Digital Camcorder

[mom]

Hi all! 

Not sure if this should be in "chatterbox", but I am interested in getting a digital camcorder to supplement the camera when travelling.

Although I enjoy digital photography, I wouldn't know where to begin with investigating a camcorder.

Could anyone offer advice on what I should look for?  Of course, I want it all!... full functionality at a very low price!  Don't we all?!  But if any of you have thoughts on a good unit, cost of consumables etc, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks in anticipation!

[Guest Frank Wilkinson]

First there was tape, then DVD and Mini-DVD but the latest technology is built-in hard drives. You get massive recording time and no consumable costs. Of course you have to download your movies from the camera to a computer, where you can then put them onto recordable DVDs or CDs. Prices from around £400 by Sony, JVC, Sanyo etc.

If all this scares you and you do not wish to edit your movies then go for a mini-DVD model. You record on a small DVD disc, which then plays back in your normal DVD player.

Obviously, you can still put these onto your computer for editing and transferring to normal DVDs, but if you intend doing that I'd go straight for the hard-drive models.

As for buying, I would advise a good specialist retailer, where you can handle the camera and see if you like the feel of it. You will be able to buy it slightly more cheaply from a low cost online operation but you risk poor after-sales service and some of these firms have a habit of disappearing owing to the thin margins that they work on.

Jessops is a national retailer and should have a branch near you. There's also Jacobs, with about 16 stores and many other first class independent specialist.

[Mel E]

Mom,

 

It all really depends on where you're going to use it. Mini-DV tapes are still the most robust form of storage and still record the highest quality. The only problems with those that record on DVD/mini-DVD are that:

 

- they tend to use greater compression, so the image quality is not always as good

 

- the DVDs are much more breakable than tapes, especially if you're, say, hiking with a back-pack.

 

The hard disk camcorders are still fairly new and cost more for basically the same camera facilties (quality, lens, recording mechanism, etc) than for mini-DV, though their quality can be very good (but again compression standards vary) The other problem is that, once the disk is full, you're stuffed until you can offload it to your computer.

 

So personally, I would go for a mini-DV tape model. I'd buy a Sony - I've found them mechanically amongst the most reliable, and they have excellent lenses. You can get a good one for around the £200 mark.

 

A camera with a 10x zoom is adequate (anything much more than this requires a tripod or your shots will bounce all over the screen, even with electronic stabilisation systems such as Sony's 'Steady Shot'). Ignore completely the figure for Digital Zoom - it simply destroys the picture quality. But do get a camera that will record in native 16:9 widescreen using electronic anamorphic compression.

 

Taking the video is easy - point and shoot. But, unless you're following a continuing action sequence or filming someone talking, avoid shots of more than about 8 seconds, as they'll pall like mad on screen! Also, if you're shooting scenery or action, look the other way every so often to take a shot of onlookers/spectators. It's called a 'cut away' in the business and enables you to separate two shots of the same basic scene without it appearing as a 'jump cut'. If filming, for example, an old building, start with a long shot of the building, then take close-ups of interesting bits. Use the zoom mainly to frame the picture - avoid zooming while filming except very rarely, or your video will make you ill when you watch it. The same goes for panning and tilting shots (moving across or up/down and scene) - the quality of what you get will disappoint you because of the movement. If you must pan, start with the camera still, then pan VERY slowly, then pause for 2 seconds at the end of the pan. Watch a few wildlife programmes on TV and pay special attention to the filming and cutting and you'll soon pick it all up.

 

Once you've got the video on your computer, you can use Microsoft Movie Maker (free with Windows XP) to edit it and it's very esy to use. But avoid trying to edit large tranches at once, as ALL video editors start to crash with boring frequency when you give them a lot to do!

 

Have fun. By the way - mini-DV records at a precision of 720x576 pixels which is broadcast quality.

 

Mel E

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[kelly58]

!st I advise you get a copy of which digital camcorder magazine and look at the different camera formats.

I bought a really nice JVC GR-DF470AG last year which uses mini DV tapes well under £300 its one of the only ones that you can record onto from a video recorder/player.

take a look at www.purleygadgets.co.uk thats where I bought mine from they have some great offers often with extended warranty.

[Guest Frank Wilkinson]

The thing that you need to watch if using tapes is that you must transfer them fairly soon onto DVD. I have come across several examples of people who simply keep the original tapes and then, when the camera breaks, have nothing to play their movies on.

If you have normal 8mm tapes for instance you simply cannot buy a replacement camera when yours eventually packs in, which it will, and you then have to pay to have them professionally transferred.

[colin]

I'm on my second camcorder, first was brought in 1989 a sony video8 nice pictures but got fed up of carting it around so when it packed up brought smallest I could get at time, a JVC GR-DVP7, it fits in a coat pocket, or with spare tape/battery in a smallish camera case. Newer camcorders seem to now have megapixel camera capacity, not as good as dedicated camera, but not bad so you can make do with one item for 'snaps', also you usualy get 10x optical zoom which is a plus.

[mom]

Thanks everyone!  Brilliant!

Wish me luck!