GJW
Flashlight Enthusiast
New baby coming.
Guess that says it all.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Guess that says it all.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Digital Camcorder Recommendations?
- Thread starter GJW
- Start date
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Budget?
Anything up to, say, $1300 go with whatever Canon you can afford.
The ZR series is nice and small, the Optura 20 is just a tiny bit more (About $50 more than the most expensive ZR) and has some nicer features (Bigger LCD, focus ring), but the body is bigger. If you have a few hundred more over that than the Optura Xi is the way to go (Larger CCD and optical IS which is better than the digital IS everything cheaper has). If you can swallow a $1300 bill than skip the Canons and get this Panasonic 3CCD model. Their first line of consumer 3CCD cameras wasn't that great but their second gen look pretty good!
Bad ideas:
DVD Burning Camera: At least if you plan on editing the movie -- and you really should. A DVD camera is going to add at least 3, very time consuming steps to the editing process. MiniDV is the way to go.
Sony models: Sony has gone to an all-touch screen line. Sure it sounds nice at first, but makes it a pain in the butt to adjust setting on the fly -- or change settings at all. Even if you can get the hang of the touch screen controls you're going to jiggle the camera each time you want to change a setting.
Too-Cheap online: The super cheap dealers online will call you and hard-sell you on overpriced accessories. If you decline your order will magically go onto permanent backorder. I recommend Beach camera. Their prices are great and we've ordered several cameras from them without problems.
Anything up to, say, $1300 go with whatever Canon you can afford.
The ZR series is nice and small, the Optura 20 is just a tiny bit more (About $50 more than the most expensive ZR) and has some nicer features (Bigger LCD, focus ring), but the body is bigger. If you have a few hundred more over that than the Optura Xi is the way to go (Larger CCD and optical IS which is better than the digital IS everything cheaper has). If you can swallow a $1300 bill than skip the Canons and get this Panasonic 3CCD model. Their first line of consumer 3CCD cameras wasn't that great but their second gen look pretty good!
Bad ideas:
DVD Burning Camera: At least if you plan on editing the movie -- and you really should. A DVD camera is going to add at least 3, very time consuming steps to the editing process. MiniDV is the way to go.
Sony models: Sony has gone to an all-touch screen line. Sure it sounds nice at first, but makes it a pain in the butt to adjust setting on the fly -- or change settings at all. Even if you can get the hang of the touch screen controls you're going to jiggle the camera each time you want to change a setting.
Too-Cheap online: The super cheap dealers online will call you and hard-sell you on overpriced accessories. If you decline your order will magically go onto permanent backorder. I recommend Beach camera. Their prices are great and we've ordered several cameras from them without problems.
2dim
Enlightened
I had thought DVD was better, because there were no tapes. Please educate me further.
turbodog
Flashaholic
Dvd is nice, but the disks do not hold much and they are expensive. It you're gonna usa it a decent amount, it's cheaper to get a dvd recorder for the pc and pipe the camera output into the computer. Then burn from there.
binky
Flashlight Enthusiast
I got a Canon Optima 20 and brought it back to the store because once I saw the reds on the TV they just looked too washed out. I don't exactly have spare cash these days (far from it) but I've got 3 boys 5 & under and think about this as my only chance to catch them at this age on film. So I splurged.
I exchanged that version for the Optima Xi and it's far, far better. My wife noticed the difference too.
Be forewarned that NONE of the digital camcorders below the 3-ccd versions capture dim lighting like the old hi-8 could. They basically just all suck in "low light", which means everything indoors, but this Canon is one of the better ones.
I was very happy to have bought mine from a reputable brick & mortar shop that would let me bring back what I'd bought initially until I got it right. They even offered to lend (not rent) me a hi-8 camcorder to transfer my old tapes to digital.
And then there's the FireWire digital output... I had been using a dual-Xeon Windows 2000 / RedHat box but could never get anything but stills out of the camera without needing to buy more software or spend hours editing the film. Hours I do not have. Then for work I bought an Apple PowerBook G4. Holy crud what an easy thing it is getting the movie material out of the camera and pasting the pieces together. I even added some fades etc. It must have taken me like 1/2 hr at the most from start to finish including learning iMovie. So... I guess what I'm saying is that if you get a digital camcorder you should also not forget that you'll probably want to put the stuff onto a DVD and if you do that you'll probably want to do at least SOME editing. Think about that as an accessory you'll need too, whether it's Wintel, Open Source, or part of iLife.
Some pro's:
- Super easy to use, just point & shoot (mostly; see light color below)
- small. It feels smaller than my old Sony Hi-8 camcorder which I thought was small.
- Direct FireWire output.
- Can plug in your old analog camcorder and use this to transfer to digital to your PC. (!!!)
- It can take decent still pictures onto a flash card. This is great and it also means you don't have to bring a digital still snapshot camera with you if you don't mind the lower resolution. (2 Mega pix I believe, which is pretty darned good for a digicam and all you'll need for a huge pic)
Some con's:
- There's no button for the color temp, or whatever that's called. It's buried in the menu for the camera settings. When I'm inside I almost always need to manually set the color temp to get the whites to look white (a bubble bath shouldn't look like the bubbles are sea foam crud)
- It has a battery saver mode that shuts down the camera if not used for some time. This cannot be altered. The problem is that many times I've been holding the camcorder for a bit just waiting for that "right moment" then when it comes I get a blinking warning that the camera's about to shut down. No button pressing can bypass this so I need to fully shut off the camera then turn it back on and wait for it to go through its startup self-test whatever before I can record. By then the moment is always gone.
- You'll definitely need another, bigger battery and you'll want to get a monsterous flash card. You can only get something like 4 pictures onto the included card.
Happy hunting, and... CONGRATULATIONS on the reason for needing the camera in the first place!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I exchanged that version for the Optima Xi and it's far, far better. My wife noticed the difference too.
Be forewarned that NONE of the digital camcorders below the 3-ccd versions capture dim lighting like the old hi-8 could. They basically just all suck in "low light", which means everything indoors, but this Canon is one of the better ones.
I was very happy to have bought mine from a reputable brick & mortar shop that would let me bring back what I'd bought initially until I got it right. They even offered to lend (not rent) me a hi-8 camcorder to transfer my old tapes to digital.
And then there's the FireWire digital output... I had been using a dual-Xeon Windows 2000 / RedHat box but could never get anything but stills out of the camera without needing to buy more software or spend hours editing the film. Hours I do not have. Then for work I bought an Apple PowerBook G4. Holy crud what an easy thing it is getting the movie material out of the camera and pasting the pieces together. I even added some fades etc. It must have taken me like 1/2 hr at the most from start to finish including learning iMovie. So... I guess what I'm saying is that if you get a digital camcorder you should also not forget that you'll probably want to put the stuff onto a DVD and if you do that you'll probably want to do at least SOME editing. Think about that as an accessory you'll need too, whether it's Wintel, Open Source, or part of iLife.
Some pro's:
- Super easy to use, just point & shoot (mostly; see light color below)
- small. It feels smaller than my old Sony Hi-8 camcorder which I thought was small.
- Direct FireWire output.
- Can plug in your old analog camcorder and use this to transfer to digital to your PC. (!!!)
- It can take decent still pictures onto a flash card. This is great and it also means you don't have to bring a digital still snapshot camera with you if you don't mind the lower resolution. (2 Mega pix I believe, which is pretty darned good for a digicam and all you'll need for a huge pic)
Some con's:
- There's no button for the color temp, or whatever that's called. It's buried in the menu for the camera settings. When I'm inside I almost always need to manually set the color temp to get the whites to look white (a bubble bath shouldn't look like the bubbles are sea foam crud)
- It has a battery saver mode that shuts down the camera if not used for some time. This cannot be altered. The problem is that many times I've been holding the camcorder for a bit just waiting for that "right moment" then when it comes I get a blinking warning that the camera's about to shut down. No button pressing can bypass this so I need to fully shut off the camera then turn it back on and wait for it to go through its startup self-test whatever before I can record. By then the moment is always gone.
- You'll definitely need another, bigger battery and you'll want to get a monsterous flash card. You can only get something like 4 pictures onto the included card.
Happy hunting, and... CONGRATULATIONS on the reason for needing the camera in the first place!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Darell
Flashaholic
When, when WHEN will we have mini HD-based camcorders on the market? Yes, I HATE linear storage, though DV is an awesome bang for the buck way to store stuff. I thought the next big thing would be static memory storage, but now it looks like a HD will be the wave of the future. Think iPod with a ccd. I'm actually a bit surprised that we don't yet have them.
That said, I'm pretty happy with the Canon ZRs. At least from the value aspect.
That said, I'm pretty happy with the Canon ZRs. At least from the value aspect.
binky
Flashlight Enthusiast
[ QUOTE ]
Saaby said:
iMovie does rock doesn't it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
[/ QUOTE ]
I thought about your comments on a Mac laptop (backlit keyboard) in another post before buying this one. IIRC you're consulting on Mac/PC's lately, so you must clearly see the difference from many angles as well. There's just too much good stuff to say about this thing. I don't want to off-track the thread or start a Mac/PC war, so I'll leave it as only a positive comment that this little PowerBook G4 (backlit keyboard) and its software are just absolutely fantastic bar nothing. And great for video editing from the Optima Xi.
Saaby said:
iMovie does rock doesn't it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
[/ QUOTE ]
I thought about your comments on a Mac laptop (backlit keyboard) in another post before buying this one. IIRC you're consulting on Mac/PC's lately, so you must clearly see the difference from many angles as well. There's just too much good stuff to say about this thing. I don't want to off-track the thread or start a Mac/PC war, so I'll leave it as only a positive comment that this little PowerBook G4 (backlit keyboard) and its software are just absolutely fantastic bar nothing. And great for video editing from the Optima Xi.
