Flash based vs HDD based Digital Camcorder?

[FuryofFive]

im in the market for a digital camcorder, to use with my laptop(for quick viewing or easy upload to an ftp server for playback on a website)

i have some concerns that ive been reading about

Flashbased are smaller it seems with lower battery life.,and uses SD or SDHC cards
and the HDD have more capacity

maybe someone could shed some light on why maybe the flash based ones cost near to the amount of some of the HDD ones

im also concerned about the file output..i though canon did .MOD's and jvc have there own format...id like to do mpeg2 or .wmv
am i also concerned about battery life, i dont mind spending for an extra one...but prfer them to be with the most life
and if anyone could give me some suggestions. anywhere between 200-500/600$ would be good.

 

[Kaido]

HDD-based cams have more capacity, but are more prone to damage because the hard drive has moving parts inside. Flash-based cams have less capacity, but you can swap out memory cards easily and they have no moving parts inside. Personally I'd recommend a Flash-based model, such as the amazing Canon HF100.

 

[FuryofFive]

does canon output to mpeg or wmv. cuz i wanna put this on my laptop on the go, and not have to fiddle with a different format, if i have to. then thats fine
i was eyeballing the Sony HDR-SR11 but its nearly 1000$$$

 

[yadda]

FYI...Not to confuse things even more.

But here is a web site with a lot of info:

camcorder info

good luck...

Y

 

[FuryofFive]

yeah ive been using that site lately ive actually been looking at the HDR-TG1, its a handheld camera, the quality of the cam is awesome, ive seen some sample clips and its crazy good well comparing to my older pv-gs9 mini-dv cam. runs circles around it. and i like portability of it, but im not sure. cuz id have to convert everything down to mpeg2....from the .mts format

what do u guys think of
HDR-TG1 vs Vixia HF10/HF100(cheaper)

 

[FuryofFive]

im still wanting to get the hdr-sr11
soon enough everyone will have an hdtv of some sorts... and those 3 cameras put out some nice quality

 

[theblackbox]

just remember, conversion costs quality. you lose some quality when you convert formats. i use hdd and am very happy with it. i try not to drop my cameras or mistreat them, so damage is the last thing i worry about. my laptop takes a far worse beating and the hd is fine.

 

[FuryofFive]

i know, ill probaly keep a bunch on my computer, and ill probaly have them stream online, maybe not with the full quality, probaly not even the 2nd highest... but it will look better than my pv-gs9, plus i can archive the video on an external drive if ever needed

plus i have post about teh size of an external drive for this, if u could maybe share some input on that. i dont know how much i would need. i know 250 would have been more than enough for the other cam...mainly because i had video at 320x240.

 

[sygyzy]

Are HD, DVD, and Flash camcorders really mainstream now? Aren't most "serious" or flagship models Mini DV based?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Are HD, DVD, and Flash camcorders really mainstream now? Aren't most "serious" or flagship models Mini DV based?

tapes and their mechanisms are a lot bigger than 1.8" hard drives and several orders of magnitude larger than SD cards.

so, while the tape mechanism doesn't add much to a professional model camcorder with a large lens and a big microphone, it wouldn't be possible in the models that are smaller than a beer can.