Can a new digital cam take the place of my video cam

[newportmac]

I am looking at digital cameras for home use and I see that I can buy one with the ability to shoot video 480x640 with sound and zoom. So now I am wondering why I lug my Sony TRV-480 around. Why not just buy a Sony H-7 say and leave the cam corder at home? Is the resolution on the video camera any better than the quality I am going to get out of the digital camera in video mode? Thanks!

 

[RJS9S]

i think you mean 640 x 480, and the answer is no. your camcorder would have better audio and video. not only that but digital cameras have a horrible frame rate. so id suggest to stick with the camcorder. if you've got the cake then take a look at the hv10, its bound to impress.

 

[newportmac]

Right.. 640x480.. The sony H7 does 640x480 @ 30fps.. My sony trv-480 videocam I can not seem to figure out what the resolution is... but your saying the video camera will give me much better results than the digital camera will.. ok.. I'll keep the HV7 in mind when I go buy a new video camera.. still looking for a new digital camera for still shoits.. wanted to combine the two..

 

[Gymnut]

You could look at the Canon TX1 which combines a digital camera with a camcorder.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=14903

The image quality of course won't be as good as a tape based camcorder and I would guess that it records video in an .avi format so you would have to convert it to a format that iMovie/FCE/FCP can read if you wanted to edit it outside of whatever software Canon includes with the camera.

 

[newportmac]

You could look at the Canon TX1 which combines a digital camera with a camcorder.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=14903

The image quality of course won't be as good as a tape based camcorder and I would guess that it records video in an .avi format so you would have to convert it to a format that iMovie/FCE/FCP can read if you wanted to edit it outside of whatever software Canon includes with the camera.

Thanks for the suggestion.. I actually looked at it this weekend and did not like the form factor.. just looked like something out of the 50's and didnt fit well in hand so I passed.. I did however come home with a Sony H7 which I am using for a bit.. I was tossed either to go with the H7 or Cannon 850.. The H7 does 30fps and isnt bad so far.. but your right the output on many of them is avi not mpeg...

 

[aafuss1]

Thanks for the suggestion.. I actually looked at it this weekend and did not like the form factor.. just looked like something out of the 50's and didnt fit well in hand so I passed.. I did however come home with a Sony H7 which I am using for a bit.. I was tossed either to go with the H7 or Cannon 850.. The H7 does 30fps and isnt bad so far.. but your right the output on many of them is avi not mpeg...

My Sony S600 takes nice videos at 640*480, and in iMovie-friendly .MPG.