Need help choosing a good HD camcorder

Question

I am looking for a HD camcorder for home videos. Here are my requirements/specs/questions?

1) My budget : $1000

2) Would be nice to be able to play my SD miniDv tapes -- but not a requirement.

3) Which storage media [ miniDv/dvd/HD...] would be best ?

4) Which brand would be most reliable and provide good quality video ?

5) I am thinking of "Canon VIXIA HV30" -- pros and cons ?

Thanks much.

Answer 1

Since you need your new camcorder to be able to play your SD miniDV tapes, your best bet is to get a camcorder that records to HDV tape.  This way you can read your SD miniDV tapes in your new camcorder.  More importantly, you can also save money by using the same miniDV tape to record your new HD video too.  You can even use HDV tape to record an SD video in an SD camcorder.

HDV tape and miniDV tape are the same.  HDV and miniDV tape can be used in the same camcorders.  The tape with the HDV making is merely a more robust grade of miniDV tape designed for much more repeated use and longer storage.  

HDV is captured to your editing program exactly like miniDV.  You only need to ensure your current editing program can interpret and handle high definition video.  iMovie can, but depending on your version of Windows, Windows Movie Maker may not.  If you need or want to upgrade, you can find some very good editing programs that handle HD video for under $100 such as Sony Vegas Pro, Final Cut Express, or Avid Pinnacle Studio.  Even better, you can export both SD movies and HD movies from the same HD video capture and edit.

Any of the camcorder models in your price range will be very good and comparable to the low end professional camcorders.  If you ever want to make the jump to filmmaking, you may find a used professional camcorder or an older model that is still new on sale for under $1,000.  All of the small format HD professional camcorders record to HDV; otherwise, you will be perfectly fine with a consumer-level HDV camcorder.