Can anyone give me some easy to digest pointers on choosing a digital camcorder?

Question

There is so much choice, and all i can remember is from my manual/SLR days.....this time i'm looking to collect quality images and sound, documentary style....mostly interviews and fly-on the wall stuff. Got a medium budget, gotta account for all the accessories. Any good search domains? Any brilliant suggestions? Best answer to the person who points me the most successful direction. need to know what to look for really...all these terms that i don't understand....

Answer 1

Tape is not dead. It may be dying, especially in the consumer market, but it is not dead, and until we receive its equal or better, tape will be here to stay.

Tape =/= analog, but analog be put to tape, unless it's film. All the formats listed below are digital. The major thing you need to consider is what you want: image quality, ease of use, and ease of editing. Even if you don't plan on editing now, it still applies. MiniDV tapes offer the best image quality out of DVDs, or hard drive cams. (from now on, when I compare image quality, I mean in a cam of a similar quality/price, but with a different format. Obviously an $700 DVD cam will outperform a $200 miniDV cam). MiniDVs are also the easiest to edit. DVDs, on the other hand, are the Antichrist of editing formats, but they are the easiest to use (sort of), by the fact that you can pop one into your DVD player and watch your raw unedited footage instantaneously. Finally HDD cams. They try to combine ease of use with some editing functionality. Unfortunately, the only thing that HDD cams really have an advantage of is that they don't have to use any recording media. Transferring clips to your computer and watching them are relatively painless, but the same can't be said about editing. And MOST finally, HDV cams. You DON'T want these, unless: you have a 3.4 ghz computer or dual core 2 ghz processors, at least 1 GB of ram, an HDTV, and a blu-ray burner, disc, and player (if you don't want to export to tape).

Ok now that you've picked your format, you have all these other options to choose from. Basically, if its anything under $1000, the features will stay the same, except for Panasonic. All the other companies will have emphasis on automatic features, but the higher end Panasonic miniDV cameras have 3ccds for better color, and give you some prosumer controls for a less-than-prosumer price. If you want a documentary style images and sound, the Panasonic pv-gs300 or pv-gs500 may well be the camera for you. There was a 400, but you probably won't find one unless it's on eBay, but if you do, and you planned on getting a pv-gs series cam, get the 400. Trust me on this. Also if you want good sound for interviews, the above cams all come with mic ports and shoes (hot or cold, not too sure). Stick a $200 rode videomic on top, and you're good to go. Like I said, if you're just looking for auto functions, then any other manufacturer will be fine. I know I kind of rambled on and on in some areas, and didn't cover everything, so if you ever need more help, feel free to contact me from my answers profile. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

having just researched and bought a digital camcorder, i'll share some of my thoughts...

don't do anything on tape, i think that medium is dying fast...as well as analog recording....go digital all the way...

at first i wanted to buy one that would write directly to the mini-disc...then i realized it takes time to write and process the disc, let alone carry spare discs with me all the time, and then change discs when the disc is full, and i might miss some of the action...

so i decided to buy one that had a harddrive built in...the writing time is very short, the storage space is plentiful (30gig) and the picture clarity is magnificent!

there were several brands i researched but decided on SONY since they've been doing it the longest and know what they're doing

oh....and buy a spare battery because your battery will die LONG before you use up your storage space

good luck!

Answer 3

a million sturdy digicam I have is the JVC GZ-MG330 it runs about $four hundred in spite of the undeniable fact that it makes tremendous DVD's I make DVD's for community bands and that i positioned them on myspace with yet another digicam the turn Video digicam it runs about $one hundred fifty it really is desirable for DVD's also!