looking for compact camcorder

[lotus188]

hi there,

i am looking for a compact camcorder to shoot some home videos.........
plan to shoot the kids when they are playing & having fun before they grow up & have their own family.
i am looking for something simple, easy to use auto focus, buget below $800.

any advice? tks.

[michaelongcj]

There are a number of threads asking for the same thing, though slightly different.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500708
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=482586

Most camcorders can be used to point & shoot, its just a matter of quality, thats all.

For ease of use you would probably want a SDHC card camcorder, you can record everything to card and then can transfer to computer directly. MiniDV is relatively more laborious to transfer, while DVDs have only a limited recording time.

Whether you want HD or not depends on your expectations, as well as whether you want to edit stuff. If you intend to save the videos for posterity then HD probably would be a good choice, but editing is currently not very easy.

You can also look in the Videography Sales forum, there are some people selling stuff there.

[lotus188]

tks for you info.
apprecitate that.

[LumixFZ18]

Originally Posted by lotus188 hi there, i am looking for a compact camcorder to shoot some home videos......... plan to shoot the kids when they are playing & having fun before they grow up & have their own family. i am looking for something simple, easy to use auto focus, buget below $800. any advice? tks.

i would suggest you to get a waterproof video cameras. My kids love to go to beach or waterpark.....I'll miss a lot of great memory if i need to worry the camera getting wet!

[lotus188]

noted. tks.

[Sukoo]

Originally Posted by michaelongcj There are a number of threads asking for the same thing, though slightly different. http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=500708 http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=482586 Most camcorders can be used to point & shoot, its just a matter of quality, thats all. For ease of use you would probably want a SDHC card camcorder, you can record everything to card and then can transfer to computer directly. MiniDV is relatively more laborious to transfer, while DVDs have only a limited recording time. Whether you want HD or not depends on your expectations, as well as whether you want to edit stuff. If you intend to save the videos for posterity then HD probably would be a good choice, but editing is currently not very easy. You can also look in the Videography Sales forum, there are some people selling stuff there.

I am too looking for a SD camcorder and not sure which format to go.

Is there a difference between HD and ACHDV? What exactly does it mean when people comment that HD or ACHDV is not easy to edit? Is it because there are not enough software that support the formats or I need at least a quad core cpu machine to process HD/ACHDV videos?

[Reportage]

Originally Posted by lotus188 hi there, i am looking for a compact camcorder to shoot some home videos......... plan to shoot the kids when they are playing & having fun before they grow up & have their own family. i am looking for something simple, easy to use auto focus, buget below $800. any advice? tks.

for your usage, actually a SD camcorder will do. I myself am using a Xacti HD700 which isnt good for nightime but excellent for daytime shots.

[Reportage]

Originally Posted by Sukoo I am too looking for a SD camcorder and not sure which format to go. Is there a difference between HD and ACHDV? What exactly does it mean when people comment that HD or ACHDV is not easy to edit? Is it because there are not enough software that support the formats or I need at least a quad core cpu machine to process HD/ACHDV videos?

Oversimplified, HD is a set of rules that define very high quality video and AVCHD is a video format.

AVCHD videos needs relatively more powerful computers to process plus not all editing software supports native avchd editing smoothly.

[Sukoo]

Originally Posted by Reportage Oversimplified, HD is a set of rules that define very high quality video and AVCHD is a video format. AVCHD videos needs relatively more powerful computers to process plus not all editing software supports native avchd editing smoothly.

Have been doing some reads on the forums regarding the HD and AVCHD blah blah blah..

Let say I decided to save some money and go for a standard definition camcorder instead, what will be the problem I will be facing in the future? Does video format actually expired?

Like my family videos are no longer playable on future blue or red ray player?

[harky]

sorry to hack ur post..

want to ask dv tape record is going to expire soon ah!!!!!!!!!! still think DV tape is the best :/

[Reportage]

Originally Posted by Sukoo Have been doing some reads on the forums regarding the HD and AVCHD blah blah blah.. Let say I decided to save some money and go for a standard definition camcorder instead, what will be the problem I will be facing in the future? Does video format actually expired? Like my family videos are no longer playable on future blue or red ray player?

Most players are able to play various file formats as long using universal codecs so no issue there.

The only issue i can see on 720p is pixelling if play on large size lcd which is where 1080p excels.

[Duracell]

Originally Posted by lotus188 noted. tks.

I'm not having the the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA9 which is my daily camcorder for my family. It's easy and simple to use. Videos are recorded in SD cards making it easy to transfer and share.