Videocamara?

Question

Hello:

Can anyone recommend a good videocamara to buy? I was looking at them the other day, and I couldn't decide what the difference was in each model and brand. What are important points to take into account? What is better one with Hard drive or one what use minidvds directly?

any info is appreciated.

cheers,

joseph

Answer 1

Following up on theoriginalmac's excellent point about 1 minute of usable video coming with 10 minutes of c**p, you need to be able to edit out the c**p and put the good stuff in the right order i.e. edit your video.  MiniDV's a good format for this, MPEG-2, used by hard drive camcorders, isn't.

Mini-DVDs shouldn't be considered - they're more trouble than they're worth!

Answer 2

If you have the money, get the one with the hard drive. And if you don't have a dvd burner get that too so you can transfer the data onto dvd's!!!

Answer 3

sorry for the lengthy reply but there are a few things to talk about in this -

there are a couple of considerations when looking at cameras.

first, look at budget and then work out the best you can get for the money spent. try to steer clear of second hand units as they are usually more trouble than they're worth.

second, decide on a format to suit your style. most people are getting Hard drive cameras without thinking of the implications of the design. i will keep using mini dv tape myself until the bitter end as i think they are still the best format for low budget film making. you can use them in many HD cameras and will offer better archival storage and far superior image quality compared to DVD and HDD.

stick with mini dv - you can't miss. (btw mini dv only comes in 2 sizes - 60 min or 80 mins - it's true that you can set cam to shoot Long play and get 90 mins + on a tape but it's not worth it - always shoot SP)

on the subject of storage, i would seriously recommend getting an esata internal drive or a separate fire wire linked external drive (assuming ou have at least 2 fire wire ports)

the general rule of thumb is that 1 hour of DV/HDV will use around 12 to 15 gb of hard drive space. most people shoot a ratio of 10:1 as well. this means that for every minute of useful video you may have 10 mins of c**p. look at your shots carefully before you import and only start and finish importing the parts if you are concerned about space.

bottom line - 7 gb is nowhere near enough.

i have around 2 terabytes (2000 gb) and i always need more!

third - what sort of shooting are you looking to do? indoor studio? or outdoor sporting events etc. many cameras are good for one but might be lacking for the other. try to find something that suits your needs and work out features you may find useful. eg - night vision sounds great but it's highly unlikely that you'll use it regularly. but if you found something with decent mic inputs and separate sound controls you may find that FAR more useful.

consider you applications, decide your format and look at how much you want to spend. make a short list then try them out.

ps - i use a sony hvr-v1p. i am smitten. it looks like super 16mm film!