Anyone want to school me on Digital camcorders
- Thread starter Pete
- Start date
mainman
Set Trippin
Whenever I am considering a purchase like this I go to: here, and read the consumer reviews.Pete said:
I already did the search.....http://www.epinions.com/Camcorders/search_string_~Digital%20Camcorders/adv_search_~1 Good luck...
Your best bet is to go to Best Buys or Circuit City and actually play with a few camcorders before you decide. You want the buttons to be big enough to prevent fat-fingeritis and placed so that you don't have to be a contortionist to use them.
Get one with a nice big LCD screen. It eats your battery power BUT it's worth it when you have 6 little kids going "Let me see! Let me see!"
I'm not a fan of the ones that record to DVD. The video quality is lower than DV, the disks are expensive and the cams themselves are more expensive, not to mention that you're going to want to transfer your video to your computer for editing and making copies anyway so there's no advantage in recording to DVD in the first place. I have a Digital8 cam that gives me great output - David swears by miniDV.
You'll need a firewire port (USB doesn't cut it when transferring video), video editing software and at least a CD burner, if not a DVD burner. I use Ulead Video Studio for video editing - several other people on here have recommended Nero.
Get one with a nice big LCD screen. It eats your battery power BUT it's worth it when you have 6 little kids going "Let me see! Let me see!"
I'm not a fan of the ones that record to DVD. The video quality is lower than DV, the disks are expensive and the cams themselves are more expensive, not to mention that you're going to want to transfer your video to your computer for editing and making copies anyway so there's no advantage in recording to DVD in the first place. I have a Digital8 cam that gives me great output - David swears by miniDV.
You'll need a firewire port (USB doesn't cut it when transferring video), video editing software and at least a CD burner, if not a DVD burner. I use Ulead Video Studio for video editing - several other people on here have recommended Nero.
What? Did you think you were just going to be happy with point and shoot?Pete said:
I am not going to make documentaries or Paris Hilton videos, just some goofy action TKD stuff.
Get the firewire - they're cheap and easy to install. CD burner is okay - you won't be able to make DVDs BUT you can burn your video onto a CD and send it off to grandparents that way.Pete said:
I burn tons of copies of video I shoot - I make a copy for myself, one for each kid to have for posterity, a copy goes to each set of grandparents and Bebe Mama gets a copy of any footage I shoot of the younger girls.
You'll get some rudimentary editing software with your camcorder. You'll be happy with it for awhile, then you'll want something with more features.
But definitely get the firewire port.
Just looked it up and it is.
Yes indeedy! So you're set!Pete said:
SmallTown
Football season!
Like others have said, I would go down to best buy or circuit city and start out by trying different ones. Depending on the weight, size, hand strap, etc, some just feel better in your hand than others.
Next step would be to ask the salesperson to take the camcorder to a different part of the store to test how well it does in lower light situations (back in the TVs is normally a good place to go).
After you've taken a few ask to see the output on a TV. On some camcorders, the video looks great on their little screen, but when blown up it looks really bad. and the other way around also.
The light thing, to me, is the most important aspect. Almost all camcorders looks great outside with the sun shining brightly. They vary tremendously when brought indoors.
Next step would be to ask the salesperson to take the camcorder to a different part of the store to test how well it does in lower light situations (back in the TVs is normally a good place to go).
After you've taken a few ask to see the output on a TV. On some camcorders, the video looks great on their little screen, but when blown up it looks really bad. and the other way around also.
The light thing, to me, is the most important aspect. Almost all camcorders looks great outside with the sun shining brightly. They vary tremendously when brought indoors.
good advise
Pete, I have a 3 year old Sony Digital8 and I'm still happy with it. Panasonic is a good name to look at and so is Canon.
What ST said about low-light cannot be stressed enough!
What ST said about low-light cannot be stressed enough!
Well, Pete, you're on my #### list. Because of you, I went to Best Buy and checked out their camcorder and digicam selection. I came home and ordered a Sony Cybershot P200 camera and a Sony HC32 miniDV camcorder. 
Camcorders are so tiny now! My old one was a PITA to drag around but this new one fits in my purse.
Camcorders are so tiny now! My old one was a PITA to drag around but this new one fits in my purse.