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      01-05-2006, 02:14 AM   #1
poldim
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Video Camera

I want to invest into a video camera. Nothing too fancy. Just to mainly take vids of the car and the occasional home vid...

Has anyone bought anything recently?

Suggestions?
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      01-05-2006, 07:03 AM   #2
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i bought my video camera several years ago and haven't done much research on them since so I can't comment on specific models. But here's my advice anyways:

- avoid the cheaper models. Look for something that costs over $500.
- I've NEVER had a problem with any of the Sony equipment I've ever owned.
- Make sure it has a firewire connection so you can dump the videos to your computer.
- The 3 CCD cameras are supposed to give better color reproduction.
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      01-05-2006, 07:14 AM   #3
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My brother has bought Sony Handycam. Its great. I can suggest it, it has several types and the price varies. DVD ones are much more expensive but Mini Dv does well too(i dont know the exact difference between them but mini dv uses a cassette(digital))

Hope it helps
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      01-05-2006, 08:43 AM   #4
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I used to use a miniDV semi pro style cam in school ($2500), it was nice but bulky.
This thing, linky , has gotten some great reviews. Its about 900 bucks from B&H, but it seems very good.






Along with one of these:

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      01-05-2006, 11:42 AM   #5
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Sony has some impressive HD stuff, but I don't think the camera above has the 3 CCDs (which has been the deciding factor for me). I do a lot of DV work and I've been happy with Panasonic (check out the PV-GS400) and Canon cameras. You just have to decide on a price range first or else you'll end up with something like the new Canon XL-H1 (about $9000) when you just keep packing on the features.
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      01-05-2006, 12:20 PM   #6
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are there any 3 CCD cameras that do High Def? The only ones I've seen are all plain old DV.
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      01-05-2006, 12:31 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 06graphite
- avoid the cheaper models. Look for something that costs over $500.
- I've NEVER had a problem with any of the Sony equipment I've ever owned.
- Make sure it has a firewire connection so you can dump the videos to your computer.
- The 3 CCD cameras are supposed to give better color reproduction.
that kind of doesn't go with his note "nothing too fancy"
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      01-05-2006, 01:23 PM   #8
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CCD vs 3CCD: 3CCD Cams have a separate chip for recording RED, GREEN, and BLUE (thus a 3 CCD). Single CCD cams use one chip, but filter the RGB signal to the equivalent of a 3CCD. Yes, a 3CCD will produce better color, but IMHO it only matters if you're a pro. Your eye won't distinguish between the two types -- go for a CCD & use the extra money on your E90.

Recording Media DVD based, or MiniDV (tape) based? It all depends on your desired output. Once you pop the DVD out of a camcorder, thats it. You can't do any editing as the DVD is the final product. It also compresses the video (to fit more on the 30-minute Disc) so the quality is not that of MiniDV. If you think you might like to edit your video, MiniDV is the way to go as it is the standard with all video editing platforms, both consmer & pro. (If editing, I'd recommend a Mac!)


Oh, and forget about the hard drive based camcorders too. The video quality is poor, and the big drawback is that the video sits on a hard drive. Guess what happens to your video if the hard drive crashes. Exactly.

HD Camcorders Forget about them -- waaay too expensive! Just get a 16:9 widescreen capable cam & leave the HD to the pros.

I'd recommend a Canon Optura or Elura cam. For $499 you can get an Optura 400 MiniDV that records in widescreen (16:9) or standard. It also doubles as a 2MP digital camera which records pics to a removable memory card. Lastly, I'd stick with any Canon simply because their lenses are vastly superior to a company like Sony, Samsung, or Hitachi, etc.

You can find this cam at bhphoto.com.

Hope this helps!
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      01-05-2006, 02:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eleven24
Recording Media DVD based, or MiniDV (tape) based? It all depends on your desired output. Once you pop the DVD out of a camcorder, thats it. You can't do any editing as the DVD is the final product. It also compresses the video (to fit more on the 30-minute Disc) so the quality is not that of MiniDV. If you think you might like to edit your video, MiniDV is the way to go as it is the standard with all video editing platforms, both consmer & pro. (If editing, I'd recommend a Mac!)

Actually, that's not entirely true:
1) With DVD based cameras you can still put the DVD into your computer and use a video editing suite to edit the video.
2) While the DVD cameras do natively record in MPEG-2, it is generally not highly compressed . The 30 minute limitation is a factor of the physical size of the disk.
3) Actually, MiniDV is not the standard for all video editing platforms. Digital 8 is. In fact, only the more recent editing suites will even natively recognize MiniDV cameras.

As far as your Mac recommendation, all of the major video editing suites are available either for a PC or Mac (Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, Avid, etc.) with little to no differences. So it's no longer necessary to go spend a lot more money on a Mac just so you can use decent editing software.

Quote:
Originally Posted by eleven24
HD Camcorders Forget about them -- waaay too expensive! Just get a 16:9 widescreen capable cam & leave the HD to the pros.
Consumer HD cameras are starting to drop in price, and they all are capable of recording in either HD or standard def (actually DV) so you could "future proof" yourself now by buying an HD camera.
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      01-05-2006, 04:33 PM   #10
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Along with one of these:

[/QUOTE]
i just thought of something. wouldnt this take out door ding??
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      01-05-2006, 04:48 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by longtran
Along with one of these:

i just thought of something. wouldnt this take out door ding??[/QUOTE]


That is a tripod head, not a dent-puller.
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      01-05-2006, 08:48 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 06graphite
Actually, MiniDV is not the standard for all video editing platforms. Digital 8 is. In fact, only the more recent editing suites will even natively recognize MiniDV cameras.

As far as your Mac recommendation, all of the major video editing suites are available either for a PC or Mac (Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, Avid, etc.) with little to no differences. So it's no longer necessary to go spend a lot more money on a Mac just so you can use decent editing software.
The difference between Mac vs PC in terms of video editing is that with a Mac it is ready to edit video out of the box. For $1299 you can get a iMac G5 with built in video editing, and dvd burning software.

This wasn't meant to be a PC vs MAC debate though. The original post was regarding a cam for the typical home user.
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      01-06-2006, 07:24 AM   #13
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Just got one of these


for Christmas and its :rocks:

GBP400 - no bigger than digital camera, no tapes, can take digital stills.

Excellent!

see here
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      01-06-2006, 08:06 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 06graphite
Actually, that's not entirely true:
1) With DVD based cameras you can still put the DVD into your computer and use a video editing suite to edit the video.
2) While the DVD cameras do natively record in MPEG-2, it is generally not highly compressed . The 30 minute limitation is a factor of the physical size of the disk.
3) Actually, MiniDV is not the standard for all video editing platforms. Digital 8 is. In fact, only the more recent editing suites will even natively recognize MiniDV cameras.

As far as your Mac recommendation, all of the major video editing suites are available either for a PC or Mac (Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, Avid, etc.) with little to no differences. So it's no longer necessary to go spend a lot more money on a Mac just so you can use decent editing software.



Consumer HD cameras are starting to drop in price, and they all are capable of recording in either HD or standard def (actually DV) so you could "future proof" yourself now by buying an HD camera.


The Mac recommendation is correct, unless you buy a non motorola processor based Mac. The Motorola processors that Mac used to use before switching to Intel were much more better equipped at dealing with audio and video rendering. All semi and professional users edit video on Macs.
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      01-06-2006, 08:08 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by longtran
Along with one of these:

i just thought of something. wouldnt this take out door ding??[/QUOTE]


Interesting idea. I think it might work if your ding is very shallow but takes up a larger area. But probably wont...
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      01-06-2006, 08:09 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by northerncalguy
i just thought of something. wouldnt this take out door ding??

That is a tripod head, not a dent-puller.[/QUOTE]

The bottom is a suction cup base with a pump, click on the link I posted with the original post...
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      01-06-2006, 08:41 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poldim
The Mac recommendation is correct, unless you buy a non motorola processor based Mac. The Motorola processors that Mac used to use before switching to Intel were much more better equipped at dealing with audio and video rendering. All semi and professional users edit video on Macs.

actually, the G5s are made by IBM and right now, Motorola (G4 and G3 chips) is way behind Intel, so most of the Mac community, including myself, is very happy about the switch.

sorry, i know it's
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