Camcorder for Action Sports

masterclass

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Hi :thumbsup:

Im looking for a camcorder to be used for action sports, mainly mountainbiking. I have been looking at SD camcorders but i saw somewhere that mini DV cameras would catch high speed action better. So now im stuck because i have no idea what to buy. I would like the camera to have A/V input, http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/avcamcorders.htm the link lists most of them i think. Also with mini DV cameras how easy is it to transfer them onto the PC to edit and then make into movies to post on the web or then copy onto DVD.
Im looking at around £200, any help appreciated.
 
Camcorders with Av-in are a vanishing breed, especially in that price range.
I don't know of any current DV models which have it. If you can find a Canon MV960 (last years model) it would be a good choice.

Transferring video from a DV camcorder to PC is easy, but needs Firewire port on the PC; also the transfer is real time (e.g. takes an hour to copy a 1 hour tape).
 
:eek: thats quite strange, out of the whole list there i found the canon mv960 and put it on my sticky label of cameras to look at and then you came up with the same one :)
I need an A/V in to attatch a helmet cam to. As you can see from the link above all the decent cams need an A/V in port on the camera. How do i know if i have a firewire port on my PC?, the real time transfer isnt ideal but i could live with that. I dont know much about mini DV cams, can the mini DV tapes be re used or not?

Cheers for the help
 
:eek: thats quite strange, out of the whole list there i found the canon mv960 and put it on my sticky label of cameras to look at and then you came up with the same one :)
:)
I need an A/V in to attatch a helmet cam to. As you can see from the link above all the decent cams need an A/V in port on the camera. How do i know if i have a firewire port on my PC?,

It should have an input jack labelled IEEE 1394 . The six pin variety has a 5 sided shape bigger than USB and longer than a network rj45 jack. The 4 pin jack is identical to the one on the camcorder. Most laptops also have the 4 pin jack . Some desktops have both
IEEE1394 device should also be present in devices manager .
If you dont have one it is easy enough to buy a PCI firewire card for a tenner and put it in...no big deal
the real time transfer isnt ideal but i could live with that.
You dont really have much choice there... tape is linear , You can always transfer it unattended
However once on the PC you can do pretty much anything with the footage as it is now just a digital file on the PC .
I dont know much about mini DV cams,
What more would you like to know?
can the mini DV tapes be re used or not?
Yes but not indefinitely.. They are cheap enough to not need reuse though unless you don't fancy using them as a ready archive of the footage
 
Cheers for all that info.
on devices manager it says i have IEEE 1394 bus host controllers so that all seems fine. Well bassically i didnt know if mini DV's are easy or hard to use. I thought you had to stick them in the DVD drive and then load them on to the PC. Im guessing you just use the firewire lead and plug it into the PC and it transfers like a USB would.

I was wondering does sony or jvc panosoinic etc have any other cameras to compete with this one (with A/V input?)
 
Cheers for all that info.
on devices manager it says i have IEEE 1394 bus host controllers so that all seems fine. Well bassically i didnt know if mini DV's are easy or hard to use.

They are . most folk find the bottle neck to be in the transfer to PC.and the fact that 1 hr of footage on tape uses up 13Gb HDD space
Otherwise it can be dead easy if all goes well

I thought you had to stick them in the DVD drive and then load them on to the PC.

No MiniDV are tapes. ( Digital Video Tapes : Mini as opposed to the "Pro, broadcast " size Full tapes. The mini DVDS are smaller DVD discs which can indeed be put in a DVD drive. They belong to DVD camcorders.. none of which have AV in and you would consider as they have the convenience of instant playback in a DVD player but otherwise dont ( arguably) compare to MiniDVmodels in other respects
Im guessing you just use the firewire lead and plug it into the PC and it transfers like a USB would.
Yes you do. however footage on the tape is like large data streamed at high speeds . Similar to USB but not quite the same

I was wondering does sony or jvc panosoinic etc have any other cameras to compete with this one (with A/V input?)
Sony yes, ( HC 96?) Panasonic..Hmm( they are well into HDD and SD card models now).
Thier MiniDV models have less and less of features like av - in lately
 
With Sony, has HC96, but that is more money and also discontinued.
Panasonic hasn't had any with AV input for quite a while.
 
Hi :thumbsup:

Im looking for a camcorder to be used for action sports, mainly mountainbiking. I have been looking at SD camcorders but i saw somewhere that mini DV cameras would catch high speed action better. So now im stuck because i have no idea what to buy. I would like the camera to have A/V input, Helmet cameras Compatible camcorders with an a/v input the link lists most of them i think. Also with mini DV cameras how easy is it to transfer them onto the PC to edit and then make into movies to post on the web or then copy onto DVD.
Im looking at around £200, any help appreciated.

We do the Mini DV Cameras, pleasde see attached link

PC Buy It

Many thanks Annika
PCBUYIT
 

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