OT What Camera? (again!)

brianw wrote on 3/15/2010, 5:16 PM
Sorry about this but new models and old ones disappearing mean I've lost the plot again.
Any objections to AVCHD hard drive or memory stick cams for home use and simple "holiday" type editing? Intend to u'grade to i7 computer soon.
Sony XR-200 or CX-550 would be my choice at this stage. I know tape has archival potential but since my original Digi 8 has packed up and the second hand one is needing a head clean every few minutes. Will mini tape be playable in ten years? Incidentally Aussie Ebay has not listed a digital 8 cam in over two months, the last one went for nearly $600.
Holiday to Vancouver and Alaska cruise in June next.
Cheers, Brian

Comments

UlfLaursen wrote on 3/15/2010, 11:17 PM
Hi Brian

I use AVCHD a lot theese days, so IMO the format is ok. You will need an i7 to edit natively but you can render out to a more editing freindly format also if you like.
I do not know anything of the 2 cams you mention, I would personaly not get one with harddrive, memory cards are easier; when you are transfering you do not need the camera pluged in every time, you just put the card in the cardreader.

/Ulf
reberclark wrote on 3/15/2010, 11:54 PM
Hello Brian - I agree with Ulf. Cards are MUCH BETTER than hard drives. AVCHD does not cause me many problems. I do not have an i7 system yet so I transcode to .AVI and now (more often) .MXF.
farss wrote on 3/16/2010, 12:55 AM
Sony HC9, maybe you could still find a HC7 around at a bargain price.

Will HDV tapes still be readble in 10 years, I think so, we just spent $3K on Sony's upgraded MVR M25PA VCR, the one that adds support for 25p/F.

I have no technical explaination of why the cheap HDV cameras beat the cheap AVCHD cameras in image quality, especially when downconverted. One explaination I have heard is none of them have the processing power to do a full quality encode.

Bob.
ritsmer wrote on 3/16/2010, 1:50 AM
Holiday to Vancouver and Alaska cruise in June next.
Sounds great!

Just got my new CX550 some days ago. It beats everything I have had before. By far. Even if my last camera was the only 4 months old CX505VE.

In every aspect it is great. Beginning with such minor things as the transfer speed via USB - the 550 is several times faster than the 505. The active "gyro" stabilizer is also -if possible- better. And up to the 25 Mbps bit rate...

So I can recommend that.

To the XR200 I would say: just look at the 1/5" chip - compared to the 1/2.88 in the 550 - and forget about it.

For such holiday use I would, however, also recommend a second camera - as small as it goes - because you can use it in crowds etc. without disturbing/ upsetting people as much as a big videocamera would do.
For that use I have the new SONY TX7 which has a 1/2.4" chip. It does 1080 50i at approx. 17 Mbps - and does it well.
Astonishing for a camera so small that I carry it in my pocket in a Marlboro cigarette case...