Buying a camcorder?

Question

I am looking into a camcorder, i was going to get the ones that record straight to DVD but then i heard they only record for like 20 mins or someting per dvd, then i was going to buy a sd camera but i then i would have to copy to pc then burn to dvd...which is better let me know if you have either one. im looking to spend about 500$

Answer 1

DVD camcorders are very easy to use.  You can record up to 55 min per side at best quality using DL DVD+R DVDs.  These discs can be somewhat expensive though.  MC Camcorders are nice and with the price of SD memory sticks its a very affordable way to go also but requires you to download it to a burner or a computer.  The other type which is HDD requires no addition memory besides what comes built in on the unit.  HDD can record the most at a time (some has high as 7 hours at best quality) before you would have to dump it onto the computer or into the burner.

Sony offers some of the best lenses in the market.  Carl Zeiss lenses are some of the best out there.  Panasonic and JVC also make very nice camcorders too that tend to be slightly cheaper without losing too much quality.  Canon camcorders are decent but are made slightly more cheaply and use primarily only software based image stabilization (which isn't as good as the image stabilization of a Sony).

Answer 2

If you're not going to edit your video, a DVD camcorder should work well for you.

If you want to add titles, sound tracks, special effects, etc., then you'll need to download your footage no matter what.

Here's a bit of advice from Consumer Reports: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/elect...

Good luck!!