Why can't we take our Camcorder to the UK?

I was just reading on here that camcorders should be left at home because the won't work in the UK. Why is that any different than a digital camera? I just need to be able to charge my battery, right? When we take our mini-DV tapes and use our PC to write them to a DVD. We don't usually play back our videos on the TV using our camcorder. Any reason we couldn't take our (very expensive!!) camcorder and use it in the UK?

I am so confused by all of this! If I make a list of all the electronic/appliances I want to bring with me would you all be willing to tell me "Yes will work with adapter", "No, leave it at home"??

Ours is from the US, works fine here.

Could it be because US camcorders record in NTSC format and UK TVs are PAL?

June

we only buy our camcorder stuff in the states.  Some televisions actually have a NTSC tuner in them. (ours does) so we can view it through the tv if we wanted.  But mostly dh just downloads the video onto the computer and writes it to DVD anyway so we don't have a problem.  There is absolutely no reason why you can't bring your camcorder over.  THere are always ways and means!

Ours is from the US, works fine here.

Same here!

If all you want to do is use the camcorder to record tapes in American format, then bring it along.  So long as you have a dual-voltage charger or use a transformer (to change 240V U.K. supplies down to 120V), it will be fine. 

The only issue is when it comes to viewing those tapes on a British TV set, which may or may not correctly display NTSC (American) video signals, or if you want to play back the tapes on a British VCR. 

Some televisions actually have a NTSC tuner in them.

Just to clarify the situation, very few domestic TV sets here have a tuner section which will work with NTSC, but many modern sets will accept NTSC on the direct video inputs.   There are also a large number of VCRs on the market now which will also play back NTSC tapes.

my camcorder.. which was purchased in the US..  like my digital camera.. allows you do record in NTSC or PAL

perhaps check out the menu

my camcorder.. which was purchased in the US..  like my digital camera.. allows you do record in NTSC or PAL

perhaps check out the menu

I actually forgot about that option. I  checked ours and it does too!!