Suggestions please! Which camcorder to buy?

Help!
I'm looking to get my very first camcorder and am totally overwhelmed by the choices. A customer in the US is asking for teaching videos of some guitar pieces, and so it's time to get something to be able to make the videos.

All the different formats available are baffling. Friends say that PAL is for the UK, and NTSC is for the US, but ideally I'd like to be able to have something that both people here and in the US could use.  And something playable on the internet. It'd also be extremely helpful, I suppose it's really a requirement, to end up with a DVD that could be mailed out.

It seems smart to go with Sony or other very reputable brand. And something mid-range or lower midrange, as the quality needs to be good but doesn't have to be stellar. The videos will each be around 30-60 minutes in length.

I am on both PC and Mac (PowerBook G4), but am not really sure what these computers can do in terms of converting from one file format to another.

many thanks!

Clarelynn

We had this problem of deciding which to get, one here in the UK or US. We opted for the U.S. because most americans don't have the ability to play PAL but there are plenty of options to play NTSC here.  We ended up getting a rather good quality one (dh is an av tech) at Best Buy for about $700.  we can make videos, watch them through our tv here (it has the capability of plugging the audio and video in out from the camera to the tv) and watching it.  It films it on a tape but if we want others on the UK side to see it, dh downloads the video onto his computer than makes dvd's with it.  It was just so much easier to go this route.

That's very helpful. Can I ask what brand and model you got? If your dh is an av tech, his recommendation is an excellent place to start.

How does one download the video to the computer? Does it work like a digital camera? (Memory card, you plug a cord into your computer, transfer the jpg files, and then convert the file format to tif or gif or whatever you need.)

Also, is there just one format for DVD? Or is NTSC a file type like jpg is, and then you'd have to convert it to pal? I'm kind of confused by all of this. If you have to convert, are file format conversions easy to do?

thanks!

Clarelynn

That's very helpful. Can I ask what brand and model you got? If your dh is an av tech, his recommendation is an excellent place to start.

How does one download the video to the computer? Does it work like a digital camera? (Memory card, you plug a cord into your computer, transfer the jpg files, and then convert the file format to tif or gif or whatever you need.)

Also, is there just one format for DVD? Or is NTSC a file type like jpg is, and then you'd have to convert it to pal? I'm kind of confused by all of this. If you have to convert, are file format conversions easy to do?

thanks!

RedwoodRose

Ok, just asked dh and I will play secretary and type as he tells me what to write  :

"Well, we got our camera last year and it's a Panasonic PV-GS150 but technology moves on so fast that there is even better options out now. DH says that there is now a camera out that is a hard disc camcorder from the states. They cost around $700-$900 at Best Buy. An example of which is the Everio G Digital Camcorder.  Depending on how much storage you want depends on the price. i.e. 20 GB $599  30 GB $899.  In this particular model you would use a USB 2.0 cable for high speed video transfer or video out if you have a video card in your computer.The easiest method is the USB 2 because it's pretty much plug and play. Most digital camcorders like this come with the relevant software to transfer to the computer. All you need to remember is that when making a video for your U.S. people is to make sure all the software and DVD burner is set to NTSC.  It should come up as an option as to which one you prefer when you load the software. DH says it's better to stick to NTSC because most modern British equipment are able to convert an NTSC signal to PAL.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy a digital camera with movie features. It just won't work as well and can tend to be crap. In short buy for the purpose you are going to use it for and not for the extras. And make sure your PC has at least 150 GB storage space on your hard drive.

 

DH says that there is now a camera out that is a hard disc camcorder from the states. They cost around $700-$900 at Best Buy. An example of which is the Everio G Digital Camcorder.  Depending on how much storage you want depends on the price. i.e. 20 GB $599  30 GB $899.  In this particular model you would use a USB 2.0 cable for high speed video transfer or video out if you have a video card in your computer.The easiest method is the USB 2 because it's pretty much plug and play.

And make sure your PC has at least 150 GB storage space on your hard drive.

 

This is really helpful.
Looks like these things are total memory hogs!

If I'm looking at recording 30-minute lessons at a good but not super quality resolution, how much memory would I except that to take up?
And 150 GB on the hard drive? Sheesh...I don't think my new PowerBook had that much to begin with. Why so much...can't you just transfer these things 20GB at a time right onto a DVD you're burning (I assume making a DVD is like burning a CD)?

Many thanks,

Clarelynn

I'm looking into getting a digital camcorder myself with baby on the way and I've found that there are about 4 or 5 different types out now.
The main ones that seem to be of substances are mini-DV, DVD and HD camcorders.

The HD (hard disc) camcorders seem to be the higher priced ones around £400-600+ on average and hold 200 - 300GB.  150GB might seem a lot but as this is video you may very well suck up a lot of space relatively quickly.  It'd be interesting to hear how quickly anyone on here might use up their HDs with video footage.

The other kind that interests me are the DVD records where you have a DVD recorder within the machine so it's basically writing to it.  I think I've seen these for maybe £300-500+.  It sounds like this could appeal to you if you just want it to simply and easily write what you shot to the DVD, I imagine it must be ready to go as long as you're not interested in editing what was shot.  Then again, like the other players you could use the firewire connection to send the video to your PC and do any editing.

I'm not too sure about the mini-DV, I get the feeling that these may record to tape but that they are really tiny?  not totally sure.  I think you're probably looking at a few hundred £s for one of these.

I haven't had a chance to look through reviews or look at these in a whole lot of detail yet but I'd love to hear what people think about their camcorders.

This is really helpful.
Looks like these things are total memory hogs!

If I'm looking at recording 30-minute lessons at a good but not super quality resolution, how much memory would I except that to take up?
And 150 GB on the hard drive? Sheesh...I don't think my new PowerBook had that much to begin with. Why so much...can't you just transfer these things 20GB at a time right onto a DVD you're burning (I assume making a DVD is like burning a CD)?

Many thanks,

Clarelynn

I guess you could but they do recommend you having as much capacity as possible. remember that the storage also incudes everything else you have on your pc (operating system, software, personal files photod etc) so that can use up plenty of space before you've even downloaded. you also have to remember that if you are editing the video, not only do you have to store the original footage, you also need somewhere to store the final edited piece.

To save you buying a new pc or upgrading DH receommedends you buying an external hard drive which connects to your pc by usb. you can then save the video to this device. It also means you can keep your existing hard drice free for your usual work and reduced the risk of the operating system being corrupted.

I'm not too sure about the mini-DV, I get the feeling that these may record to tape but that they are really tiny?  not totally sure.  I think you're probably looking at a few hundred £s for one of these.

I haven't had a chance to look through reviews or look at these in a whole lot of detail yet but I'd love to hear what people think about their camcorders.

You are correct in that mini dv is a tiny tape.  The quality is excellent.   dh says if we were buying a camcorder now he would invest in HD one.  As for 150-200 GB haven't seen that. The most common is around 20GB - 30GB with a recording time bewteen 25 hours-37 hours.

Sorry for the late response.    I'd go with the advice given above about NTSC (American format) vs. PAL (British format) recorders.  Many VCRs and modern TVs sold in the U.K. will play back NTSC tapes, but the converse is not true for PAL tapes in America.   

If you're going to start video editing on your computer, then for good quality images ther's no substitute for massive disk capacity and a fast processor.