Some help on Camcorders


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st11x

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Jan 12, 2004
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Canberra,Australia
Hi,

I was looking to purchase a camcorder but it's really hard to know what to look out for. I'm buying in Australia so my price point may not be relevant, but as a general guide, I wouldn't want to go above $1K.

Main questions I have:

1) Is the pixel count relevant? I am not using it for still pictures.
2) Is MiniDV outdated?

thanks
Matt
 

Hi,

1) Nope PAL res. is the same for all camcorder regardless of the pixel counts.. But if you want better pictures, get one with 3 CCD!

2) No, its not.. Although HDV is the NEW and BETTER format, working(editing) with it is extremely difficult.. You will need a very powerful PC/Mac and a separate capture card. After which, you are limited to either watching the content on your PC/Mac or transport it back to tape 'cause the delivery are not ready yet! (Toshib* and Son* are still fighting over the format of the next Gen DVD, Bluray or HD-DVD). It wouldn't be affordable for another few years! Nevertheless, you can always down-convert it back to SD with HD footage..
The other DVD camcorder is only good if you don't wish to edit your footage, otherwise you will lose some quality ripping the MPEG format back into raw footage.

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong! :sweat:
Hope I not too naggy!! :bsmilie:
 

JediLights,

Thanks for the information.

Do you know anything about the widescreen thingy? I went to the store to have a play with some models and found that on models like the Panasonic GS75/150, the widescreen mode is "fake'. They just crop the top and bottom off!

I think I'll be going with the MiniDV. Don't think I saw any models with HDV, but only HDD and DVD, both of which I don't like.
 

Pana GS400 3CCD has true 16:9 mode.
 

i have a sony pc350, vertical with 3megapixel. it is a miniDV format. you don't need a good feature camcorder as long as the color reproduction and lowlight is good. panasonic has good 3CCD cam. :thumbsup: happy recording.
 

get Sony or Panasonic ones. they are reliable and lasts. my friend's canon got pixel problems in about 2 yrs. samsung also quite char-lak. miniDV is good and cheap. unless you are pro, occasional shooting on trips need only miniDV. if got heaps of $$$, then go for DVD-R/ram types.
 

st11x said:
JediLights,

Thanks for the information.

Do you know anything about the widescreen thingy? I went to the store to have a play with some models and found that on models like the Panasonic GS75/150, the widescreen mode is "fake'. They just crop the top and bottom off!

A "REAL" widescreen means that the sensor in the camcorder records native 16:9. A fake one uses a widescreen matte to cover the top and bottom. Res. are definitely inferior to those of the real widescreen..

st11x said:
I think I'll be going with the MiniDV. Don't think I saw any models with HDV, but only HDD and DVD, both of which I don't like.

Sony produced a few models of consumer HDV camcorder. http://www.sonystyle.com.sg/sonystyle/jsp/bigproduct/bigproductdisplay.jsp?Level1=26947&Level2=2041&Level3=4195&MaterialNumber=2024103

HDD and DVD both records in Mpeg 2 format as mention in my above post works great if you're not much of a editing person. You'll be better off with MiniDV if you need any editing to be done.

Just my 2 cents! :D
 

mm63 said:
Pana GS400 3CCD has true 16:9 mode.

Hmm ... I couldn't find this model in the stores. The GS75 was about $1K, the GS125 is about $1.4K (though surprising, I found somewhere selling 300 less). I suppose if the 400 were available, it would have been more than $2K easy.

JediLights, the model shown by the URL is way beyond my reach ;p

I do like the Pana design, and the controls are well laid out.
 

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