Camcorder Info sites?

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Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,928
8
81
We were asked by my wife's parents which camcorder was on our Christmas List. So now we have to put one on it. Stopped by BestBuy the other day to see what they had and the guy told us either Sony or Canon are what to look at.

We want to stay under $500.

The Canons seem to all have higher optical zoom but he said the Sony's might last longer.

Camcorderinfo.com is a great site for reviews but does anyoen have any others that take specific models and run them through their paces and are meant for consumers?

Thanks.
 
Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,928
8
81
Just for a home camcorder. Baby on the way that will get taped a lot. Not professional at all, just general use. A family camcorder.
 
D

drnickriviera

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2001
2,463
271
136
www.dvspot.com has a few reviews, but they do offer sample videos of each one they test

I did some research a few weeks ago for my parents christmas present. I decided on the Canon Optura 30, just a few dollars higher than your budget.
 
C

Crucial

Diamond Member
Dec 21, 2000
5,026
0
71
We just got the Panasonic PV-GS15 for christmas. I have only had it a few hours but it has 24x zoom and looks very well built. It scored fairly well in the camcorderinfo reviews. $414 at butterflyphoto.com
 
Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,928
8
81
I was leaning towards Canon so far. I can't believe the Sony models only have 10x zoom. What were they thinking... Was looking at some of the top Canon ZX (or is it ZR) models or the Elura ones...
 
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CChaos

Golden Member
Mar 4, 2003
1,586
0
0
The wife and I just got a Canon ZR85 from the in-laws for Christmas. We've got a baby on the way too and a vacation coming up so they gave it to us early. I didn't know the first thing about digital video cameras before 2 weeks ago and I still don't know much. However, I was in Best Buy/Circuit City/CompUSA with my brother in law looking for a Sirius receiver and actually get my hands on the different cameras really helped me get a feel for what the differences were. If it were me shopping rather than a gift I might have spent a bit more (ZR85 was mid to high $300s), but the camera we got is still very nice. The only problem as far as I can tell is the low light performance isn't great with the automatic settings, but I've already figured out how to improve it.

P.S. I forgot to mention I've found some good prices here on tapes and accessories: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bn...age&Q=RootPage.jsp and Good Luck!
 
B

bhaney

Member
Jan 8, 2002
84
0
66
I'm in the same boat as the OP (soon to be parents needing our first camcorder for general "Gosh, isn't the baby adorable" usage) and I'm a little confused. Can someone clear up a general question about camcorder specs for me? Consider the following specs on two different Canon lines, for the image sensor:

The Elura series
1/4.5-inch CCD, approx. 1,330,000 pixels. Effective pixels: Tape approx. 690,000 pixels; Card approx. 1,230,000 pixels

The ZRxx series
1/6" CCD (charge coupled device); approx. 680,000 pixels., Effective pixels: tape approx. 340,000 pixels card approx. 447,000 pixels

How does this translate into resolution/picture quality? I've got a standard definition TV (for now), but might move to hi-def in the near future. Is the extra resolution only a benefit when using the still camera mode, or does it make a difference for video? I've got a decent digicam, so the camera portion of a camcorder isn't a big deal for me. The best video quality is....

Thanks, and sorry for the minor thread hijack!
-Brett.
 
Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,928
8
81
AFAIK, the bigger the CCD and the more pixels, the higher detail and higher resolution your can record in. WHen playing on a plain old TV you probably wouldn't notice a difference, but I'm not positive on that.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
1,005
126
Sony was better than Canon when I bought my Sony DCR-TRV19 dollar for dollar. I don't know if that's still true or not.

See...I'm not a Canon brand whore!!! :D
 
C

Crucial

Diamond Member
Dec 21, 2000
5,026
0
71
Originally posted by: bhaney
I'm in the same boat as the OP (soon to be parents needing our first camcorder for general "Gosh, isn't the baby adorable" usage) and I'm a little confused. Can someone clear up a general question about camcorder specs for me? Consider the following specs on two different Canon lines, for the image sensor:

The Elura series
1/4.5-inch CCD, approx. 1,330,000 pixels. Effective pixels: Tape approx. 690,000 pixels; Card approx. 1,230,000 pixels

The ZRxx series
1/6" CCD (charge coupled device); approx. 680,000 pixels., Effective pixels: tape approx. 340,000 pixels card approx. 447,000 pixels

How does this translate into resolution/picture quality? I've got a standard definition TV (for now), but might move to hi-def in the near future. Is the extra resolution only a benefit when using the still camera mode, or does it make a difference for video? I've got a decent digicam, so the camera portion of a camcorder isn't a big deal for me. The best video quality is....

Thanks, and sorry for the minor thread hijack!
-Brett.
Click to expand...

From what I have read the bigger ccd's are sometimes better at low light performance but it's not always the case. The higher res is also really only effective for capturing higher res stills. The video is still about the same.

 
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