Which Camcorder?

ADinelt schrieb am 27.01.2004 um 12:30 Uhr

This topic is in response to a recent topic by m1kego. He mentioned that he pre-ordered the Sony TRV460 which sounded pretty good, and since I am going to need to get a new camcorder, thought I would check it out.

I went to the Canadian Sony website for more info. It costs $699 in Canada, $300 more than the U.S.. This is why I don't upgrade very often (boo hoo, boo hoo) and unfortunately when I do, money is a huge deciding factor.

I have a couple of questions I hope someone can answer.

1) The website stated the TRV460 uses MPEG1 and MPEG MOVIE EX. I assume that is the format it records in. Does anyone know if that will cause problems for trying to edit the movie once it has been transferred to the PC. There have been numerous posts on not editing MPEG if possible and to capture to AVI instead.

2) The website also stated "Recording Mode (compression): Presentation (320x240), Video Mail (160x112)". Does that mean that when I move the film to computer, it will be captured at only 320 x 240 max resolution?

3) Does anyone have any recommendations as to a very good consumer level camcorder that would transfer to the PC at a high resolution? Please keep in mind the costs of some electronics are nearly double in Canada vs. U.S. I have always liked Sony products, but would consider other makes as well.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer...
Al

Kommentare

JohnnyRoy schrieb am 27.01.2004 um 13:07 Uhr

I don’t have any experience with this camcorder and am only reading the website just like you but here’s what I can see from the Sony web site.

This is a Didital8 camcorder. In my opinion, there is no reason to buy a Digital8 camcorder unless you have lots of Hi8 tapes that you need to still play (i.e., your Hi8 camcorder is broken and there is no way to play them) Otherwise you should be buying a miniDV camcorder as your tape format. Yes, the Digital8 camcorders are less expensive, but think about a possible scenario 5-7 years from now when you need a new camcorder and have 100’s of Digital8 tapes but Sony doesn’t make Digital8 anymore and all camcorders are miniDV. Now you have 100’s of tapes that won’t play. I would personally stay away from any proprietary Sony formats. (witness MicroMV, barely a year or two old and Sony has said they’re dropping the format!)

I believe the MPEG1 and MPEG MOVIE EX work with the Memory Stick (another Sony proprietary format) and is limited to recording web cam quality video direct to memory bypassing the tape. You then download this via USB. I would not use it for any serious video work as you have seen the highest resolution is only 320x240 MPEG1.

Again this is just my opinion, but if I were you, I would just get a miniDV camcorder. It will be the highest quality and you can make any of the other formats from it since they all have less quality. I’ve owned 3 Panasonic camcorders over the past 15 years (VHS, VHS-C, & miniDV) and I’ve been very happy with them.

Here is something to watch out for when buying a digital camcorder. For some reason, most of the manufacturers went overboard with useless features and forgot the basics. Many of the controls that were on the outside of my analog camcorder were now buried deep in the menus on the digitals. This was my primary shopping criteria (after selecting miniDV of course). My Panasonic has a manual focus ring. Most other digital camcorders have manual focus buried in a menu option (...like you’re really going to focus using up/down arrow keys?). This makes it absolutely useless for use during shooting. So just because the specs list White Balance control, you may be surprised how hard it is to find when you need it. Consider the controls you use most and make sure they are conveniently located on the camera you buy.

This is why I selected Panasonic. They remembered they were building a camera and not a computer!

~jr

kgresko schrieb am 27.01.2004 um 14:07 Uhr

Here is a good place to read up on all the camcorders to see the difference in features and price,,,,,,,http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html.

I prefer Sony, but that is a personal preference.

ADinelt schrieb am 28.01.2004 um 11:37 Uhr

Thanks for all the great info.

I have been checking the web for specs on the different MiniDV camcorders.

One thing that I have not seen in the specs is what the resolution is when outputting through the firewire. Is this a standard that all MiniDV camcorders must adhere to (e.g. 720 x 480) or is it possible each camcorder is different?

Al

Chienworks schrieb am 28.01.2004 um 12:14 Uhr

720x480 (NTSC) is defined by the DV spec. You won't find anything different until HD becomes standardized and popular.

ADinelt schrieb am 28.01.2004 um 22:06 Uhr

Once again, thanks for the great info.

Al

snoopyspy007 schrieb am 31.01.2004 um 01:37 Uhr

I just bought a JVC GR30U/US and only have played with it a little but for the money I think its a great deal, it is mini-dv and 16x opticle zoom, only cost me $285, can't beat that for a mini-dv camera....

tjw schrieb am 02.02.2004 um 04:34 Uhr

I bought a SONY TRV350 a couple of months ago, and am very pleased. It is a DIGITAL 8 and I got it to replace an old SONY 8mm. I have had no problems capturing all of my old 8mm tapes using firewire. Used Capture Video in SB MS. They make a 250 that is $100 less, but I am not sure what the differences are between the two.