OT: Dumb HD camcorder question

Curt wrote on 5/11/2009, 11:18 AM

I'm currently researching a future purchase of an HD camcorder. The big dilema I'm wrestling with right now is HDD based recording versus SDHC recording. I figure the pros/cons are as follows:

HDD pros:
Long recording times
No media to change during shoots
HDD cons:
Drive noise?
More moving parts = more to break?
Lower battery life

SDHC pros:
Relatively cheap media
No moving parts
Less power consumption = longer battery life
SDHC cons:
Less recording time even with larger cards vs. HDD
I have heard that recording to SDHC requires the video to be compressed more to fit on the card. Is this true?

I look forward to hearing from those "in the trenches." Feel free to insult my intelligence.

Comments

Cheno wrote on 5/11/2009, 11:32 AM

I've got a lot of backcountry hikers as friends. There are reported issues with HDD cams not performing above 9000 feet - (I live in Utah so this is typical for mountain ranges) - the other drawback IMO, is record time, if you've got an HDD cam that doesn't do solid state media as well, you're limited to what the HD will hold, as opposed to just popping in another flash card.

I've chose flash over HD and absolutely love the cams. Media is not badly priced, either.

As for recording format, either are going to be AVC or AVCHD, you will have different recording bitrates but you won't gain anything in format / compression by choosing HD over flash.

my two cents.

cheno

Curt wrote on 5/11/2009, 12:31 PM

Thanks for the info Cheno. I've heard about the altitude limitations of HDD's, but the chances of me shooting in the mountains are next to nothing. I'm an avid indoorsman!

I have considered getting a camera that has both HDD and card slot, so I'd have the best of both worlds, but does the drive still spin if you're using cards?

reberclark wrote on 5/11/2009, 12:43 PM

I have an SD and an HD camera - both use flash - no disks. I love them. The ease of transferring data to the computer easily is a giant plus for me. There is no "capture" other than popping the SDHC card into my machine and dragging and dropping the files wherever I want them. As far as recording time goes my Canon Vixia HF100 HD camera gets 2 hours+ at 30p / FXP mode (highest) with a 16GB card. Battery life of 141min (with the optional bigger battery). No hard disk=no hard disk hassles. You can always pop in another SDHC card - not so with HDD. My recommendation is SDHC all the way. Good luck!