Advice on purchase of DV camera

[acores]

I'm considering the purchase of a DV camera but have no real idea what to look for. Basically all I want is to record trips and family events and then edit on my PC.
How do they work? Memory cards? What should I be looking for for maximum independance and max. shooting time (lots of international travel).
Thanks for any help on this.

[i an not a nerd]

Well, acores, the cheaper DV cameras use miniDV tapes. What nice about miniDV is that the tapes are cheap. I would recommend getting a camcorder with very high optical zoom (higher image quality over digital zoom, which digitally enlarges the picture, using the smaller picture's pixals, vs optical zoom which uses lenses to enlarge the picture, useing more pixals, which means higher resolution.)

Now for the recording, make sure that teh camera has a USB/firewire streaming port. Most camera's can take still pictures. They won't be as good as using a still camera, but they should work ok. These pictures will be stored on a memory card. (SD or Compact Flash usually)

For editing on the PC, windows movie maker works fine for basic stuff, but for better video editing, Adobe Premier Pro (if you can afford it :p ) is amazingly good. If you are using a Mac, then Imovie 2 is the best (free with the newer OSs such as Tiger, Panther).

[i an not a nerd]

On the other hand, there are camcorders that save the movie onto mini Dvds. The advantage about mini Dvds is that as soon as you are finished recording, you can pop the mini Dvd in your dvd player (PC and the one hooked up to the Tv!) This is easier for transfering the movie to a computer as well.

The downside is the price...

[acores]

Thanks for the info. Am I safe to assume that analog camcorders such as the Sony Hi8 is on a quick road to becoming obsolete? The size of the mini camcorders really appeal to me, they fit in a purse, no need for bulky bags; but are they good? Can I just aim, shoot footage and hook it up to my PC through a USB port and start editing? Right now I'm using a friends Sony Hi8 and it is a hassle to hook up, have to use S-video cable + audio cable...I'm looking for something easy like my digital (still)camera.

As for editing I have been using Ulead VideoStudio 8 and I've gotten pretty good results considering I'm really green at all this, I've even gotten some nice 3D intros, etc., I do love to do this sort of stuff. I have a feeling Adobe Premier Pro might be over my head and too professional for me yet, maybe in the near future.

Tina

[i an not a nerd]

Hi8 is old technology, thats why its cheap! The MiniDV (not dvd) camcorders are small because the cassettes are small. Heres a quick description of importing video from a camcorder:

Plug in to USB 2.0 (preferably firewire, but USB 2.0 will do) port, use the programs import from camera function. The software records by either playing the video at highspeed, recording it, then slowing the video back down.

Edit away!

And about Adobe Premier Pro, thats for professionals. Around $800+ to buy.

I'm looking for something easy like my digital (still)camera

Well, this will perform pretty much the same, except the importing is a little more complex (for the software, not for you).

[pentachris]

I'm pretty active on another message board specializing in camcorders, so let me see if I can help you out here...

You will not get good quality video through USB. Sure, you can use a USB 2 cable and a USB 2 port, but it takes two to tango - camcorders are USB 1 devices. Use USB and you will have lots of dropped frames and lower resolution (it actually says in Sony Handicam manuals that you will get half the resolution using USB). Even if they started making USB 2 camcorders (I think they have, come to think of it): yes, USB 2 is technically faster than IEEE 1394 (aka firewire or iLink), but there's a difference in the way the technology works that makes firewire the better choice (I'd have to look it up to get technical). Long story short - if you've got a digital camcorder, you should be using firewire to transfer your video.

The good thing about miniDVD cameras is that you can pop the miniDVD right into your DVD player or DVD ROM drive and you're ready to go.

The bad things about miniDVD:

1) The media is more expensive and can only be used once.
2) The media doesn't hold as much video, requiring you to change media more often (compunding the expense even more).
3) The media must be initialized and finalized in the camcorder, which wastes time that you'd prolly like to be using to record what's going on.
4) You're recording in a highly compressed format (Mpeg-2) in which each individual frame is not fully recorded, often just the difference between frames. It winds up looking fine when you play it back, but it's not as editable. In fact, most video editing programs don't work very well at all with Mpeg-2.

In the consumer end, the best brands are (in my opinion) Panasonic, JVC and Sony. Sony advantages: they are very point-and-shoot friendly, they have the best LCD screens on the market, and their image stabilization is very good. Panasonic/JVC advantages: they tend to have better low-light performance and better manual control than comparably priced Sonys.

And something about low light performance: the average living room in the evening with a few lamps and the television on is low light. A lot of people are disappointed when the find out their brand new $500 digital camcorder doesn't record as well in their living room (grainy, washed out colors, etc) as their 6 or 7 year old Hi-8 or VHS-C camcorder.

The selections here (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/CamInfo-Select-The-Best-Camcorders.htm) are a little outdated because the new models hit the market a month or two ago, but the'll give you something to start with. The rest of the site has reviews on the newly released models, as well as the message boards I mentioned before.

[acores]

Thanks alot everbody. Looks like I have a lot of homework to do if I want to make an informed decision.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Acores,
How did you make out with that capturing you were doing over the weekend? Did it go well?

What a slow process it is just to get to one DVD! Capture 3 one hour sessions, convert the 3 files from 'DivX to DVD', 'DVD Shrink' to fit 4.7gig disks then burn one with NERO. I'm estimating 12 hours per episode! :eek: I did 4 so far.

And to top it off, I think I fried something in my newest build :o See my VXD thread in Multimedia. Be careful with those cameras/capture cards, I have no idea what caused or why my problems arose.