Need help deciding which HD camcorder PLEASE!

[tbird2340]

I need help deciding which camcorder to get.. Camcorder will be used for BASIC home video shooting (kids, sporting events, picnics, etc)..

My price ceiling is $700. Today I found a Circuit City that had ONE HV20 left for $659..

It's between:

HV20 (MiniDV)
HG10 (HDD)
HF100 (Flash)

Now, the major difference I see between these three is the media.. The pros for the MiniDV and Flash media cameras are that you have the actual tapes / flash card for backup.. With the HDD you don't have any backup unless you burn to dvd/hddvd..

So unless someone has a good reason to choose the HG10 over the others I guess that one is out?

So between the HV20 and the HF100 which is better? Like I said.. I really won't be using this for any "professional" use..

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[JBT]

With the HG10 can't you just move the video to another drive? I belive it does have a USB port.
it here for $659 http://www.amazon.com/Canon-AV...&qid=1210037476&sr=8-1

 

[gsellis]

HDV (MiniDV) has more information in the stream than the AVCHD streams. Plus, you can put a tape on the shelf and not worry about a head crash losing your videos. A tape is a 13GB backup of your video.

 

[twistedlogic]

I'm using the HV20 and I really like it. Haven't tried any other camcorders so I can't comment on a HDD based camera. But if the HDD isn't solid-state drive, I'd be weary of how long the HDD will last.

The problem I have with the tape based system is the lag from the mechanics, so it can be tricky to line up takes. But transferring the video to PC isn't a problem when you're using Firewire to transfer the video, as they can be separated by timestamps.

IMO, one of the biggest plus for the HV20 is the user base. Check out www.hv20.com, theres tons of info to get you started. Not sure if the HG10 has the same following.

And check out Kaido's post on the HV20. Some good info also.

 

[Zzzt]

The HG10 and HV20 both use an older HDV compression which is higher bandwidth, but has always been more artifact-free. The newer AVCHD codec has the potential to be as good or even better, but hasn't been quite as nice as HDV until arguably the HF10/HF100.

HDV has more bandwidth, but more bandwidth doesn't necessarily mean better video. Think how nice a divx video looks when compared to a standard mpeg-2 video at a few times the bandwidth. Divx is superior at less than 1/4th the bandwidth... This difference between HDV and AVCHD isn't anywhere near as extreme, but you get the idea.

HDV also only records at 1400x1080 instead of the 1920x1280 that . I guess the better compression makes up for the 1400 -> 1920 horizontal stretching. Camcorderinfo.com has a very thorough review on all three models, and says that until the hf10/hf100 came out, HDV always beat out AVCHD. It looks like now the three are all roughly the same quality by camcorderinfo's methods of measurement.

I finally decided on the HF100 just for the following reasons:

Quality that is very close to and some would argue the same as the HF10 (rated the best by many)
A proper 1920x1080 resolution, so I won't have to do any funky stretching or cropping for it to work properly on my HD TV
A smaller and lighter camera
Smaller media - How many tapes will you carry around comfortably? I could carry 4 or 5 sd cards in my wallet...
Non-linear media format - the idea of having to fast-forward bothers me. I want to pop the media in and record, not fast forward to the blank section because I was watching some of the video I recorded earlier.

I found it on buydig.com for $650.

 

[mc866]

I'm actually looking at the same camcorders also. I think I'm going to go with the HG10 for a few reasons. First I like the fact that I don't need to buy extra media, except for still photos but I have a few mini sd's laying around. I don't like the idea of having to buy two 8GB cards or packs of tapes that I need to switch out often, that and I have plenty of free disc space on my PC at this point so I'll be able to back everything up. Second the smaller resolution bothers me a bit, but because I'll mostly be filming home videos and such I'm not too worried about it not being true 1920X1080, I doubt anyone watching the videos will notice the difference. Also I think I saw it priced around $640 which seams to be the best deal right now out of all those three camera's taking media into account.