Which Camcorder DV or HDD

sonicboom · #1 (**permalink**) 08-11-2007, 06:47 PM

Hi All

Newbie to this forum therefore be patient with me. Having watched people using modern small video camcorders has once again ignited my interest in owning such a gadget. I have a full size panasonic MS2 vido camera used it a few times in last fifteen years. Now holding such a beast on your shoulder is embarassing so my grown up kids say.

The burning question is which camcorder to go for in a huge market with so many makes and formats to choose from. Reading so many reviews I am non the wiser therefore I am confused. All of the major manufacturers say same thing that their camcoders are the best.

What I want is a simple to use camcorder with manual controls and the one that will produce good quality video's. The camcorder which I really fancy is panasonic NV-GS400 this is discontinued its replacement NV-GS500 hasn't manual features therefore an auto drive camcorder.

One thing has emerged clearly is that mini DV is much better format and is easier to edit video's. Is the new format HDD any good.

So all of guys which camcorder will fit my requirements. My buget for such a gadget is £500-£600. I look forward in receiving your feedbacks. Thanks in advance.

Marc Peters · #2 (**permalink**) 08-11-2007, 07:53 PM

Video experts will no doubt suggest that manual control of your camera is the way to perfection. I guess I'm no expert then, as I often take advantage of the auto controls (getting too anal over everything just takes the fun out of filiming for us amateurs in my opinion).

As for what camera. Welll, DV cameras are now a mature product and there really isn't much to chose between cameras in the 500 to 600 quid mark. In fact I would suggest you chose a camera based on look and feel. You might want to take a look at my auction on ebay for an XM2 camcorder... Canon DM-XM2 Mini DV Digital Camcorder on eBay, Camcorders, Photography (item 300139865141 end time 15-Aug-07 16:32:29 BST)

Nikosony · #3 (**permalink**) 08-19-2007, 03:07 PM

Do go for DV camcorders if you intend to edit your movies at some stage. They give the best picture and sound quality (via Firewire) and there is a lot of editing software out there that 'likes' them. The file format, DV-AVI, I believe Microsoft have their name attached to it, is an easily managable file format compared to Mini DVD and HDD. You can't go wrong with either a Panasonic, JVC or Canon, just stick with a well known brand.

sonicboom · #4 (**permalink**) 08-19-2007, 03:46 PM

Hi Nikosony

Thanks for your positive response. My mind is made therefore DV camcorder it's going to be but which make make. I have looked at sony, Canon and panasonic. Canon and Panasonic low budget current range don't appeal to me purely on looks and difficult buttons to manage.

Sony much prettier looks and battery set up is good but don't fancy on screen menu. The only panasonic that appeals to me is GS-NV 500 but it's purely an auto machine.

Other difficulty is there isn't an outlet locally where I could see the the selection of camcorders. I visited Jessops this afternoon very limited with camcorders. I don't fancy buying a camcorder without seeing and trying. Online outlets put me in that catagory.

So where can I do just that.

Mark W · #5 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 12:24 PM

DV everytime - as for auto fearures, well I always always use my small cam in full auto mode, except for the odd bit of spot metering. The joy of a small camera is point a squirt. My big pro camera is used always in full manual (not there is much auto) because it is built to be used that way and all the controls are smooth and accessible and I use it in situations where the best picture is important - like I may want to have very good control over dof / focal point and exacting exposures.

In my expirience compact cameras are fiddly in non auto and may give worse results than full auto, having said that I do sometimes turn off auto iris to avoid that annoying hunting of exposure levels and if using autofocus you just need to remember that the middle of the screen will be where it will focus (usually).

Nikosony · #6 (**permalink**) 08-24-2007, 09:25 PM

Surely the GS 500 has manual controls, such as a manual focus ring, exposure and white balance? Or has Panasonic removed them aswell and stuck on some utterly ridicolous digital zoom? The designers who put on digital zooms on camcorders want to be beaten with a very large stick, preferably a nightstick... bish, bash, bosh, end of digital zooms, sorted. And Mark W, 'point and squirt', (lol).

sonicboom · #7 (**permalink**) 08-27-2007, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikosony

Surely the GS 500 has manual controls, such as a manual focus ring, exposure and white balance? Or has Panasonic removed them aswell and stuck on some utterly ridicolous digital zoom? The designers who put on digital zooms on camcorders want to be beaten with a very large stick, preferably a nightstick... bish, bash, bosh, end of digital zooms, sorted. And Mark W, 'point and squirt', (lol).

Having read a number of reviews on GS500 point out that this camcorder is very much a "auto camcorder". I have not seen it yet but is outside my budget at the moment. I would like a mid range camcorder with manual functions. I am finding it difficult to find one.

sirconical · #8 (**permalink**) 08-29-2007, 10:23 PM

Hi. I got myself a HDD camcorder a while ago, and had no idea at the time how frustrating it was going to be trying to edit clips together that have been encoded to mpeg2 format - I'm tearing my hair out! I gather I should have the video in some other format, but I don't know what format or how to get it to that. I've been loking all over the show, but found nothing. Can anybody give me any advice?

Nikosony · #9 (**permalink**) 08-31-2007, 10:30 AM

The easiest format I have found to use in both capturing and editing is .avi, which comes from the Mini DV camcorders. And it seems so many video editing programs are geared towards this format rather than any other. As you say it can be very frustrating to find out that when you've purchased a camcorder that you can't find any of the available editors to work with it. It usually involves some sort of conversion process and quality is lost in the process or it doesn't play back smoothly. As I've said on other posts, mpeg is a format you end up with rather than starting out with.

sirconical · #10 (**permalink**) 08-31-2007, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikosony

The easiest format I have found to use in both capturing and editing is .avi, which comes from the Mini DV camcorders. And it seems so many video editing programs are geared towards this format rather than any other. As you say it can be very frustrating to find out that when you've purchased a camcorder that you can't find any of the available editors to work with it. It usually involves some sort of conversion process and quality is lost in the process or it doesn't play back smoothly. As I've said on other posts, mpeg is a format you end up with rather than starting out with.

I know this now! I jsut wish I knew it when I was buying my camera. Regardless, I've got a HDD cam which compresses the video clips straight to mpeg. I have read that Panasonic DV codec is what I want my files to be... which would give me DV-AVIS. Anyone know how I can achieve this? Or point me to a thread which already tells me how to achieve this?