Not arguing or anything, just curious.

The Cannon MD235 is pretty wallet friendly at around £180. Ill see if I can find any reviews.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by FooAtari

I can stand the thought of tape if it's good for another three years or so at least. I don't want to have to replace it within 12 months.

Bear in mind that tape-based camcorders use Firewire to transfer clips to a computer, so you'll need Firewire capability on your PC. So long as you didn't just nip out and get yourself the latest Apple MacBook, you may well have Firewire already. If not, it's usually an inexpensive add-on.

Andrew.

[FooAtari]

Originally Posted by Courtaj

Bear in mind that tape-based camcorders use Firewire to transfer clips to a computer, so you'll need Firewire capability on your PC. So long as you didn't just nip out and get yourself the latest Apple MacBook, you may well have Firewire already. If not, it's usually an inexpensive add-on.

Andrew.

I have firewire so shouldn't be a problem there.

I've just seen the Samsung HMX20C mentioned in another post. It looks pretty good especailly for the cost.

I think I have narrowed it down to an SD or MiniDV camcorder. Hard drives in portable devices have never appealed to me much. A drop or bang could kill the disk.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by FooAtari

Whats wrong with DVD? Not arguing or anything, just curious.

The main problem is finding that the disc didn't "finalise" correctly in the camera and won't play. Always a downer, that. Picture quality tends toward mediocrity, much like budget standard definition camcorders that record to SD card.

[senu]

DVD camcorers were a stop gap solution to those who didnt like tape

SD card and HDD have since superseded them

Apart from the non finalising the discs were not VFM , only gave you 20-40 min max