Video Camera recommendations?

BottomFeeder

I'm planning on getting a video camera for our family. We don't need anything superty duper, but just want something that will do the basics well. We just want to be able to record the kids, family events & so on and then to put them on the computer or a disk to keep or to send to relatives.

I'm thinking I want to drop about $350 - $500. Is that nuts? I haven't a clue.

I would really appreciate your recommendations! What's a good camera? Where's a good place to get one?

Thanks.

eloplayspolo

I used to work for circuit city, was in the department that sold camcorders.

there is a few things u want to look at.... there are a ton of diffrent options for camcorders, u can record on a MiniDV, Mini DVD, or a Hard drive. The cool thing about a hard drive is that u dont have to use any discs or tapes, so u save money also in that sense. The hard drives can be from 10-60gigs i believe. (havent looked for a while) but thats a lot of recording time actualy, personaly i dont like the cameras that only have a hard drive, it is my understanding that somtimes it because hard to edit directly from the camera, say ur walking around and u think the camera is off and u are recording without knowing.... then u turn it off, on a lot of cameras thats not gonna be easy to delete if u arent at the computer, your best bet, get a camera with a Hard drive and another source like a MiniDVD + Hard drive.

Now u also should take into consideration if u want a Hi Def camera or not, now if u are at all into technology, u really need to take a look at a hi def camera, when i would demo the cameras (this was about 6 months ago when they were about 400 bucks more in most cases) i could get prob 7/10 people to come in for a regular good camera to go for a hi def one. The diffrence..... Imagine recording your hand, non hi def its a hand, no big deal, hi def u can see your finger prints and veins and its honestly amazing. No, u dont need a hi def tv to see the diffrence because its recording at a higher quality in general but u will notice a diffrence for sure even on a regular tv, grass will be sharp and so will everything else, Color will also be super vibrant.

i am actualy going to be starting at bestbuy any time now and i usualy find that circuit city has cheaper prices on stuff. just looking at their site quickly i see that if u choose not to go with a hi def camera....
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Hitachi-Hybrid-DZ-HS500A-MiniDVD-Hard-Disk-Camcorder-DZ-HS500A/sem/rpsm/oid/172613/catOid/-13063/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
thats non hi def hard drive/mini dvd

Now if u go hi def.... im gonna edit this later, but a Sony hi def is a great choice, bestbuys site is down and they carry a larger selection of hi def cameras.

I look at the forums regularly so if u find a camera u like ill be more than willing to tell u about it. hope this helps

forgot... if really dont care for a hard drive... but for mini dvd.... this is an amazing camera for the price, u will be happy....unless u see the hi def ones
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-Handycam-DCR-DVD108-MiniDVD-Camcorder-DCR-DVD108/sem/rpsm/oid/171452/catOid/-13063/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

BottomFeeder

Wow!

thanks very much for all of the info! I know nothing at all, completely clueless, so your information really gets me on my way.

I read the reviews from the link you provided & they weren't good. Any other thoughts?

really, thanks again!

eloplayspolo

honestly, dont pay attention to the reviews on that site lol, i mean, if i look at the computer reviews (what i know most about when it comes to technology) i sometimes LMAO, This computer is slow blah blah, no duh its 200 bucks and is an intel celeron D and ur trying to run call of duty 4 with a intergrated graphics chip.

U really need to go to the store and play with them before u decide.

cameras may have changed a lot since i worked there... but honestly if u get a camera over 200 bucks, its going to get the job done, however i found that Samsung, Sony, Canon, JVC, and Hitachi made the best ones, the diffrence is mainly controls, which it really doesnt matter because once u get good with it, ur good to go...
My favorite for sure was sony, i can pick up a sony anything (minus car audio and home theater) and love it, only prob is that u oftne will pay more for it because of the name.

1996blackmax

I also will keep an eye on this post....


I've been thinking of getting a new camcorder a little down the road.

MacLeod

You should post this in the Clubhouse. There are several photography enthusiasts over there as well as a couple professional photographers. They would be able to steer you in the right direction.

As for my recommendations, anything by Sony or Canon would be a good choice. I also like the hard drive cameras. They cost more but its kinda cool not having to worry about tapes or discs.

danger boy

I was gonna say.. why post this in the car audio section? I thought, ok maybe he's looking for a camera to install on his car for when he backs up.. he can see what's behind him.. you know like the kind that those Winnebego's have on them.

1996blackmax

MacLeod wrote: »

As for my recommendations, anything by Sony or Canon would be a good choice. I also like the hard drive cameras. They cost more but its kinda cool not having to worry about tapes or discs.

I've had a couple of Sony's. My current one is a Sony.....Digital 8. I want something smaller though.

Serendipity

1996blackmax wrote: »

I've had a couple of Sony's. My current one is a Sony.....Digital 8. I want something smaller though.

Same here, Digital 8.

I also recommend Sony camcorders.

BottomFeeder

Thanks for the rec to post this in the Clubhouse. When I looked for a place to put this, I saw "Video" under the car area, so put it here.

Oops & thanks!

1996blackmax

Actually, not everything posted here is alway about car audio .

Aimen RG

one problem with hardisk cams is once u run out of disk space, u r stuck
i mean mostly u can get it down to dvds or so regulary
but if im away for a week or so, whr i cant access my computer, all i have is that hard disk and about 10 hours of recording at full HD, i will have hard time downloading and burning dvds on the GO
with mini DV, i can buy as many as i want, and its easily availble.
offcourse u can record on normal camera resulotion and enjoy lots n lots of hours of recording.

generally i find sony to be most user friendly
panasonic usually have better colors because of 3ccds, and offer more manual control
jvc, is also very good.
i read somewhere, camera division of panasonic and jvc is same or something???

Aimen RG

also, if u like to edit videos on PC, u should know thr r 2 formats being used
one is hDV, other is AVCHD, avchd uses less space and uses a more complex algorithem, which means its more processor dependant, than HDV which is more space dependant.
im sure u know this more than me if ur into editing regularly

DVD cam also have one thing in thr favor, u can run the DVD directly in a blue ray player and enjoy the video, no hassle of transfering from harddisk or miniDV to dvds if u dont have a HD recorder.