Which camcorder for home use? Canon HG10??

[faz]

hi guys, especially those with children around.

My friggin JVC miniDV camcorder is acting up, and this is a camcorder I spent about $1000 on in early 2000 and may be filmed less than 20 hours with it in various occasions.


MiniDV camcorders are dirt cheap these days, good ones going for around $400 or less online.

HD camcorders, Canon HG10 seems like a good one, but I don't have HD tv right now, and I don't know how the standard TV output/recording is going to be with that.

Any advice on these? I preferably like something with good low light performance... using flash during birthday parties and such definitely screws up the colors and want to avoid it if possible.

So, what do you have that you are happy with for around $400-600 range??

 

[T-1 Thunder]

I'm looking at a Sony at Walmart that runs about $350(when I can afford it). Looks like the perfect thing, at the perfect price. You should go check it out. Maybe not be top of the line, but I doubt the curve is that steep once you spend over $400.

 

[rsrider]

Wait till the end of March when the next gen HD/SD card camcorders come out. They're suppose to be in the $300 to $400 range. Forget tape, go hard drive. This next gen is suppose to have fixed the problems of the last gen hard drives. And get a camera mount for your bike. You'll use the camcorder more that way.

 

[faz]

T-1, I will look into that too.

rsrider, the current HG10 can be bought for less than $600 online. I am thinking that it will be a better product for the dollar than a new product that is sold for $400 in its introduction, no??

I am really hoping to hear from those new parents who recently did some searching for a camcorder.

For example, I found that for most baby videos are made indoors in quiet surroundings. This means excessive motor noise of the camcorder is caught on the tape itself, and how the camcorder behaves in indoor lighting conditions becomes more important. Neither of these would be an issue for someone who is buying/using a camcorder to capture races or motorcycle rides.

 

[Joebar4000]

Sorry Faz, we're making do with an old Digital 8 camcorder until HD cams come down in price.

Also using our Canon Digital Elf as a camcorder - it's way, WAY smaller than any camcorder out there and is much easier to distribute files directly. Not that much of a chore to burn a DVD from either. The only issue with it is that low-light is crap, and it doesn't have an optical zoom. For for 99% of what we use it for, it's fine - and arguably better quality than the camcorder.

And get an HDTV already you damn Luddite! Just because you ride around on a converted couch running on horse-manure doesn't mean your poor wife has to put up with ancient audio-visual equipment!

 

[gnahc79]

Our old, but trusty Sony TRV22 miniDV camcorder works just fine for us. Here is a long and boring video of Dylan when he was first born...no motor sounds . There's also various video clips on his blog as well if you're interested in the low light behavior. The quality is degraded significantly since it's on youtube, but it can still help.

 

[faz]

And get an HDTV already you damn Luddite! Just because you ride around on a converted couch running on horse-manure doesn't mean your poor wife has to put up with ancient audio-visual equipment!

You have been to our home... we have a 37" Sony that we bought in 02 and is working great, and it sits inside the area that was designed for a TV, so it is not consuming any extra space... so why change it?

It is really not whether I want HD or not... say I get the HD camcorder (which I most likely will end up getting)... and I film in HD and transfer to computer... I don't have a HD DVD burner, so that shit is going to either stay on computer, (which I will need extra drives/etc. to maintain), or I need to spend money on HD DVD burner and HD Tv and ....

... shit these babies are expensive!

 

[faz]

Our old, but trusty Sony TRV22 miniDV camcorder works just fine for us. Here is a long and boring video of Dylan when he was first born...no motor sounds . There's also various video clips on his blog as well if you're interested in the low light behavior. The quality is degraded significantly since it's on youtube, but it can still help.

dude, he is sooo friggin cuuuute!

yeah, didn't notice any noise in those videos... I can definitely notice it in our JVC camcorder.

I will NEVER buy another JVC camcorder (Safeguard mode errors and here) .

 

[Joebar4000]

You have been to our home... we have a 37" Sony that we bought in 02 and is working great, and it sits inside the area that was designed for a TV, so it is not consuming any extra space... so why change it?

It is really not whether I want HD or not... say I get the HD camcorder (which I most likely will end up getting)... and I film in HD and transfer to computer... I don't have a HD DVD burner, so that shit is going to either stay on computer, (which I will need extra drives/etc. to maintain), or I need to spend money on HD DVD burner and HD Tv and ....

... shit these babies are expensive!

Gah, you'll never be a real Amurican until you can get your head around buying shit that not only don't you need, but you don't really WANT either!

If HD isn't an issue, I gotta say, I *really* like the convenience of memory stick/HD downloads. They go straight into a video editing program, and boom - you have a DVD in minutes, no losses, no taping time, losing tapes etc.

The ones that burn direct to DVD, I never liked because of battery life, it's another consumable to lose/have to buy, and it's way, way easier to edit on your desktop with just files.

Try getting your hands on a Canon Digital Elf 1000. It's so freakin cheap these days, you might find you'll use that most of the time anyway.

 

[Silence]

Is faz making amateur pr0n now?

 

[Traq]

hi guys, especially those with children around.

Nice cover story. And so far everyone is buying it too!

EDIT: Ok, except for Silence.

 

[gnahc79]

I haven't gotten around to this yet with our new DirecTV DVR using tversity, but I use Pinnacle Studio (an old version) to get the video from the TRV to our PC. From there I can just share the raw video on our plasma. No need for HDDVD/Bluray burners or media. We are waiting until Christmas '08 to get the Panasonic BD30 though, hopefully it'll be ~$250.

 

[Joebar4000]

Nice cover story. And so far everyone is buying it too!

EDIT: Ok, except for Silence.

He's Japanese, ergo, a pervert, ergo, he thinks *everyone* is making home-porn.

I'm just hoping he tries opening that innocent-looking .jpg so Back Orifice will give me access to his gigs and gigs of quality Japanese pRon.

 

[Silence]

He's Japanese, ergo, a pervert, ergo, he thinks *everyone* is making home-porn.

I'm just hoping he tries opening that innocent-looking .jpg so Back Orifice will give me access to his gigs and gigs of quality Japanese pRon.

Actually, the missus has been trying to convert my collection into white people pr0n as of late. And I thought *everyone* video documented their sexy-time?


And before you ask... NO!!! We only keep analog hard copies! If it's going to be distributed on the net, we needs to get paid.

 

[Joebar4000]

Hey, but don't you still owe me... oh no wait, shit, you did pay up, dammit.



Want some new sway bars?

 

[Silence]

Hey, but don't you still owe me... oh no wait, shit, you did pay up, dammit.



Want some new sway bars?

You're like a drug dealer

 

[faz]

bastids.... stop bastardizing this innocent thread with your pron crap.

 

[mlm]

+1 for a camcorder with a hard drive. Our MiniDV camcorder shit out on us twice before we go the Panasonic HD model. Holds more than several tapes, no rewinding, accidentally taping over shit, and you can easily delete botched shots to free up space.

 

[faz]

+1 for a camcorder with a hard drive. Our MiniDV camcorder shit out on us twice before we go the Panasonic HD model. Holds more than several tapes, no rewinding, accidentally taping over shit, and you can easily delete botched shots to free up space.

Thanks.

how long does it take to download movies over to your PC? Is it a 5 minute download for an hour of material??

Did you get the extended warranty, given HD is new and no one knows how well it lasts in these hand held devices??


(To the rest of you porn loving bastardizing bastids, this is the kind of feedback I am hoping to hear.)

 

[rsrider]

rsrider, the current HG10 can be bought for less than $600 online. I am thinking that it will be a better product for the dollar than a new product that is sold for $400 in its introduction, no??

The point of my post was that the next gen cams will surpass the last gen cams and do it at a lower price. The features of the HG10 that sells for $600 will be on the new cams that will sell for $400. They have been improving the products and will be putting them out on the market in about a month. I would wait for the new products to arrive, and possibly save some serious dosh. That's what I'm doing. I have a Canon SD1000 elf that takes fine movies. With a 2 gig card I can get some serious length, so I'm not pressed to get a camcorder. I've got my camera mount for my bike, and now I'm waiting until the new HD/SD cams hit the market. I have a bunch of SD cards, so that's why I want an HD camera that has SD as it's other storage media as opposed to stick or flash.

But if you must buy, then buy. I may even wait for the gubbermint rebate and get a really kick ass one for the $600!!!