I am looking into buying a camcorder but not sute what to go for. I noticed there are digital8, minidv and dvd ones available and they vary greatly in price. I'd use it mainly for holidays, probably each schene would be 10 mins long typically. I borrowed a camcorder for my last holiday and I recorded about 90 mins in total throughout the holiday. I would like to be able to either put them on my pc or to a dvd (or both). Can someone suggest something because at the moment I have no clue. Are the cheap ones good or should I go for more expensive? Thanks folks
I own and use a Canon ZR-200 for work purposes. (I am a private detective)Do you plan on shooting in low-light situations? If so, I would go with the ZR-300. The Mini-DV's are fine for everyday use. You can transfer tape images to your computer via a Firewire port, then burn them to your choice of media. If all that seems too much, then buy the dvd cams. BTW my camera ran about 325$ at the time., and tapes are about 6$ each. Hope this helps.
If mini dv's produce a good quality image I may go for one of those then, as the dvd cams are very expensive at the moment (the guy in the shop told me the cheap ones are poor quality, but can I believe him?)?
I just purchased this Cannon last month Here is one of the reviews http://www.dvspot.com/ Just scroll until you see the picture.
Would you say it's good? The 20 mins recording on one cd isn`t very good though, and aren`t the dvd's expensive?
I think they produce a good quality image, with the exception being in low light situations, where the pic can be choppy at times. The MiniDV tapes sell for around 17$-20$ for a four pack, each tape lasting 60 minutes on the shortest record speed. The tapes can be reused several times. I preferred the the MiniDV over the CD-DVD models for the reduction in size and ease of use, but it's a personal choice issue. As far as brand, I would stick with a name brand like Canon or Sony. The online site at www.bizrate.com seems to have decent reviews.
