What really matters when purchasing a camcorder?

Question

I'm looking to purchase a hand-held camcorder for my personal use - vacations, parties, etc. I am completely confused by all the options! MiniDV? SD? ABCXYZ? Basically, I just want to shoot some video and transfer said video to my computer (MacBook) to edit/post/add music/whatever. Any advice or guidance is much appreciated! Thanks!!

Answer 1

MiniDV tape will provide you the best available video quality. Your MacBook has a Firewire 400 port, so all you need is a 4-pin to 6-pin Firewire cable that will connect the DV port of the camcorder to the firewire port of the computer.

With the camera in play/edit mode, iMovie will let you import and edit the video, add titles and credits, add photos from iPhoto, grab music and add a soundtrack from iTunes and Share (to CDROM) size for emailing or uploading to YouTube or MySpace (or whatever)... and burn a DVD with iDVD...

What is your budget?

Low end:

Canon ZR800, ZR950

Midrange:

Sony DCR-HC96, Panasonic PV-GS320

High end (and high definition):

Canon HV20, HV30

Sony HDR-HV7, HC9

Hard drive camcorders will record in MPEG2, so will need to download and install StreamClip (from download from Apple).

DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER. Worst video quality and the discs are a pain.