I need advice...about Dvd camcorders?

Question

...I am looking to buy Dvd camcorder, should I buy a camcorder that uses full size discs or should I go for mini-discs ...what are the main differences...what sort of things should I be looking for...?

Answer 1

Which full size DVD camcorder had you in mind?  I don't know of any!

Answer 2

PLEASE DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.

If there is any remote possibility that you want to transfer that video to your computer for editing or uploading, be advised that these camcorders use the highest amount of compression - and as another poster indicated, this video is not meant to be edited... and will result in very poor quality.

Answer 3

I presume you are settled on the dvd format, and are aware that the image quality is not great.

I believe that the small discs fit straight into most dvd players you will notice when you open the cd drawer a smaller indent to take them, you could transfer the recording to a standard dvd format if you wanted.

The advantage of the smaller dvd camcorder is usually the compactness of the recorder.

Personally I would look at the hard drive format, where you simply film away and then burn to DVD when you get home.

I have just bought the sony version and have been impressed,  no searching for blank dvds etc, very compact and on highest quality setting I havent run out of storage space yet.

You need loads of those little dvds and the cost mounts ups.

Answer 4

i dont reccomend buying a dvd camcorder, it is always assumed that dvd camcorders are better than dv camcorders but this is not true at all. dvd camcorders compress (reduce the quality) of your video so all the data can fit on your disk.(hard drive cameras also do this)

the best choice for a camcorder is a "mini dv" camcorder with 3 ccds, it gives the best image and color quality. cannon produces the best of them

the only benefit of dvd camcorders is that the content can be used in a dvd directly, but editing and merging footage is impossible with this type of cameras. with dv camera you have the option of importing the video to a computer and editing it, then you can export it to dvd whenever you want using software like nero vision

about the differences of mini and full size disks is the fact that mini disks only record half an hour of video while large disks can have up to 2 hours of footage in them

also remember that dvds have their days counted, a few years from now everyone will be using blu ray video

Answer 5

Go with tape its easier!! And I also have not heard of a full size disk camera!!

Answer 6

Depends what u want to use if for and your budget.

Mini-DVD - Very nice and compact, but maybe a tad bit harder to find the MiniDVD-R and also the pricing is quite high.

DVD- If you really want to record ALOT, this is definitely it.

In difference, its just about the capacity and the price.

if your not sure a heavy camcorder user, u should look at buying a miniDVD, its mush easier for you to manipulate the files as they are smaller and more organized.

But i cant say no about ullsize DVD's also. Its up to your preference. Smaller or bigger. In terms of performance. the miniDVD might have a slightly longer battery life. .