Samsung camcorders? aye/nay?

[thejadedmonkey]

I'm in the market for a digital video camera of sorts. I've never ever in my life used one, so I don't know what I'm getting into, except that I have a mac, an external 40 gig USB 2.0 hard drive to spare, and some extra cash. My aim is to stay under $300, and after a little research, I've found the following.

JVC GR-D370 $300
Samsung SC-D365 $320
Samsung SC-D363 $265
The only functional difference I can see between the two Samsung camcorders is a light. Do I really need to spend the extra $40 for a light bulb? Does samsung make good camcorders? What about JVC? Any sugguestions?

I'm partial to Samsung after I had a Dell in which EVERY concievable part in it was replaced EXCEPT for the parts made my Samsung, but I've heard good things about JVC as well...
Thoughts, sugguestions?

 

[York-Diuck]

I'd check out http://www.camcorderinfo.com/. Has reviews of each camcorder as well as detailed information on what the best camera for your budget is.

 

[MIDI_EVIL]

Go with Sony.

They make brilliant Digital Camcorders with superb lenses. The Carl Zeiss lens.

Look for a Sony DCR-TRV22E on eBay. They're a couple of years old but mine is still going very strong today!

I'm also using a 3CCD Sony PD-170 DVC-CAM and i absolutely adore it!

Rich.

 

[theknowles]

when choosing cameras its best to stick to these brands:
sony
canon
and panasonic.
a really good 1ccd camera is the optura 10 http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-OPTURA-10...614043358QQcategoryZ20330QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
these produce, in mine and many others opinion, the best colours you can get out of a 1chip, although once again its acouple of years old which isnt so much a problem. But personally id stay away from samsung and stay WELL away from JVC as these have major tape deck problems

 

[Sutekidane]

According to the site posting, Samsung cameras don't really score too well. I guess this makes sense since Samsung isn't really known as a camera maker. I suggest you find one at a local department store and see if you like it. It really depends on what you expect out of it, though since you're looking to spend a low amount of money, you should probably be somewhat forgiving.

Samsung is just trying to make a little of everything, so far, everything else I've seen from them has been top notch... TVs, laptops, phones, mp3 players, washing machines... etc. I guess cameras are the exception.

 

[latisha1903]

well i can say that my Samsung doesn't work with ichat for video. so i'm sorta bumed for that. but i got this cam like at least 3 years ago for my birthday. and as a college student i can't be too choosey, it works fine for what i do with it.

i hope to one day upgrade though, and replace it with a sony

its a samsung scd27 (digital cam)

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'm going to go with the Sony DCR-HC36 (why can't Sony have simple names, like apple does ) It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but it looks like a good camera, and long lasting.

Before I get it, does anyone have any experience with it or words of wisdom that I should heed?

EDIT: @#$%^&* just realized it doesn't have a mic-in port. Is there one that DOES for less than $350? This looks nice, althoug it costs $$$$

EDIT: I can get either one now, price is irrelivant. Which one is better? The Sony seems to have better stability and night view while the panasonic has a mic-in port....thoughts?

 

[theknowles]

night shot is pretty useless,the panny also doesnt have a moveable viewfinder, i dont have much faith in the panasonics untill you get to the 3 chip level which are very good (dvx100b being the ruler of all vx's/ gl's). I still stand by my origional input by saying the optura ten http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-OPTURA-10-...QQcmdZViewItem is the best bet to go for, they're cheap, have good manual controls and a large ccd which is important. Incase you dont know what a ccd is, its what is used to capture colours thus producing the image, the bigger the ccd, the better the colour. The optura has a 1/3 inch ccd (the same size ccd that you will find in higher end profeshional cameras, although they have 3) and the panasonic has 1/6 inch. It depends on whether ure ok with getting asecond hand/older camera.

EDIT: didnt see the price not an issue thing, now you have the cash go for this bad boy http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...f=pd_bbs_1/002-8932825-4472851?_encoding=UTF8