Camcorder Recommendations?

[shreddermon]

Anyone? Looking to spend $600 to $800-ish. Any help would be appreicated.

[iced_earth]

Re: Camcorder Recommendations?

What features are you looking for?

Low light or outside shooting?

Mini-DV or DVD media?

Any brands you dislike?

Keep these things in mind:
-CCD size
-how many CCDs
-CNET reviews/user reviews, Amazon user reviews
-10x zoom is approx. max. usable zoom for shooting by hand
-From what I've heard, DVD does not necessarily result in better quality than mini-DV

I just bought a Sony DCR-HC96 mini-DV camera (Sony's replacement for their DCR-HC90). I chose the HC96 specifically for its good reviews regarding low light shooting, which I will be doing a lot of (marketing materials, factory footage, etc.). The HC96 has a decent size CCD that I think lets more light in. If you are doing a lot of outside shooting then the Panasonic PV series has gotten good reviews for vivid color (with 3 CCDs, one for each color, even though the CCDs are smaller sized).

Here are the crib notes I took while doing my research:

Canon Optura S1
• 2.2 megapixels
• 1/3.9 in CCD
• Single CCD
• 10x Optical Zoom
• Not good in low light
• CNET 6.8
• Amazon 3.5 (2 reviews)
• $900 List, $550 Amazon

Panasonic PV-GS65

•
• 1/6 in CCD
• Three CCD
• 10x
• Good in low light
• CNET 7.5
• Amazon 3.5 (8 reviews)
• $
• Release Date: March 1, 2005

Panasonic PV-GS150
• 2.3 MP
• 1/6 in CCD
• Three CCD
• 10x
• Bad low light? No light bulb.
• CNET Users 8.6 /10
• Amazon 4/5 (15 reviews)
• $700 List, $570 Amazon, $600 Circuit City
• Release Date: March 1, 2005

Panasonic PV-GS250
•
• 1/6 in CCD
• Three CCD
• 10x
• OK in low light
• CNET Users 8, CNET 8
• Amazon 4/5 (17 reviews)
• $
• Release Date: March 1, 2005

Sony DCR-HC90
•
• 1/3 in CCD
• Single CCD
• 10x
• Great in low light
• CNET Users 8.7 (41), CNET 7.0
• Amazon 4/5 (18)
• $1000 List, $900 Amazon
• Release Date: January 23, 2005

[wulfe13]

Re: Camcorder Recommendations?

There's a new JVC that has a 30gb hard drive in it so no need for tapes or DVD, and it's small. I think it's around $700 to $800 at a retail store probably alot less online.

[nateb]

Re: Camcorder Recommendations?

30 gigs huh? That isnt to bad considering that 4 minutes of DV is 1 gig on disk @ 3.6 megs a second(NTSC DV25.) The two things I would be worried about with purchasing something like that is compatibility with nonlinear editing systems and what Shreadmon wants to use it for? Is he a inspiring editor or is he just getting it for keeping tapes around the house? If he isnt a editor, I would wonder about how he is going to handle the archive issue. There would be a learning curve associated with the workflow.

*On another coffee influenced thought*
I am drooling right now. I go a hold of a Sony Z1U to screw around with for a little while. The footage looks darn right cool for the below $5000.00 mark. Only problem is working with MPEG. It's slow as hell.

-Nate