Dvd cam sucks is minidv better i want to shoot good video for sony vegas editing?

Question

so Im buying a pc and sony vegas i will need a camera i tied my girlfriends dvd cam and it sucks it blurs and gets fuzzy and has a cold sterile look. my friend minidvcam on the other hand rocks in comparison it looks warm and clear no matter how the light changes but will a minidv look bad when imported into vegas or other editing programs i want to do amatuer videos and i think i wanna go minidv over dvd. but i want some input also will a 300 dollar minidv do the job or should i spend more and what do you think about sd cards

Answer 1

You answered your own question. Mini DV rules!!

Answer 2

Because miniDV tape based camcorders save their data files to the digital tape with very little compression (DV format), they provide the best available quality.

Hard drive and flash memory camcorders come next. the MPEG2 standard definition video they store is compressed a lot. They provide OK video quality, but not as good as miniDV tape.

DVD based camcorder compress the most - and provide the worst available video quality when compared with the other formats... especially if you want to edit the video.

Video compression = discarded data = reduced video quality.

For $300, look in the Canon ZR family...

If you are planning to do loud audio (amplified music), you will need full manual audio control - and the cheapest camcorders I know of with an external mic jack and full manual audio control are the Canon HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9.