Camcorders anyone? i need help with them too.

[MatthewAlbasi]

:tongue:
You guys are probably sick of answering my questions at this point, but i'm gonna ask anyway. SWMBO wants to get her father a digital camcorder, and I have been tasked with doing the foot work. He would like a camcorder on the smaller side. He will be using it to video tape Motocross races that his son competes in. Trying to keep it relatively cheap as well. We were looking at the Sony NSC-GC1, but CNET doesn't seem to like it to much. Any recomendations?

[hoselayer]

The JVC GR D-750 or the updated model of this which is the 850 if I remember correctly.

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/jvc-gr-d750-mini/4505-6500_7-32330442.html?tag=prod.txt.2

It gets 8.0 on CNET.

When it comes to camcorders I wont buy anything but a JVC. All IMHO of course, YMMV.

hose

[MatthewAlbasi]

I forgot to also add, it has to be digital and it has to hook up to a PC easily

[hoselayer]

So are you looking for a hard drive, 8mm, mini DV or what?? They are all "digital". Do you want wide screen also?? For the most part, anything that is new will easily hook up to a PC with a Firewire cable.

hoselayer

[MatthewAlbasi]

A hard drive would be best.

[hoselayer]

Now the big question.....price range???

[MatthewAlbasi]

I'm hoping for something in around $200.

[hoselayer]

The Sony you are looking at is about the only one unless you want an "off-brand". Further, this is not a hard drive camcorder, its a flash drive. Big difference.

Unless you want to change formats, you are limited in choices.

[Phog Allen]

Hey fellas. I am in the same boat. We currently own a 8mm analogue Sony camcorder. What really interested me was that a few years ago, Sony and some others added a nifty feature to their camcorders. It was an analogue "pass through" function. It allowed you to connect your old camcorder or vcr via composite cables and literally pass the video through your digicam to your pc. A very neat way to do analogue capture without adding a device to your pc. Of course you got the camera function to boot but you get the idea. You kill two birds with one stone. I could not find a single camcorder with that function today when I looked. Anyone have a better solution for analogue capture?

BTW, I am leaning toward a standard def HDD model but could easily live with one of the little miniDV tape cams. We don't do a huge amount of filming or editing.

Regards, Todd

[hoselayer]

All IMHO, of course....but I feel when you compare features to dollars (or equivilant currency) you cant beat the miniDV format for the "average Joe". You can get some pretty nice, feature loaded miniDV camcorders for under $300 or less.

As far as the pass thru technique, it is "old news". For comparison, take an old VCR tape and try to upconvert it to standard def DVD. Ya its better, but you still know that its VHS. Plus, when you upgrade to a new camcorder, and stick with the miniDV, you just throw the old tapes in the new machine and uplaod to yout PC.

YMMV,

hose

[MatthewAlbasi]

So how does miniDV work exactly? It looks like one of those older small VCR tapes. I'm guessing it's a bit more complicated than that though. How easy is it to transfer this to PC?

[MatthewAlbasi]

Also, how about flashdrives? How do they perform? Also, Hoselayer. Thank you for being this fountain of information for me. It is very much appreciated.

[hoselayer]

Also, how about flashdrives? How do they perform?

They are tiny little cards like that of a camera. Most come with cards, but the biggest is only about 2GB (which for a camera is great, but camcorder it falls way short) and doesnt hold much video. So, you have to have extra cards to video anything longer than about 10 mins. Then fumble with the cards and try not to lose them. The largest card available is around 8GB that will give about 45 mins. You also have to reformat them after each use so that you can record with them again. The cards are also fairly pricey.


So how does miniDV work exactly? It looks like one of those older small VCR tapes. I'm guessing it's a bit more complicated than that though. How easy is it to transfer this to PC?

Most come with a a cable to transfer the images to your PC, but its rather slow. For around $30 more you can pick up a Firewire cable which will transfer very fast. I also saw you are looking for a camera, as long as it is USB 2.0 compatable you can use it for transfering those images too.

MiniDV tapes are inexpensive, come in varying lengths (usually 60-90 min), and can be saved (locked) or taped over with ease. It is also the current industry standard (has been for a while) so you have the future at hand also for compatability.

Here is a little info from a couple of outside sources.....
About.com...

MiniDV:

1. Uses extremely small 6mm MiniDV tapes (similar is size to DAT Audio Tapes). Tapes are played back through the camcorder via AV connectors to a VCR or TV or to a computer, using the IEEE-1394 port.

2. Video resolution is 500 lines, which is 20% better than HI8 or SVHS-C.

3. There are typically two recording speeds SP and LP, which allow 60min or 90min recording times.

4. Since the tape is so small, camcorders of extremely small size can be manufactured, some are not much larger than a pack of cigarettes.

5. Sound quality is excellent. Audio can be recorded in either the 12bit or 16bit PCM format, which can produce almost CD quality results. In the 12bit mode there is provision for in-camera audio dubbing.

6. The MiniDV format also provides for still frame capture, with some camcorders using Progressive Scan technology for more accuracy in this mode of operation.

7. Manufacturers: Canon, Sharp, JVC, Panasonic, and Samsung.


Camcorder HQ....

MiniDV
The majority of current digital camcorders use MiniDV cassettes that record DV-format video. Though shaped much like a traditional VHS video tape, MiniDV tapes are much smaller, measuring just 2 x 2.75 inches. MiniDV tapes are inexpensive (60 minute tapes are available for around $4), available in a variety of lengths, and capable of recording high quality video with 500-line horizontal resolution. Some digital camcorders support MiniDV tapes with a memory chip built in, allowing digital indexing of the tape as well as the addition of text and titles to video.

MiniDV tapes are compatible with most video editing software applications. MiniDV camcorders' current dominance of the market means that this format will be the industry standard for the foreseeable future.

[MatthewAlbasi]

As an update, I got the originla sony I was lookingat NSC-GC1. I went out and played with it at a circuit city and it seemed exactly what he would need. Thank you all for your help.