[paulcollins10]

Hi again,
Senu and Courtaj, you both kindly helped me in what i should be looking at for budget Mini DV camcorders and i am now down to my final 5 - I was hoping you could just give me that last push now!!

The only thing i'm now confused about is how to connect the camcorder to my laptop. It was mentioned on here, most mini DV's are connected via firewire - i don't have a firewire slot on my PC and the PC card slot is already taken up to make my laptop wireless - does this therefore have an impact on my decision?

so which of these do i go for?

Canon MD235 for £166 - Canon MD235 Mini DV Camcorder

Canon MD205 for £123 -
Canon MD205 Canon Mini DV Camcorder

Sony DCR-HC37 for £120 (special deal at my local sony centre)

Sony DCR-HC51E for £169

Or is it worth me spending that little bit more and getting:

Panasonic NVGS330EB - Panasonic NVGS330EB-S 2.7 " Wide Screen 3CCD Mini Dv Camcorder With SD Slot

Your help is greatly appreciated!!!

[A n d r e w]

I'd go for either the Panasonic GS330 or the Canon MD235 (there's an MD255 as well though I'm not entirely sure what the differences are).

Both are going to rely on a firewire connection to your computer, though, so you'd need to free up your card slot to take a firewire adapter whenever you wanted to import your video. No major problem there though.

The advantage of the Canon is that it's equipped to take an external microphone (it has a mic input) should you wish to add one as an accessory. Plus it's cheaper. On the downside it only has a single sensor.

The Panasonic has 3 CCDs (so arguably better reproduction of colour, assuming the lighting is adequate to start with). On paper it has the better lens of the two. But it doesn't have a microphone input. It's a bit pricier than the Canon.

If all that matters is the best picture quality and you're not worried about adding a mic at a later date, and you're happy to spend the little bit extra involved, get the Panasonic. Get the Canon if you think you might want to experiment with an accessory mic.

Andrew.

[paulcollins10]

Thanks Andrew.

Upon reading the spec on the panasonic it says it connects via usb 2.0 - would that therefore not eliminate the need for firewire?

Many thanks

Paul

[senu]

Originally Posted by paulcollins10

Thanks Andrew.

Upon reading the spec on the panasonic it says it connects via usb 2.0 - would that therefore not eliminate the need for firewire?

Many thanks

Paul

no it wont

I would echo Andrews sentiments on the choices ( sorry for the late reply)
The Sonys simply don't offer as much VFM
and the 205 is older less pixels for stills , although not far off from the235
Panasonic gives you OIS and 3ccd . Canon gives mic in
There is no hard evidence that Pannys 3ccds are better than
Canon single cmos. OIS is better than EIS but in practice and in low light the camcorders are close and Panny often costs £80-100 over ths Canon

Regarding firewire I would not throw away that firewire cable just yet
USB is for transfer of stills and low quality video generally
Some Panasonic's can transfer DV by USB but this is using Pannys own software and not universally suppported.At any rate Im not sure the 330 is one of then and if you look carefully youll find other some brand including the Sonys have USB too

[paulcollins10]

so in summary , in terms of VFM, you would recommend the canon over the panny and in particular the 255 over the 235???

[senu]

Originally Posted by paulcollins10

so in summary , in terms of VFM, you would recommend the canon over the panny and in particular the 255 over the 235???

No the 255 gives you USB but no Mic in otherwise it is identical to the 235 although it records still to an SD card
It is the older 205 that is somewhat near identical to the 235 with Mic in but non megapixel ( for stills)

Playing Devils advocate:
I suspect that in identical good lighting, The Panny will give a crisper video in a side by side comparison however £80-100 extra at this price point is a lot, and used separately you'd feel the video looked " different, not one better or the other worse
The pruce difference is not quite the same as comparing a £700 and £820 model where the percentage difference is less
Another point in Panasonic's favour would perhaps be the build quality: it would seen to be more "durable"
Saying that I haven't heard of anyone returning the canon due to it feeling flimsy