Cracking my head -_-"

[Eijnaix]

Hey Guys

I'm looking to get a camcorder for my bby girl soon.... cant decide between these 3 model.

I think canon's the best bet...but samsung sensor is so huge that low lighting video recording seems to be the best.

Samsung VP-HMX20C <--- like the sensor for night recording.

Canon HF 200 & HF S100 <--- for these canon model i dont think there's too much of a big different isnt it ?


Hope to get some advice here and any idea which online store is more reliable as i'm thinking of getting it from USA as well. Their currency is really low these few days....lol

[Bamboopictures]

I bought a Samsung HMX20 for $1150 last month and feel like selling it. If you are interested, I'll let it go for for $700. Don't like the way it focuses. Breathes too much and hunts too long for my purpose. But low light is indeed very good.

[dannygirl]

was deciding btw canon, samsung, sony, panasonic few mths ago.... in the end i went wif panasonic TM200.... if memory serves me well, these were wat i considered:

canon: most ex, small sensor, OIS, SDHC, most other features
sony: 2nd most ex, small sensor, OIS, uses magicgate (which i absolutely hate), many other features
samsung: cheapest, biggest sensor, EIS, SDHC, some other features
panasonic: 2nd cheapest, 2nd biggest sensor, OIS, SDHC, some other features

in any case, all 4 are reputable n established names in videocams.... wun go too wrong one lah. its all juz boils down to wat u need and ur budget.

PS: i duno him but bamboo's offer looks damm attaractive.

[Eijnaix]

I did more research and come repicked. lol

I'll be getting camcorder soon from pricejapan.com , currently looking these 3 model below.

Canon Ivis HF S10 <--- Canon Legria HF S10
Sony HDR-XR520E
Panasonic TM300

I like the idea of using flash memory which only canon and panasonic offer from the abv two model. But at the same time...the special sensor from Sony seems unbeatable as you can record in really dark or close to complete darkness , saw it from a review.

Does any bro know if there's much visual different between canon and sony when recording in low light ?

I've heard some bad feedback from using harddisk camcorders , Is using harddisk really that terrible and corrupt that easily ? Hardisk from Sony HDR-XR520 is the only reason stopping me from getting it now.......

And yes, i do realise that its mention on the website from pricejapan.com that canon camcorder menu can switch over to english, but sony will be only in japanese. Is there any way around it like reflashing the firmware to make it english or something ?? lol

Any advice is greatly appreciated....

[coffee3in1]

Originally Posted by Eijnaix Hardisk from Sony HDR-XR520 is the only reason stopping me from getting it now.......

Yeah, I also have the same concern in the following order:
(1) Battery Life. What's the real world number like? Does the HDD still use power if the unit is recording to flash memory?
(2) My experience with computer is that they have difficulties starting up if the HDD is faulty. Is it the same with camcorder? It's quite a bummer if the unit (with a faulty) takes 2 minutes to start up, eh?
(3) Is the HDD user-replaceable?

The Sony has a few really strong points
(1) Good image stablizer
(2) Low light performance, as mentioned
(3) LANC remote control input, you will thank your lucky star when you need it
(4) Cheaper(?) wide angle adapter than Canon ($349 compared to Canon's $500+)

[Eijnaix]

Ok Guys, thanks for all those reply.

i've gone ahead with Canon HF S10 from pricejapan.com

Now for the silly question....

I'm assuming Legria HF S10 , Vixia HF S10 and Ivis HF S10 are the same except that different countries uses different brand name....right ?

[coffee3in1]

Congrats, I think they are all the same. Maybe some difference on 24fps vs 25fps?

Originally Posted by Eijnaix Ok Guys, thanks for all those reply. i've gone ahead with Canon HF S10 from pricejapan.com Now for the silly question.... I'm assuming Legria HF S10 , Vixia HF S10 and Ivis HF S10 are the same except that different countries uses different brand name....right ?

[medscy]

Hi, has anyone bought and received their camcorder from PriceJapan? How's the service? I am thinking of getting Panasonic TM200 from them... but not too sure if it is possible to switch the language to English?

[Eijnaix]

My camcorder just arrived. Now charging....the body itself is all english.

Service is good.

[Eijnaix]

Yap , the menu in the camxcorder can be switched over to english

[medscy]

Originally Posted by Eijnaix Yap , the menu in the camxcorder can be switched over to english

Hi, thanks for your reply... Just wondering if your camcorder is NTSC format? Do you intend to convert your videos to PAL so that it can be play back on majority of the TVs in Singapore? I intend to do editing... still comtemplating if this will cause a loss in quality if I convert

[Eijnaix]

yeap, its in NTSC

But as for pal or ntsc...i guess it doesnt bother me that much ba....coz i'm using HD lcd 42 inch tv to view....ntsc or pal also can play. Quality wise...i think u need to google liao....i not too sure about quality if u convert it around.

[jaegersing]

Best not to convert the frame rate if you can avoid it. 29.97 to 25 produces a lot of motion artifacts, not very nice if there is movement in the video. Most TVs in Singapore can take both formats, so shouldn't need to convert frame rates most of the time.

[stevei]

Hi have you tried playing you movies on your TV? any issues with NTSC? Are the buttons on the camera in Japanese or English??? Thanks....