Digital Camcorder

[Markp.com]

What to get?

I want something compact and maybe with a hard drive in it.

Must record in widescreen... hmmm... and look sexy

I like the JVCs but can't find much info on them. Anything good out there?

[tidenburg]

The sony one that records to a dvd is awesome. I have it, trust the tidenburg. DO IT!

[asheep_uk]

The DVD cameras may look appealing, but they are not practical especially for editing. Hard disc cameras are coming along, but the battery life is still something to be worked on.

MiniDV is what most "prosumers" and even many professionals (including the BBC) use. They are easy to edit with, the tapes cost very little and the battery life is very good. Also, you can record full high definition onto them, unlike DVDs.

Make sure you get a camera with DV Out so you can edit the footage. DV In is preferable so you can put your edited footage back onto the camera - no quaility lost. (Sony's stupid name for DV is i.LINK.)

HD is obviously the way forward, so I'd buy the Sony HDR-HC3E for about £700, which records full HD 1080i and has a 10x optical zoooooom.





Or you could get the model up, the HDR-HC1E, for about £1100. The BBC actually use this model for many of their programmes. You can see it in action on Top Gear as Richard Hamond's campervan starts sinking.

[tidenburg]

nice asheep. Ive always wondered what cameras the bbc use. I dont think many people realise tv cameras have actually moved away from the big fat ones because they are harder to get around quickly, its mostly movies that use fat-cams now.

I never even knew there was a HD-videocamera, sweet.

[Markp.com]

Thanks sheepy! That last sony is so tempting!

I don't think I need anything at that level, but it looks amazing! Damn you for tempting me! I'm off to the sony shop tomorrow to see if they have one to play with

[WannaBe_80z]

Sony is definitely the way to go. Yes they have been making some screw ups lately but in the camera world they are really advancing. Just last year we switched over from out HUGE bulky analog tv studio cameras to 3 SEXY ASS song HDV cameras for our tv studio production classes. They are rich with features and I think they have the ability to shoot in 16:9. I am in NH right now so I will check the exact model etc next week when I am back on campus but if I remember correctly my instructor said that they were $3000 a piece. But the price may have dropped.