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Which Mini DV camcorder to get? Help Please

V

VINMAN

Senior member
Hello all,
Well im trying to decide on which Mini DV camcorder to get. I am down to a few but im not sure so I thought i would get some opinions

I like the Sony trv27 , the JVC 820u and the Canon zr50. There might be others and if anyone has any recommendations I would apprecate them. The Sony is the most expensive but ive owned several sony items in the past and liked the quality, the JVC seems to have similar properties and is over 200 less just not sure of quality, the canon also seems very nice but i keep hearing people complain about motor noise like it drowns out everything else. Well I would like to make a decision and get this done this week so please let me know.

Thanks
Vince
 
The Sony TRV27 has a 1 Megapixel CCD sensor, the JVC 820 is a .6 Megapixel, and I am pretty sure the Canon is a .4 megapixel like the ZR-40 and 45(havent seen that model yet, and the canon product site doesn't seem to be working). The resolution helps with both still shots and video quality, esp if you are editing. Those are the top 3 brands IMO. I have noticed that Sony seems to have better priced accessories and more of them. 10 hour batteries and infrared recievers for playback come to mind. Those are all nice camcorders, though.
 
Digital 8 is great as a lower end digital format, but the tape cannot compete with miniDV at higher resolutions. I.E. The standard D8 camcorders are .4 Megapixel sensors, just like the cheaper miniDVs are. These are fairly comparable in picture quality. However, when you get up to 1 megapixel and up, the older 8mm tapes just can't take full advantage of the quality increase. Even the Sony Trv-740, which is D8 with a 1 megapixel sensor, doesnt compare to the better DVs. I still recommend D8, if you are on a budget or have a large library of older 8mm tapes. Most of the Sonys also do have analog inputs, which allow to take any video out source into the camcorder.(Johnnie, its the models above the TRV-130 that have these features if this didn't making any sense to you)
 
aka1nas, thanks for the low-down. My bro is buying a digital camcoder in the $500-$600 price range. He dragged me along to Beast Buy today. The Sony we were eyeing (trv-240) used the Digital 8 format which he said wasn't as good.

I did notice you could buy 90 min Digital 8 tapes whereas I only saw 60 minute MiniDV tapes. I wonder if the 90 minute tapes come out with slightly less quality just like old analog audio tapes?
 
Out of those I would probably get the JVC. I am not convinced on the newer consumer Canon's (ZR's). They feel too cheap to me, even though the specs are nice.

I am very happy with my Canon Optura Pi.
 
The TRV-240 is the most sold model we carry at Best Buy. Great if you are on a budget. and it has all of the important features of the higher end D8s.(backwards compatability and analog inputs). 90 minute tapes are realy expensive for either format.
 


<< The TRV-240 is the most sold model we carry at Best Buy. Great if you are on a budget. and it has all of the important features of the higher end D8s.(backwards compatability and analog inputs). 90 minute tapes are realy expensive for either format. >>



I'm a fellow Best Buy employee also, and the TRV-240 is the most popular D8 camcorder. I really like the Sony TRV-27 and the Canon ZR40, haven't seen the 50 though.
 
well it seems like the sony seems to be the most popular, anyone know where to get the best price for the trv 27?

thanks
Vince
 


<< I did notice you could buy 90 min Digital 8 tapes whereas I only saw 60 minute MiniDV tapes. I wonder if the 90 minute tapes come out with slightly less quality just like old analog audio tapes? >>




You can buy 30, 60, 90, and 120min tapes for MiniDV. The ony difference is the amount of tape inside the cassette. The "lower quality" you were thinking of was in regards to tape speed (SP, EP, SLP). The quaily degraded because you were using, for example, 2hrs worth of tape to record 4 or 6 hours worth of material. When you buy a 90 or 120 minute tape you are getting 90 or 120 minutes worth of tape. Quality is uneffected.


Lethal
 


<< The "lower quality" you were thinking of was in regards to tape speed (SP, EP, SLP). >>

Nope, I wasn't confusing it with tape mode. Back when audio cassettes were the rage the 120 minute tapes always had slightly less audio quality than the 60 minute tapes even within the same brand. Same tape speed of course, but the longer tapes for some reason never sounded quite as good.
 


<<

<< The "lower quality" you were thinking of was in regards to tape speed (SP, EP, SLP). >>

Nope, I wasn't confusing it with tape mode. Back when audio cassettes were the rage the 120 minute tapes always had slightly less audio quality than the 60 minute tapes even within the same brand. Same tape speed of course, but the longer tapes for some reason never sounded quite as good. >>



Hmmm... I never did that much w/audio tapes. But I've used 15min-120min DV tapes and the quality was always the same. So I wouldn't worry 'but tape length in regards to DV. 🙂


Lethal
 
I'm glad I found this thread, I've been starting to look for a miniDV camcorder. Here is my main question: I'm getting married next summer, so I obviously want one for that. But should I get one now (so I can use it to record all the fun of the planning, etc.) or wait until next summer? I guess the main question is, how much will the technology change in the next 12 months? I know that's a loaded question when it comes to consumer electronics, but will there be that much of a jump in technology by the time next May rolls around?

That been said, the models I like right now are (both Sony) the TRV50 and the PC120BT. What are your thoughts? I'm going to want something a little above the entry-level models, and these seem to fit nicely between the bottom and top of the line. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
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