Camcorder Recommendations

[mrmart]

Hi all, First post for me so be kind
Going to be a grandad in the new year and want to get a camcorder for the happy couple to record those magic moments once the little one is born. Question is i'am lost to what to buy as i have not owned a camcorder for many many years. What with all the new tech stuff etc etc. Do i stick to tape or go for the new card style ones and my budget is around £150 at the moment.
Have been looking at a Panasonic NVGS90 Mini DV Camcorder, any good???? or at least point me in the direction of a camcorder that you think is better for the money. Many Thanks

[senu]

Welcome here , dont worry we dont bite
The Panasonic is definitely good for the money as are the Canon MD 205 , 235.
The newer SD card models are much "modern", very convenient for fast PC download via USB , have better battery life ( no moving parts as such) and tend to ba smaller and lighter
The Canon FS 100 and Samsung MX20 are worth a look but be aware you may be trading quality for convenience in absolute terms
There is a sticky thread on the Samsung and one or 2 on the FS100,
IF Playback via TV is your goal and quality over convenience is paramount , stick with tape
If you can spend more you get more from the SD card HDD models but at £150 your choices are limited and nothing at this price point is going to set the world on fire
HTH

[A n d r e w]

As Senu says, tape will offer the best quality video for your money.

It's also worth considering how you or the new Mum & Dad will be viewing their recordings. You can easily connect the camcorder directly to a telelvision set to watch the unedited tapes. If you or the new Mum & Dad intend to do any editing on PC (and burning to DVD to share with friends and family etc.), then bear in mind that MiniDV camcorders use a Firewire connection to transfer video, so you'll need a computer with a Firewire port.

If you don't alredy have one, a Firewire card can be bought relatively inexpensively, but it is something to factor in.

Andrew.