MiniDV or MiniDVD?

[hevnsnt]

Well, it is time for me to start looking for a camcorder now.. Which format should I choose, or has anyone already done all the research? I am thinking I want to go with MiniDV, because I can't believe you only get 30mins of recording on a MiniDVD..

We are looking for something small, to record our coming baby, needs to be able to hook to my computer easily and take good shots.. (HD is not out of the question either)

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[loic2003]

Mini DV x 100000.

 

[hevnsnt]

ok cool that is what I figured.. Any specific camera/brand?

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
ok cool that is what I figured.. Any specific camera/brand?

It's not so much the brands as the features.

You want a top loader, with an external mic jack, stereo sound, good optical zoom (8X at least), and S-video out. I'd recommend either a Samsung or Canon all things else being equal.

 

[hevnsnt]

:beer: thanks, I am just now starting to research them.. Thanks for the tips.

 

[0roo0roo]

dvd is a joke for camcorders. too little space means sh*t video quality. tapes hold many gigs

 

[Kenazo]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
dvd is a joke for camcorders. too little space means sh*t video quality. tapes hold many gigs

Do those things skip?



Why hasn't anyone made a camcorder w/ a hard drive?

 

[0roo0roo]

tapes are cheap per gb

 

[loic2003]

yeap, and who wants something as delicate as an optical drive in their camcorder? No way I'd strap that onto my motorbike.

I went for a canon MV600, but the thing packed up something like 3 months after the 1 year warranty expired. It only had about 3 hours of footage taken on it ever and the CCD packed up. Naturally it was going to cost pretty much the same as a new camera to repair.

 

[RossMAN]

Budget?

Dell had the very nice Canon Elura 90 for only $464 with NO SALES TAX in Kansas.

Dell is expected to release new coupons in about 6 hours from now.

 

[hevnsnt]

Well there really isnt a "budget" per say.. We want a great camera that will be small enough to carry around with us, easy to pull videos onto the computer.. I would say probably less than $1000

 

[GML3G0]

Canon Optura line. I have the Optura 20. It's nice.

 

[Quasmo]

Originally posted by: Kenazo

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
dvd is a joke for camcorders. too little space means sh*t video quality. tapes hold many gigs

Do those things skip?



Why hasn't anyone made a camcorder w/ a hard drive?

they have them but not on the consumer end... its called the firestore. I believe Canon makes it. It allows you to record onto a hard drive.
Tapes hold 15 GBs of data, and completely uncompressed, but you can have the problem of dropouts where the signal fades and you get bad quality.

 

[randalee]

Tape = uncompressed -- DVD = major compression...

Tape wins hands down in my book.

 

[cbcjs]

I am surprised by everyone's input...I thought mini-dvds would win out due to
its convenience. I have sony dcr-trv10 mini-dv and rewind/fast forward/search
is one big hassle! Thinking dvds would be far more convenient to upload to computer,
see on tv via dvd player, upload to webpage - etc.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: randalee
Tape = uncompressed -- DVD = major compression...

Tape wins hands down in my book.

...and with a firewire connection, DVD burner, the right software, and a little practice, you can easily transfer your tapes to full sized DVDs.

 

[randalee]

Well here's the deal... Tape is lossless -- ones and zeroes from tape to my hard drive, and back to tape again, with same quality as the master. As soon as you introduce compression, quality goes down the tube. Yes, DVDs still look great, but have you compared your master DV tape to a compressed DVD copy?

Why would anyone ever want their "master" to be in a compressed format?

 

[Quasmo]

Originally posted by: randalee
Well here's the deal... Tape is lossless -- ones and zeroes from tape to my hard drive, and back to tape again, with same quality as the master. As soon as you introduce compression, quality goes down the tube. Yes, DVDs still look great, but have you compared your master DV tape to a compressed DVD copy?

Why would anyone ever want their "master" to be in a compressed format?

because they're dumb and Sony introduced it therefore it must be good. Also who would want their master copy on volitile optical media. People are dumb, Sony is dumb, only 30 minute DVD media is dumb. I hate Sony (sony = bad ideas for the dumb consumer)

 

[amol]

Originally posted by: cbcjs
I am surprised by everyone's input...I thought mini-dvds would win out due to
its convenience. I have sony dcr-trv10 mini-dv and rewind/fast forward/search
is one big hassle! Thinking dvds would be far more convenient to upload to computer,
see on tv via dvd player, upload to webpage - etc.

There's your problem.

 

[cbcjs]

A little help here guys...is the mini-dv the best/only option? anything else.

I was thinking about getting a Hitachi dvd camcorder but looks like that will change.

 

[hevnsnt]

Originally posted by: Quasmo

Originally posted by: randalee
Well here's the deal... Tape is lossless -- ones and zeroes from tape to my hard drive, and back to tape again, with same quality as the master. As soon as you introduce compression, quality goes down the tube. Yes, DVDs still look great, but have you compared your master DV tape to a compressed DVD copy?

Why would anyone ever want their "master" to be in a compressed format?

because they're dumb and Sony introduced it therefore it must be good. Also who would want their master copy on volitile optical media. People are dumb, Sony is dumb, only 30 minute DVD media is dumb. I hate Sony (sony = bad ideas for the dumb consumer)

haha

 

[lepper boy]

I recently picked up a PV-GS150 (panasonic 3CCD) and was a little worried at first about the quality of it when you put it on dvd..

I must say, that after burning the first DVD.. I Am happy with it. It looks the same if not better, then the picture on the regular TV.

I can live with that kind of quality.

Still trying to figure out the whole pasting and cutting video's but that will come.

Take a look at the 3 ccd cameras you wont' be disapointed.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: cbcjs
I am surprised by everyone's input...I thought mini-dvds would win out due to
its convenience. I have sony dcr-trv10 mini-dv and rewind/fast forward/search
is one big hassle! Thinking dvds would be far more convenient to upload to computer,
see on tv via dvd player, upload to webpage - etc.

its because dv isn't as highly compressed as even dvd video. its because it cant be while filming real time. theres no time to do two pass compression, so bitrates are high to compensate. dvdr is only 4.7gb. and well dvd movies tend to be 2 layer 8.5gb videos already. dv is much higher. so you can see how inadequate mini dvd would be for video. s ure they can try using mpeg4 or something,but its all a load of sacrifices for low bitrate lousy video. i'm sure there are situations where the convenience of an instant disc are worth while. but for most people its not worth the quality sacrifice. one mini dv tape holds 13gb alone.