best hd camcorder for plasma tv

[zabir]

Hello

I need a hd camcorder that will look the best on my panasonic plasma tv. Would the hd mini dv be the best or not. I have narrowed it down to sony sr12, canon hf11 or hv30. I may consider the newer panasonic hdc sd 200,sony hdr xr520, canon hv40 or hf100. I can wait a year, I know these prosumer models haven't been around for too long and may need another year before they realy get better. Because of the cost I am planning on keeping it for many years. Please advise, as I said the main use would be playing back on a hdtv.

thank you

[jonnypb]

I'm happy with my HF100 which I play back on my Panasonic 37PX70. Quality is very good in good light. It records onto sdhc which means the camcorder is compact, nice and light and very quiet as there's no HDD or tape noise. If you can find any left at Currys Digital they have good offers on the HF10 and HF100

In low light it does start to suffer a bit but unless you're going to spend £1500+ then that will be the case for any camcorder.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by zabir

Hello

I need a hd camcorder that will look the best on my panasonic plasma tv. Would the hd mini dv be the best or not. I have narrowed it down to sony sr12, canon hf11 or hv30. I may consider the newer panasonic hdc sd 200,sony hdr xr520, canon hv40 or hf100. I can wait a year, I know these prosumer models haven't been around for too long and may need another year before they realy get better. Because of the cost I am planning on keeping it for many years. Please advise, as I said the main use would be playing back on a hdtv.

thank you

All the camcorders you list will look great on your tv but remember if you plan to edit your footage hdv is much easier.

[senu]

Originally Posted by chrishull3

All the camcorders you list will look great on your tv but remember if you plan to edit your footage hdv is much easier.

Unless you have an i7 system..
HDV and AVCHD both ;look great on an HDTV provided care is taking with lighting, avoidance of jerky panning movt, sensible use of Zoom :in short good shooting techniques

What is impt for playback is that with an SD card camcorder , the card will fill up
With an HDD camcorder the HDD will fill up too
These are made to be transferred to a PC / Mac and it can range from tricky to impossible to return these to the camcorder for playback especially if they have been edited
There are several ways you can playback to HDTV ( as Hi def) from creating BD ROM discs to simply using the PS3 or a media player
.
With tape you can always replay the tape unless you reuse the tape and tape can have the edited material rerecorded to it for playback

As such while all the camcorders you list will give excellent playback on your Plasma ( LCD LED ect)) you need to think ahead as to how you playback unless you buy a card model and keep buying new cards or use the tapes ( if you get a tape model) for playback

[zabir]

Thank you for the replies. I still need to know which will look best on a plasma tv or is there not much difference between those I have listed. I might get the sony sr12, will the new sony hdr xr520 be any better. Also some people are saying hd-dv is better image quality is that right. As I said I can wait a year if things will get significantly better. I might buy the sr12 tomorrow so would apperiate a quick reply please thank you.

ps my main use is recording family for memories that we will watch back on a hdtv in years to come. image quality is the most important factor.

[zabir]

thanks senu i was typing my reply while you posted yours so i didnt get to read it until i sent mine.

[zabir]

ps my son has a chillblast pc, gtx280 quad core overclocked @3.4ghz etc

[ade4all]

hi i think in addition you should also take into consideration whether you can connect an external mic to the camera if sound is also important to you, most people will spend money seeking a good image but are unaware that the audio you capture could be so much better if you put a bit of your budget towards an external mic - the internal mic will capture all the unwanted noise going on behind you as well, put an external mic on & it will isolate that sound to some extent & record at a higher quality what you are pointing the camera at. Just a thought, sorry if it's a bit off topic

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by zabir

Thank you for the replies. I still need to know which will look best on a plasma tv or is there not much difference between those I have listed. I might get the sony sr12, will the new sony hdr xr520 be any better. Also some people are saying hd-dv is better image quality is that right. As I said I can wait a year if things will get significantly better. I might buy the sr12 tomorrow so would apperiate a quick reply please thank you.

ps my main use is recording family for memories that we will watch back on a hdtv in years to come. image quality is the most important factor.

The SR 12 gives a great picture [i have one ]its 5.1 sound is also very good but personaly i prefer to use an external mic,i also have hdv cams whose pq is good not quite as sharp as the SR 12 but as i said hdv is easier to edit if you want polished films.
The SR 12 replacement XR 520 is getting a lot of praise but as far as i can see its main improvement is in the low light department, ie it has less noise on pictures in very low light, it is a bit smaller also with other minor improvements.
OF note i need a viewfinder myself and many cams now only have lcds.

[zabir]

thanks i have just missed an offer on sr12 but will carry on looking

[cherokee1111]

Originally Posted by zabir

As I said I can wait a year if things will get significantly better. I might buy the sr12 tomorrow so would apperiate a quick reply please thank you.

ps my main use is recording family for memories that we will watch back on a hdtv in years to come. image quality is the most important factor.

Things will always 'get better' as technology improves so buy now, if you wait a year you'll also miss a year of your family which is what your buying it for in the first place.

P.S You could buy from QVC who give you a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee, I did might take away the pressure of absolutely getting the right one first time.

[zabir]

this the canon hf11 or hf10 any better than the sr12 and is the sr12 the best for still pictures

[cherokee1111]

your welcome

[ronaldkwok]

Have you considered the Sanyo HD2000 (or other models in the same series)? This is currently the only consumer camcorder that offers 1080 progressive, 60p as oppose to 1080 interlaced, 60i for the rest. In theory, the 60p should be better than 60i but I cannot really test since I do not have a full HD TV as mine is only 1080i. You may want to test this one out yourself or others who have compared the two can comment.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by ronaldkwok

Have you considered the Sanyo HD2000 (or other models in the same series)? This is currently the only consumer camcorder that offers 1080 progressive, 60p as oppose to 1080 interlaced, 60i for the rest.

To clarify, Canon and Panasonic also make progressive-enabled consumer camcorders. Progressive is not necessarily "better" than interlaced - indeed, in some situations, progressive performs less well.