Camcorder Buying Advice

apotheos

My wife is really interested in getting a camcorder to save precious family memories and I'm always keen for new tech toys. However, I don't know shit about video cameras and I can't seem to find a definitive resource on the subject.

My biggest question is if its worth the extra money for a HD camera - I'm especially eyeing the Canon HD10 - but I'm not really sure if its a good idea seeing as owning a Bluray player is a long way off. I'll probably be editing in iMovie and producing DVD's as the primary output, but HD would be more future proof and would probably look pretty hot if I connect directly to the TV.

Indeed, as Bluray burners are so expensive, it seems to me that the HD camera is a bit of an orphan, with very little utility outside of...er...shit I don't know.

Maybe I should save my money and go SD?

Improvolone

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ is what I used when I looked for mine.

Luq

I bought a camcorder earlier this year in anticipation of my daughter's birth in March. I went with the Canon HV20 HDV. It's a badass camera, and has a good price point. I picked it after a month of research. I think I may have even started a topic either here or in H&A at the time.

I'll be honest, at the moment the HD video is kind of a pain in the ass. It looks amazing when I hook it up straight to the TV. Getting a 3 minute clip on the internet using my PC is a PITA. Takes me an hour. Adobe Premiere also does not have scenesplit capability with HD video yet. This means it doesn't automatically break up your tapes by scene when it downloads, you would have to do it manually. I have no idea how well imovie works with HD. You can always download it to your PC in a lower quality, the scenesplit might work then.

HD is the way to go though for future proofing. Right now I'm not concentrated on distributing or making videos. I'm just archiving. The editing will come later. I decided I wanted HD when I watched an HD video of a co-worker's family picnic and compared it to normal video. The difference was huge, and I knew I had to have it. These are important memories man, you're going to want them in hi-def.

edit: that camcorderinfo site is one of the review sites I used, it's good

nexuscrawler

HDV is a decent enough format for consumer use. It does look really nice but the compression it uses is a whore and a half. Converting it to a standard def DVD can be a real pain for example. Working on it natively is also pretty demanding on your PC if you plan on editing stuff. Delivery is a real problem since BluRay burning is still pretty rare. Nice thing tho is HDV actually shoots in MEPG2HD compression which can be burned natively to a BluRay disc. Never tried that myself though.

Luckily most HDV cameras can downconvert to DV via firewire or have an option to shoot in DV mode. They use the same tapes(I wouldn't shoot HD and SD on the same one tho) so it's nice to have the ability to do both. Check if the camera you get has this ability.

An HDV image looks quite good when side by side with DV especially on an HDTV.

Monolithic_Dome

In my opinion/experience you are better off taking the money you would have spent on upgrading to HD and buy a good shotgun mic. Sound is the weakpoint of all home video (followed by lighting)

Djeet

I think I'm in the same boat as you, apotheos. I say go SD and cheap; I'm looking at the Panasonic PV-GS85, which looks to be available at circuit city for $210 USD.

The way I figure it:
1 in 2 chance I'll use it 2-3 times, get 20-30 minutes of video, and then it will be entombed in my closet with all the other gadgets I got really into researching, but never had the werewithal or time to really use properly.
1 in 3 chance it'll be drug out 5-6 times a year for vacations, birthdays, christmas, etc.
And a pretty small chance that I'll either become a real video geek, or perhaps do something real stupid with it and risk breaking it (like attaching it to the dog and let him run around with it).

If I get into video and feel I'm outgrowing it, in a year I can sell it and not lose too much and upgrade either to a next-gen HD cam or a current-gen one cheap.

Bolthorn

Djeet wrote: »

(like attaching it to the dog and let him run around with it).

I want to do this to my dog now. It would be really boring most of the day, but mainly like to see what he does when we first get home.


Also, thanks for the recommendations in this thread. I've been trying to decide on something myself.