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Help with an HD Decision

D

Dr Strangelove

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 24, 2008
205
0
I am a little lost as far as which direction to go with my HD camcorder purchase. I currently do not have a camcorder but need one for the arrival of my son in a month. I have been researching for over a month now and pretty much narrowed it down to the following: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1LMINYTPXFM3/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

I plan to use my Macbook pro with Final Cut Express 4 and iMovie to edit the films I plan to make. Storage is not really a problem as Hard Drives are cheap these days.

From this point I cannot make a decision and could really use some advice. A few questions I have that have not been answered:

#1 Should I be leaning towards Hard Drive recording or Flash based....why?
#2 Why do none of these have firewire, I thought that was the format of choice?
#3 Is Sony really that much better versus the cheaper alternatives?
#4 Besides the obvious of nothing being future proof, are any of these more future proof than others?
#5 Should I be waiting for these to hit? http://gizmodo.com/5123482/canon-dr...imaging-and-storage-upgrades-across-the-board
#6 Should I be concerned about format 24p 30p 60i?


If there are other brands I should be considering please feel free to mention them.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
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I would go with the hf100 which is what I did..

I previously had 2 sony’s.. one dv and other hdv.. and am now completely going off sony which is why I opted for canon.

The hf100 is sd card based and can handle cards up to 32gb.. 16gb at full HD mode will give just over 2 hours of footage

I think flash > hdd for a few reasons:

1) No moving parts
2) Smaller
3) Lighter
4) Can just pop out the SD card and into card reader which imovie/fce recognizes

I do just the same as what you will be using your camcorder for… honestly.. you won’t regret it..

Canon have announced their next successors to the HF10/HF100 as the HFS10/HFS100 which have upped the specs, but there’s no release date (could be after your baby drops!!) and the price point will be much higher than the current models..and not sure if the performance will be that much better for the price you'd be paying... plus you do NOT want to miss capturing your newborns first moments! :)

Good luck with your choice and I hope I have given you a push in the right direction :)

Also good luck with the newborn and editing!! :D
 
#1 Either is fine. I prefer the flash based media, as I use a card reader. I have the HF100 and the FS100 cameras. You can use tape if you want.
#2 Firewire is for transfering tape. The consistent speed keeps you from dropping frames.
#3 I like Canon.
#4 No.
#5 If you want to.
#6 Probably not.

You might want to look into external firewire drives to keep your source media on and to use as a scratch disk.
 
fxstb2002 said:
You might want to look into external firewire drives to keep your source media on and to use as a scratch disk.
Click to expand...

oh yes.. i forgot to mention this..
i have a western digital 1TB mybook studio 2 drive as my storage for important archives and also as my scratch drive..
 
Well I was leaning towards a HD based one but now you guys got me thinking. If I get a card reader and a firewire HD, I should be in better shape than messing with just the camcorder.

Hmm.....

32GB is the max on those flash cards correct?
 
Hi there,

I have the HF100 and really like it. No baby though :) FWIW, I chose to stick to several 8 gig cards instead of larger ones because they can be conveniently backed up as a disk image on a dual layer DVD. I'm using Patriot 8 gig, class 6 cards without any problems. You need cards with a certain amount of transfer speed, i.e. class 6.

Cheers!

Glen
 
Thanks gpeden, that is what i was looking for exactly. I have some class 6 cards for my camera but thought maybe this thing needs the extreme versions of the cards due to transfer speeds.
 
make your decision now

If you mean that your son is due to be born in a month, I'd advise you to buy your camcorder immediately. He could decide to be born early.

With that, I just got the Canon HF 11. It is my first digital camcorder, and I like it a lot. I take lots of videos of my four month old daughter (wish I had it when she was born, she is so different now). I'm not editing yet, just dumping the AVCHD folders to DVD, making DVD-videos and HD DVD videos on DVD-R media. I'll get more into editing when there is a fast way to work with AVCHD.

Let me know if you have questions about the HF 11.
 
I am seriously considering the HF11 at the moment but trying to hold off for those new models to hit. Of course it is getting close to the dude that and I do not want to risk it.

The HF11 actually looks like it would be up my alley. I am not sure why I thought that hard drive based recorders were the way to go in the first place but the more I read the more I think flash is my thing.
 
Hmm well I do not have a frame of reference, I just keep hearing people say go Sony.

Also, the HF10 vs HF11 is it just storage capacity that is the difference?
 
Dr Strangelove said:
Hmm well I do not have a frame of reference, I just keep hearing people say go Sony.

Also, the HF10 vs HF11 is it just storage capacity that is the difference?
Click to expand...

read this about the HF11 ..

it's not much of an upgrade to the HF10 anyway..

what camcorder have you opted for anyway? baby will be dropping soon so be quick :)
 
HF10, 11 vs HF100

Hi there,

I tried a SD video FS11 for a week before I went to the HF100. While I had it I wondered why I had thought the built in memory was worth paying a premium for in the initial purchase because:

- it was a lot more expensive per gig than extra SDHC cards

- SDHC cards would surely go a way down in price in the future

- it turns out to be a pain to download direct from the camera because the power cord must be plugged in and it ties up usage of the camera "in the field", or in my case, on camping trips where I attend RC aircraft funflys and would do a lot of video recording. It's much handier to just download with a card reader. I know that one can transfer files from the built in memory to a SDHC card, but still......

That's the reason that I went for the HF100 when I traded up to an HD camera.

Cheers!

Glen
 
Ok I am still kicking this around and seriously considering the HF10. Do you guys still think this is a wise move if I plan to buy this week or will waiting a week or to possibly allow me to get into the just announce models at CES?

Does anyone know the release date of those?
 
i say go for the HF10 now.. as it will be cheaper and is a fine camcorder..

the new hfs10 hasn't got a release date yet.. and dont know the pricing either.. plus also don't know how much better in real world conditions it will be over the hf10...

go for it now.. and enjoy it :)
 
To reiterate a point another poster has made: the price difference between the HF10 and HF100 really isn't warranted unless you absolutely must have a camcorder in black livery (the HF100 comes in grey-silver only). You can make up the difference in memory for less than half the price difference by buying a 16GB SDHC card. On top of that, as mentioned above, you have to connect the camcorder to your Mac whenever you want to import clips recorded on the internal flash memory, which is a pain, and the internal memory is slower than most inexpensive Class 6 SDHC cards.

The nearest Sony equivalent (until the new models arrive some time over the spring) is the SR11 / SR12, which is harddrive-based and appreciably more expensive, but it does have a few additional features: a touch-screen interface (including selective focus); a camera control dial which makes manual focusing much more fluid than the Canon joystick; a larger, higher-resolution LCD; and its build quality oozes luxuriousness. These are why you pay the premium.

Andrew.
 
I think I am considering pulling the trigger on the HF10 today, its only $60 difference from the HF100.

Is the 24Mb recording rate on the HF11 really going to matter in any way?

Also, I was planning on ising iMOVIE09 to edit....should I save the $75 and just go with FCE instead?
 
Me too

Hi, I am looking to buy an HD camera too. My concern is the workflow to import and edit using FCE. I read that you have to convert it to an intermediate format for FCE to work with and that it was a slow process and the quality was less than tape based HDV format. Is that true? Can any of you who do this tell me what your experience is? I was actually considering the HV30. Backing up to Dual layer DVD sounds like more pain than just storing the original tape. Also I would be worried about longevity of the DVD-R archive. I have VHS, Hi-8 and miniDV going back many years that seem to be in as good as the day I shot them. Somebody please set me straight abt process of bringing the video into FCE. I am ready to buy. thanks
 
Alright so I pulled the trigger today on an HF10, 16GB SDHC card, and iMovie 09 for my MBP.

Can anyone suggest anything else that will be beneficial to look into?

Carry bags, lenses, etc etc?

For home movie type stuff do you think iMovie09 should be sufficient or should I consider FCE?
 
Great. Post back as I am interested to hear you experience. I love FCE and recommend it highly. Worth the $. How are you going to back up your raw video? Now if only I could decide.
 
hoosker said:
Great. Post back as I am interested to hear you experience. I love FCE and recommend it highly. Worth the $. How are you going to back up your raw video? Now if only I could decide.
Click to expand...

I have not reached the point of figuring out how to back up or if I would like to purchase FCE or not. I figured getting the camera and iMovie09(which I would get anyways) was the first step.
 
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