Digital Camcorders - whats the best

Post by **AMB** » Mon May 31, 2004 4:12 pm

In the market for one..can anyone steer in the right direction. was thinking JVC 10X optical zoom around $1200. appreciate any feed back

Post by **bumbaclot** » Mon May 31, 2004 4:19 pm

depends what ya want it fer.......+ what other stuff ya got yar hopin it's going to be compatible with mate......more info.........I had a Canon MVX 10.....which was scweet for everything cept close up surf filmin....If ya wanna record surfers and do not have all Sony stuff at home.....I'd be lookin at a second hand camera orf Ebay with all the sheet, sumitn like a Canon XM2.......that'd do the trick......

Post by **AMB** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:06 pm

Basically after a bit of an allrounder..dont necassarily want real close-ups of surfing. Not sure what u mean by being compatible...thought u just pressed record then you could play it on your pc or tv..what do u mean by all the "sony stuff at home" what is this for editing?.. I can get it thru work so no worries..rather get a brand newie for around $1500 mark.

Post by **bumbaclot** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:17 pm

AMB wrote:Basically after a bit of an allrounder..dont necassarily want real close-ups of surfing. Not sure what u mean by being compatible...thought u just pressed record then you could play it on your pc or tv..what do u mean by all the "sony stuff at home" what is this for editing?.. I can get it thru work so no worries..rather get a brand newie for around $1500 mark.

mate if ya just after a general all rounder theres heaps of options around that price......What I meant by Sony stuff is laptop/camera etc etc.....easier with all the Sony stuff to keep it together from a compatibility perspective.....If ya haven't no worries......If I was going to spend 1500 buckeroos on a camera, I'd be buying a Canon...ave a look at dis....

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/

Post by **AMB** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:31 pm

THANKS bumba...jeez you can get up to 20X optizoom for a reasonable price, although dont know about getting a s*ny probably better going for a "name camera" ie like you said Canon. and like you said heaps of options. I liked to know what minimum lense size i need though for say 200-300m.

Post by **nubby** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:38 pm

id recommend any sony handycam. weve dragged a few round indo for months, treatin em like shit, gettin em dusty and wet and droppin em and they have all stood the test amazingly. at the moment ive got a DCR-TVR50E which is the mac d. its a bit above your price range (bout 2G) but it is like only 10 or 15% off broadcast quality. we have noticed the difference in picture quality when weve made videos shot on a few different cams and edited them all onto one tape. the colours are way more vivid on the vid that mine has taken.

Post by **barstardos** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:38 pm

Dont get a JVC DVX7. Had one for a couple of years and it broken down heaps. Their repairs service was shit too.

Post by **baldric** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:42 pm

what really sucks is that you can pick the same model Canon that they're sellin' locally for $1200-1500 (22x zoom) for US$568 (AU$800)....the only problem being that it records in NTSC, which means ya can't copy it from the TV or Camera onto video tape without converting it to PAL, which I can't do....check the prices and weep at:
www.bestbuy.com

I've had my Canon for about a year and swear by it...takes great footage and the 22x zoom is excellent...one tip is if ya videoing surfing use the eyepiece not the lcd screen, much less shakey.

Post by **AMB** » Mon May 31, 2004 5:50 pm

appreciate all the feed back, Baldric..can u take still shots with yours (what model is it)?, i get the impression, the still shot feature adds $ to the price.

thanks bastodos actually was pretty close to getting a JVC.

interesting Nubz, i was beginning to write most sony products off after hearing some of the car stereos ect. So i definetly need 22X zoom hey?

Post by **nubby** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:06 pm

i dunno bout any of thier other products, but i can definately give thier handycams two big thumbs up......and ya should be able to take digi photos and m pegs with most new cams onto a memory stick and the tape.

Post by **baldric** » Mon May 31, 2004 6:35 pm

yeah AMB it takes digital pics and my model came with an 8mb card (can but much bigger if needed) for stills and it has a separate button on top to take a still (even in the middle of taking video). The resolution/clarity of the photos are not that great as it is first and formost a camcorder but will come up ok on ya computer. I thought I could use it as both a movie camera and still camera but now realise I need a decent digital camera as well as a camcorder for those times I want to take stills (Fuji Finepix S5000 10x zoom is a great choice and the pictures of J-Bay I put up on the gallery last month were taken with one).

The Canon camcorder model I have is a ZR70, which is sold in Australia as an MV750I (according to the website bumba put ya onto). Just remember that it is still an amateur's camera so ya won't get the quality that most professional videomakers get usin' the fancy gear with three CCD's, etc but it's still bloody good quality....as for the 22x zoom, there isn't that much difference but I think the lower the model its also the less zoom and the less resolution for stills but you'd have ta check with the sales bloke on that....

Post by **Borris** » Mon May 31, 2004 7:06 pm

Im in the same sorta market looking for a digital recorder and housing to start makin some surf films with. I dont really know that much about em but im likin the look of the Sony SPK-PC4. I want a water proof housing so i can get out amongst it. If ur interested in lookin at the features and some prices of some waterproof housings for cameras, i stumbled on this the other day
http://www.cervenka.net/wake/VideoHousings/
Still pretty undecided and still saving so who knows what i'll end up with.
Sorry to hijaak ya thread, but if u guys have any other info on these cameras i can edit on my comp, with available waterproof housings on the market, it would be really helpfull.

Post by **AMB** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 4:14 pm

Hmmm the saga continues, thought i had it sussed, then saw the hassle that is needed to transfer movie footage onto ya (notebook) PC, need to get a PCMIA card + software ect. Now looking at getting a DVD DV camera, a bit dearer but file management looks to be alot easier. Still trying to find out if you can get one that has R/W dvd's. Anyone had any experience with DVD DV cameras?

caspa · Post by **caspa** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 4:26 pm

I was looking at getting a vidcam in Feb - got one for parents year before a Canon MV530i which works great and does stills on SD card (included) -
For myself I actually bought a Sony DSC-F828 for 1200 - it is a still digital cam with a kickass lens that also does full motion high qual MPG video - have memory/will record.
It takes memstick/pro CF1 and 2 and microdrive and will do full video to memstickpro and microdrive
you can get 4.4gb MDs now.
I only take snipets of video and 128MB memsticpro is good for about 2.5 minutes of 30fps 640/480 video with sound.
and it takes awesome stills - 8megapixels

ps -- bought via internet from US online shop

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Digital Camcorders - whats the best

Digital Camcorders - whats the best

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