Tanong about video camera?

[moe]

sony's dvd handycams are cheaper now. if you plan to go this route, buy one which has 3 megapixels or more, better yet if you can get one in high definition. drawbacks would be the storage and clarity videos. mini dvds cost more and can record less (compared to mini dvs) a normal dvd -rw holds 30 minutes on one side. it costs around 300 in malls. a dual sided mini dvd (30 min side a, 30 min side b) costs around 600. however, these are rewritable and can be used for as many as 1000 times (i don't believe this though) cdr king sells the single sided ones for 150 only so i bought 4 of them. there is a bit of lag, quite noticeable too. the good thing is you don't have to rewind or fast forward to search for scenes during playback, a menu with scene selection is created automatically plus you can play back the mini dvd in your dvd player.

i'd go for mini dv, packs of 3 cost around 500 pesos or less. good picture quality, editing is a breeze (dependent on editing software too).

anyway, whatever you choose, get the one with the highest optical not digital zoom.

[boybi]

MiniDV camcorders great yet cheap. But transferring it to a DVD will be a hassle. If the tape is 60min, it will also take 60min to copy it to your HD and then another few min. to copy it to a DVDR. Wala pang editing yan.

If I'm going to buy a videocam, I'll go with DVD or HD camcorders.

[Horsepower]

Mobile HDDs were designed with sudden impacts and movements in mind. Thus, they are tougher than most desktop harddrives.

Most have G-sensors too which park the head when a sudden impact is imminent.

The HDD based camcorder we're eying now is the HDR-SR8 (HD 1080i), DCR-SR82 is fine too.

We used to use the 3CCD DV cam but it wastes a lot of time during editing.

I reckon, this HDD based one will solve our problems. Hopefully.

[slyfox]

wow ang dami palang video camaholics dito. aztig!

personally i would suggest that you get a mini-dv camera. i know usong-uso ngayon ang dvd or hdd recording. but nothing still beats having your footage on tape where you can store it for years. some dvd cameras just like many dvd players admittedly have problems reading certain dvds. lalo na yung mga mumurahing binibili natin sa tabi-tabi. if you get a minidv cam you can transfer it to your computer's hard drive using the cables which bogeyman suggested (firewire or usb). the problem with hdd cams naman is that you immediately dump it to your computer's hard drive. if your computer crashes you lose all your memories. kaya save it on tape. that's why until now most of the professional cameras still record on tape...or film--- whether 35mm, 16mm, HD or digital video. bihira talaga ang hdd kasi nga delikado.

as for quality: if you have a budget of around 20-30k you can already get a 3ccd camera from the hidalgo area. that's the panasonic GS series. 3ccd provides better color and sharpness. plus they come with leica built in lenses. kung mala-15-20k lang ang budget mo....go for a sony. pero 1ccd nga lang yon. other camera brands (even jvc) still have some unreliable reputations.

it would be wise to invest in a camera that doesn't use the lcd screen for buttons. despite what the manual tells you madali itong masira. get one that has hard buttons. and sana yung may manual focus. believe me it does come in handy if you want to avoid blurry shots in basketball games or parties or whatever. a mic input would also be a good thing to consider.

don't be carried away by special in-camera effects. all these can already be done using the simplest software for pc or mac.

i hope this helps. good luck!

[Horsepower]

Very good points slyfox, esp the latter paragraphs.

However, tape is not exactly the best media to store relevant data to (like videos) because it's susceptible to mold and fungi which render the tape useless should it occur. Also, in floods, tape gets easily damaged.

My solution to this is to burn it in dvd, multiple copies that is. That should solve any problem regarding data storage. DVDs can last for years so long it's not scratched. Water can't damage it too. With my important data, i burn them only in high-quality dvd, then keep them in a secured place which is often watertight. There are fireproof vaults nowadays for such purpose.

[Bogeyman]

However, tape is not exactly the best media to store relevant data to (like videos) because it's susceptible to mold and fungi which render the tape useless should it occur. Also, in floods, tape gets easily damaged.

Not to mention that analog media, such as tape, are prone to generation loss when making subsequent copies of their data. Such a problem is vastly reduced, even eliminated, in digital media.

Technically, MiniDV is already a digital medium, as it can be copied repeatedly with no reduction in quality. But from experience, the tape's mechanism itself can still present problems, and can practically end up as a tangle of ribbons.

[Galactus]

Go DVD. I have a miniDV camcorder, and storing the tapes are a problem. Takes up too much space kasi mataba.

Also, problema pa when I tried to burn it sa PC ko. Wala kasing Firewire port yun, and USB 1.1 pa pala. Hindi ko rin tuloy ma-transfer sa hard drive ng PC ko.

Get one with at least 25x optical zoom. Buti na lang I wasn't swayed by the Sony salesman who said na 900x yung zoom capability ng Sony, eh digital zoom naman pala yun.

[Horsepower]

Galactus, you can get a firewire pci card sa PC Options sa Gilmore, that's just 800-900 pesos lang. the firewire cable is around 200-300 for a decent one.

[wildthing]

thanks for the input...kung merun pa just keep on posting...

i have narrowed my choices na from the above options...baka merun pang idadagdag.

[Horsepower]

I really suggest you get an HDD based video camera. At least, ang posible lang masira dun is yung HDD since it's the only one with constantly moving parts. If ever masira sya, sobrang mura lang ng HDD. Imagine kung nasira ang drum head ng DV cam, yari ka sa cost nun esp since it's not found anywhere unlike ng HDD na standard ang port and size.