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DV Camcorders

pontifex

pontifex

Lifer
Someone explain DV camcorders to me please. I don't understand any of this camcorder stuff.

is there a hard drive in the camera that it records to or do they record to memory cards, like SD, CF, etc cards or both?


my sister wants to get a new camcorder because her old one is dead or dying. and of course, me being the computer/techie guy, i get the job of trying to find one for her.

its only going to be used for family type stuff or recording my niece. it doesn't have to be anything special and something around $200 or so is what she is looking at.

i've read some other posts on here about camcorders but they either don't make sense or don't tell me anything.
 
My DV camcorder records to miniDV tapes (like these)). It also has an SD card slot to take photos.

To connect them to the computer, you use a firewire / IEEE 1394 cable.
 
and to capture to the computer, it's all REAL TIME.

however, there are some camcorders out there that record straight to disc... JVC has one out I know, 20 and 30 GB models... those record in mpeg4 I believe... maybe mpeg2 as well. Benefit is that you can drag and drop your movies to your computer... downside is that mpeg4 is more difficult to edit.
 
Try this site for info.

I recently bought a miniDV camcorder for my parents and chose that over the miniDVD. Better picture quality, easier editing, and the miniDVD's only hold 30 minutes of video.
 
a camcorder with a hard drive is a different type of camcorder.to capture the mini dv tapes to your computer you need a firewire port on your computer and then you have to play the tape while capturing it on the computer.
 
minidv all the way, 1394 is standard on tons of pcs now. even some of the nicer production based cameras use minidv. the hard drive cams are more expensive and mostly out of the 200 range. the dvd cams force you into mpeg2 compression and are usually a little pricier too. i recommend the canon panasonic and jvc minidv cams because they all have similar quality and features in that price range but camcorderinfo.com is your best bet for reviews. i bought mine online used from someone who didnt use it very much so got a nice cam with all the accessories for $150 shipped. i prefer cams that have an SD slot for still photos/small videos and have both usb and 1394 ports. I also like having video inputs on the camera too incase you want to record something from the pc/tv/vcr on a tape. circuit city has some decent deals sometimes and they have a bunch of cameras in the <$300 range.
 
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