DVD Camcorders

daryl wrote on 1/19/2005, 6:38 AM

Hey y'all.
Anyone have some experience with DVD camcorders, such as the Sony DCR-DVD201 ?
I'm looking for a very compact cam to take on some trips, including DC this week. I have a JVC DV camera, but it's big and I'm sure that the big aluminum case would be getting a LOT of attention with all the extra security at DC this week.
Thoughts?

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/19/2005, 6:47 AM

Avoid them unless you plan on doing no editing. They're MPEG/AC3 based, and not the best thing in the world when it comes to editing.

daryl wrote on 1/19/2005, 6:54 AM

That makes the decesion very easy, thanks so much Spot!!!

SonicClang wrote on 1/19/2005, 9:37 AM

So what does that mean exactly? That to start off, everything out of the camera is second generation?

ScottW wrote on 1/19/2005, 9:57 AM

No, but it means that everything is heavily compressed and as such it makes it more difficult to edit - not impossible, just more difficult. MPEG-2 is usually considered a delivery format, not an editing format.

Most people that go this route use one of the tools to take the MPEG/AC3 to DV and PCM for editing, or use one of the MPEG editors that are available.

--Scott