Need to pick a camcorder (Please help)

[steppinthrax]

Ok this is the deal. My boss wants me to find a camcorder because we will pretty much be doing a training class.

I went to best buy and Pretty much see that most the the camcorders are the same or would be enough for what we are doing except the higher priced camcorders are either hard drive or HD.

I need to know the advantages and disadvantages of each type of camcorder type by how easy is it to get on your computer for video editing.

1. Mini-DVD: I was told this seems good but I was also told your limited in time (30 min) and you have to rip the DVD every time you want to do video editing (is this true?)

2. Mini-DV: I was told this is older technology that is going to be phased out soon but it does have longer recording time.

3. Hard Drive: I was told this has longer recording time but just from my knowledge hard drives can go bad then what do you do??????

4. Flash: Is this worth it????

We are going to be making videos of various training subjects. I don't think HD is necessary. I mean if we go HD we would have problems with size right???

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Ok this is the deal. My boss wants me to find a camcorder because we will pretty much be doing a training class.

I went to best buy and Pretty much see that most the the camcorders are the same or would be enough for what we are doing except the higher priced camcorders are either hard drive or HD.

I need to know the advantages and disadvantages of each type of camcorder type by how easy is it to get on your computer for video editing.

1. Mini-DVD: I was told this seems good but I was also told your limited in time (30 min) and you have to rip the DVD every time you want to do video editing (is this true?)

2. Mini-DV: I was told this is older technology that is going to be phased out soon but it does have longer recording time.

3. Hard Drive: I was told this has longer recording time but just from my knowledge hard drives can go bad then what do you do??????

4. Flash: Is this worth it????

We are going to be making videos of various training subjects. I don't think HD is necessary. I mean if we go HD we would have problems with size right???

You were told an untruth. First, Mini-DV is not going away. It is not being used in some high-end stuff because it does not have the data rate (read 4k), but that is about it. HDD is easier to transfer, but you need to consider storage (which may be tape...).

For training, you probably want to go with a $2500-3000 camera that has XLR input. This will allow you to either patch inline to a sound system or plug in a wireless mic pack for your audio. This becomes very important in a training environment. Audio is almost more important than video and needs to be done correctly. All of the cameras with XLR are still using mini-DV (DVCam) tapes. You can add a box such as a Beachtek to add XLR to mini plug, but you really want XLR for simplicity. I would really recommend a camera like the Sony DSR-PD170. It is a low-light king, so can handle both a classroom setting and any crawling around you might have to do depending on if you need that or not. Also, get at least a Bogen-Manfrotto 501 or 503 head on a good tripod. The tracking is professional and smooth.

BTW, HDV is the same data rate as DV. The compression is better. All the HDD, Flash, and DVD solutions use even stronger compression, so the quality may not meet DV (or HDV is you go that route). HDV cameras are not as good in low-light as the PD170. You have to go to $20k ENG cameras to get better light performance.