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digital camcorder

lozina

lozina

Lifer
I've never owned one, never researched them but now I'd like to have one.

I was looking at Sony's DCR-TRV350, looks like it has a great price and neat features like 'Night Shot'. How do you measure a camcorder's video quality?

Any suggestions?
 
BTW wasn't thee some issue a while back about cameras with infarred? I remember some cameras getting recalled becaue of this- never really knew why it was so bad though
 
Read about 'em here.

Personally, I'll stick with Sony. Great bang for the buck. I'll also be looking at Digital8 for backward compatibility. Most important features to me after that are:
  • Image Stabilizer
  • Good lens and CCD
  • Large LCD (bigger than 2.5")
  • Lithium Ion battery (the bigger the better)
I like that you can buy Sony at your local Sears (where you can price match online retailers) or Walmart, where it's easy to return if you aren't satisfied.
 
Originally posted by: Ornery
Read about 'em here.

Personally, I'll stick with Sony. Great bang for the buck. I'll also be looking at Digital8 for backward compatibility. Most important features to me after that are:
  • Image Stabilizer
  • Good lens and CCD
  • Large LCD (bigger than 2.5")
  • Lithium Ion battery (the bigger the better)
I like that you can buy Sony at your local Sears (where you can price match online retailers) or Walmart, where it's easy to return if you aren't satisfied.
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ah, looks like they dont really like this camcorder. thanks for the site good place to compare these models
 
Originally posted by: werk
I want one of the Sony DVD Handycams!
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I was checking that one out but aren't DVD prices still pretty high? When DVDs get almost as cheap as CDs that would be a great alternative
 
Plus the TRV-350 has a touchscreen. They got rid of the buttons......im not really sure how reliable the touchscreen will be after a few years use.
 
we got the sony dcr-trv19 a couple of months ago and love it. miniDV is great quality as is sony imo. it's more money but you get what you pay for.

we were looking at the canon zr series which is a lot less expensive but they reportedly suck in low light conditions like indoors so we stayed away from them. if you'll do most shooting outdoors or with bright indoor lights they might be a viable alternative for you.
 
Sony DCR-TRV740
  • Sony has remained on top in my opinion with the DCR-TRV740. No other camcorder offers such high quality stills for such a low price. You can not find mega pixel camcorders for $800, other than the Sony DCR-TRV740. If you are looking for quality stills but are on a budget the DCR-TRV740 is a great choice combining quality video, many features and great still resolution.
"Digital8 is a joke."

Here ya go, fvcktard:

TRV7000 Digital 8 Camcorder
  • Digital8 cameras use standard 8mm videotapes. Unlike other DV cameras, which use MiniDV, 8mm offers an affordable solution without giving up much ground on quality. While MiniDV offers higher-grade media, 8mm can be much less expensive. The bottom line, however, is that both formats save your video digitally in the DV format...

    ...One real big feature with Digital8 is that they can not only play and record DV on 8mm tapes, but it can also play 8mm analog video. This is big news for people with older 8mm cameras. This means that all those analog 8mm tapes can be played on Sony's Digital8 cameras. So not only will you still be able to view the old tapes with the new camera, but you'll be able to also stream them via FireWire...
Before You Buy a Digital Video Camera
  • The Digital8 format is a good choice for the person who owns an 8mm, or Hi8, camcorder, and wants to upgrade to digital. Digital8 format features are comparable to those offered in Mini-DV camcorders, except for one key ability. The Digital8 camcorder can playback your old 8mm and Hi8 videos. The Digital8 format uses the 8mm tapes, but reduces the recording time. It can record up to 500 lines of resolution for one hour per tape. Playback is the same as with the Mini-DV and 8mm formats
Digital8?
  • Sony's Digital8 uses DV compression atop the existing Video8/Hi8 technological base. Digital8 records on Video8 or Hi8 tapes, but these run at twice their normal speed (in the NTSC world; 1.5x in PAL land) and thus hold half the time listed on the label (2/3rds the time in PAL).
    Digital8 will also play back existing Video8 and Hi8 tapes, even over 1394/i.link, allowing such tapes to be read into NLEs (at least, those for which the lack of timecode is not an issue -- batch capture utilities won't work, since Video8/Hi8 timecodes are not sent across the 1394 connection). Digital8 tapes themselves use the same timecode as DV.

    Digital8 is largely a camcorder-only format, though two "Video Walkman" portable player/recorders are available. It appears to be the 8mm division's way of keeping its customer base from defecting to DV. By leveraging the massive investments of 15 years in 8mm analog camcorders and transports, the unit cost of Digital8 gear is kept very low, roughly half of what a comparable DV camcorder would cost, and its ability to play back legacy analog tapes is worthwhile for those with large libraries of 8mm.

    Hitachi also has started producing Digital8 camcorders although these seem to be hard to come by (thanks to James M. DeLuca for bringing these "stealth" camcorders to my attention).

    All Digital8 camcorders can record from the analog inputs (at least outside the EU), and all are equipped with i.LINK ports for digital dubbing and NLE connections.

    On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is just barely video and 10 is as good as it gets, I would arrogantly rate assorted formats as follows:


    • D-5 (10-bit uncompressed digital) ....10
      D-1 (8-bit uncompressed digital) ......9.9
      Digital Betacam, Ampex DCT .............9.7
      D-9 (Digital-S), DVCPRO50 ................9.6
      DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO (D-7), Digital8 ..9
      MII, Betacam SP ...............................8.9
      1" Type C .........................................8.7
      3/4" SP ............................................6.5
      3/4", Hi8, SVHS ................................5.5
      Video 8, Betamax ............................4
      VHS .................................................3.5
      EIAJ Type 1, Fisher-Price Pixelvision 1
 
Originally posted by: lozina
I've never owned one, never researched them but now I'd like to have one.

I was looking at Sony's DCR-TRV350, looks like it has a great price and neat features like 'Night Shot'. How do you measure a camcorder's video quality?

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I have this exact camera and i love it. It's worth it, especially with a Fry's discount 😀
 

I love my Sony TRV22...got it for $584 at BB a few months back during the Preferred Customer weekend (on sale for 649 plus 10% off)

It takes excellent video. Does very decent in lowlight situations, but bought the sony $40 external light just in case.

Use it alot take the signal from my Direct TV box into the Firewire port of my pc to record shows also...
 
Originally posted by: spacejamz
I love my Sony TRV22...got it for $584 at BB a few months back during the Preferred Customer weekend (on sale for 649 plus 10% off)

It takes excellent video. Does very decent in lowlight situations, but bought the sony $40 external light just in case.

Use it alot take the signal from my Direct TV box into the Firewire port of my pc to record shows also...
Click to expand...

Hah that's pretty neat, didn't think of using a camcorder that way. Does the Direct TV box have another output so you can record it and watch it on TV at same time?
 
Hah that's pretty neat, didn't think of using a camcorder that way. Does the Direct TV box have another output so you can record it and watch it on TV at same time?
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Yep...There are two sets of outputs...I feed the Svideo signal into the TRV22 while the composite RCA out goes to the TV...

Took about 10 minutes to figure out that I needed to change the DV input from IN to OUT though (actually had to read the manual on that one)...
 
I have a Digital8 TRV-730, it's a fantastic camcorder. The only drawback to Digital8 is the size of the camcorder.
 
Well, I did it- I bought a camcorder.

I went with the Sony miniDV TRV-DCR19.

It seemed to me to be the best value, as the 22 and 33 didn't have too much over the 19 to justify the extra money, and I'm not exactly an aspiring film producer so I didnt wanna get too crazy.

The bottom line for the 19 came to $492 including shipping (no tax) from 6ave.com
 
Originally posted by: lozina
I've never owned one, never researched them but now I'd like to have one.

I was looking at Sony's DCR-TRV350, looks like it has a great price and neat features like 'Night Shot'. How do you measure a camcorder's video quality?

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

the smaller the better. I am looking at the mini-dv JVC models. Discount coupons are a plus. I recommend purchasing the service guarantee plan.
 
Originally posted by: anxi80
nice purchase. i havent visited the sony site in awhile, im kind of liking the DCR-PC105
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ooh very nice

the only thing I am worried about with most the Sony's is the high reliance on touch-screen controls, but I'll have to reserve judgement until I check itout for myself
 
yeah, but there should be a good warranty on it, if not, ill upgrade to one. might have to chance it... 😀
 
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