Camcorder recommendations.

[shellbryson]

Multimedia will tell you it's (the HC7) better than anything, but I myself have no clue.

There isn't a shoe but there is a hatch on top that you can open and use to attach 3rd party accessories. So Mic is OK and there is also a Headphone port.

I'm still trying to decipher my menu/instructions by comparison with the English instruction PDF. So far it appears that the Japanese HC7 is missing the Language Option and under Standard Settings the Guideframe option and Mic Level control are missing. Also I've discovered that under Standard Set>Component> 480i=D1 and 1080i=D3. It's the little things like this that are going to ultimately annoy me about my HC7.

At least the picture looks great when I do film.

I have a question about transferring to my computer but I'm going to try and figure out the solution on my own before posting my inquiry...I think I know what the problem was but it was late at night and I was too tired to much around. I'll most likely start a new thread for that one!

This interests me a lot. I'll be in Japan in June and was seriously considering picking up a video camera over there (I'm in Scotland and the £ is strong against then Yen right now). Okay while I can speak a *tiny* bit of Japanese, I cannot read it (my better half can though), and I'm worried about any camera we may want not supporting other languages (English). I dont want to spend more than £600 ($1200 US); I kinda wanted high-def (we very much have a Mac that can handle that, and an HD TV in the living room). I really like the looks of this Sony cam tho.

Any advice?

 

[Rahsten]

Don't buy the HC7 in Japan! It does not have the Language setting! Only Japanese! As for other cameras, I'm not sure. My Panasonic digital camera that was bought here in Japan had the option for English, so perhaps a Panasonic camcorder may offer the same?

 

[shellbryson]

Don't buy the HC7 in Japan! It does not have the Language setting! Only Japanese! As for other cameras, I'm not sure. My Panasonic digital camera that was bought here in Japan had the option for English, so perhaps a Panasonic camcorder may offer the same?

Perhaps the Canon then...

 

[Spritey]

Same deal: recommendation for camcorder

So I've saved up a couple of hundred dollars so I'm ready to invest in my first camcorder. Unlike the original poster I'm looking for something more around the realms of US$500+/- 100

I'll be editing the movies on my MBP C2D, and as far as I've understood miniDvs are the way to go in terms of keeping the quality intact. I tried looking at consumer reports for cameras and all, but I couldn't find anything fairly recent. However, it appears that according to many of these reports that often a 400 camcorder is just as good as a 600, so that's why I'm asking for advice because I have no idea about camcorders and how to determine their quality. And the stores around where I live have a really crappy camcorder selection to try out. Plus of course their on commission and try to upsell.

And yeah, I'm aware that I won't get a very high-quality camcorder at that price, but it's better than no camera at all. It's my last year at uni and on this continent so I just want to record some every day activities as well as some vacation footage that I can take back home and show my family and friends.

However, is it true that a serious price drop is expected on high def camcorders within the next few months? I was planning on buying my camera within a week or two, but think I'd be willing to wait a few more months if high def camcorders will drop to about 700.

Oh yeah, I'm not just looking for a manufacturer suggestion, if anyone has a good experience with a specific model I'd appreciate your input, because as mentioned: I have no clue about cameras (but I'm a fast learner, so it's okay if it's not idiot-proof in terms of user friendliness)

Thanx!

 

[nickweston]

What about the HV-20?

It's been out for a few weeks now, any feedback on how it looks? I've been waiting for the 24p mode...and the Sony, which everybody seems to like, has only a pseudo "cinema" mode that doesn't look as good, is that correct?

thanks, great thread

NW

 

[YunusEmre]

That eliminates any HD models. I just had to replace a camcorder myself (old one broke). Right now is not prime time for buying a camcorder - the major manufacturers are rolling out new models. The new models are not widely available yet, and the old models are frequently out of stock.

You will end up taking a lot of video indoors, under not so perfect lighting conditions. So pay attention to the low light performance. If the video signal that you are recording is of poor quality to begin with, the recording medium (MiniDV, HDD, DVD) doesn't matter. Garbage in, garbage out.

Myself, I settled on the Canon DC50, a non-HD DVD model. And that after years of telling all my friends to stay away from DVD camcorders! The main reason is that our primary use of the camcorder is to tape music lessons every week, and then review them every day for practice. That's pretty painful and high wear for a tape based camcorder. Popping the DVD out of the camcorder into the DVD player and navigating directly to the scenes is a lot easier, and causes no wear. And the low light performance of this particular model is absolutely amazing. I haven't seen anything that good in a consumer camcorder before.

As frequently mentioned, editing on the computer yields the best results, and is most convenient, with a MiniDV model. Just suck the content across the Firewire connection into iMovie, and off you go. Editing video from HDD or DVD camcorders requires some headache-causing detours to convert the video to DV format. And you loose a little bit of quality in the process. But it can be done.

I am considering buying a Canon DC50 also. What I have not been able to figure out so far is, how can I transfer the recording to my Mac and edit and then burn to DVD again? I expect to be able to import the recording directly from the DVD disc. But what software can I use? Can I use QuickTime Pro?

 

[Cromulent]

I am considering buying a Canon DC50 also. What I have not been able to figure out so far is, how can I transfer the recording to my Mac and edit and then burn to DVD again? I expect to be able to import the recording directly from the DVD disc. But what software can I use? Can I use QuickTime Pro?

Stick to a miniDV based camcorder if you want to edit the footage you film.