Let's see how long this response goes.....
Here is, for the sake of killing some time, my complete guide to mini-DV
camcorders.
Modern mini-dv camcorders are pretty great when compared with how bad
camcorders have been in past years of development. For recreational
videotaping, familly home movies and unicycling vids, its pretty hard to
go wrong.
For quality and expandability (cooperation with accessories), I
reccomend Canon and Sony. I always buy Canon and Sony.....although the
new Panasonic HD camcorders look good. But that's not what you want.
So, why Canon and Sony? Canon has a reputation for excellent lenses.
Sony has a reputation for straight up reliability, which I can vouch for
in my personal experience. I work at a university media center. I
teach video editing, among other things. Video is my specialty, anyway.
I also do some freelance video production. We have camcorders that
circulate at the media center, which means students can borrow them.
There is no greater test to the reliability of equipment. We have two
Sony TRV27s that have lasted over two years of this abuse and are still
going strong.
Sony is a little bit more expensive, but definitely worth it for that
reliability factor. If you want something a little cheaper, Canons are
also good. I haven't used any, but it looks like the Sony DCR-HCXX
series are very good for that $500-$800 range. They are exactly what I
would buy in that range.
Another good thing about Sony & Canon is they are the only two
manufacturers to support LANC devices. These are cool. I don't know a
lot of people that use them, but I wouldn't work without them. LANC is
essentially a wired remote control, which gives you zoom, focus and
record controls without touching the camera. So, you can have those
controls on the tripod, which will allow you to fluidly move the camera
(pan, tilt, etc..) and control the zoom and the start/stop button at the
same time without trying to fumble with the on-camera controls (which
makes that fluid shot impossible).
Anyway, you may not care about LANC, so here's some stuff you do care
about...
Features you want to look at:
-Mini-DV. You said you wanted mini-DV, and that's good. Generally, you
don't want DVD, Digital-8, or Micro-MV. Granted, the DVD cameras are
great for easy home-movie type stuff. Take the media out of the camera
and just watch it on a DVD player. But if you ever plan to do any
editing, Mini-DV is really the only option.
-Chip size (CCD). Bigger the better. This is the unit upon which light
is focused and then converted into a video signal. The bigger the chip,
the better your image, generally. Although, it could be argued that a
Sony Chip at X size is better than a JVC chip at X size. I'd say its
easier to decide on a brand, then get the biggest chip you can get. Pro
Camcorders have three Chips. Seperate chips for seperate color info,
gives you a great image. Panasonic just released a $700 and a $1000
3-Chip camcorder. This is awesome, and would probably tempt me away
from sony if I wanted a $1000 camcorder. Keep in mind there are 3
chips, but they are 3 Small chips, so they're not "Pro" level.
-Zoom ratio. Just in case: Zoom lets you look closer at far away stuff
- binoculars for you camera. The important part is Optical vs. Digital.
"Digital" does not always mean good - check the dictionary if you don't
believe me. You want a big Optical zoom, if zoom is something your
worried about. You shouldn't pay any attention to the digital zoom. It
doesn't hurt the camera, but don't consider it a good thing. The
consensus among video type people is, just turn the digital zoom off
when you take it out of the box.
-Big lenses. I'm not talking about "long" lenses. I'm talking
circumferences. The bigger the lens, the more light can flow to the CCD
(the "chip), the better your low-light footage will be. This is
important for you indoor or night footage. You can pretty much forget
about having a "big" lens with consumer level cameras, as they are
designed for compactness. However, some are bigger than others, so you
might take it into account. Also, most will have some sort of "night
shot" mode. If you've seen the Paris Hilton video (who hasn't?) this is
what we're talking about. Night shot can make things visible, but its
not really the ideal solution. I think from my reading that Sony's is
the best, but I've personally never used Night shot on any camera.
-Screen. I think they all have a flip out screen, which is very
convenient, not only for shooting, but also to watch your footage later
for review. They range from around 2 inches to 3.5 inches. The big
ones are definitely nice, but wach out - they will eat your battery.
Which leads me to...
-Battery Life. Look into it. Enough said. Oh yeah, buying extra
batteries is good.
Some features to avoid:
-Digital zoom.....[censored]. See Above
-Tiny cameras. I know you've seen those tiny vertical-oriented
camcorders. They can be real easy to carry, but they will have tiny
lenses, which means crappy low-light footage. Shoot outside during the
day and your fine. Also, jamming all those componets so tight makes
them less reliable. Also also, tiny cameras usually mean short battery
life.
-Steady Shot. There is no magic digital gizmo that will make your
footage not shaky when you hold the camcorder in your hand. Optical
steady shot is a little bit better, but your still just polishing a
turd. If you don't want shaky footage buy a tripod (or other support
device...see "Steadicam JR"😉. There's no way around it. Decent tripods
can be had for not much money. The other side of that coin is,
sometimes shaky isn't the end of the world. Especially when your
chasing a unicyclist, the shaky can be OK. If your interested, I can
talk more about tripod tricks and simulated steadicam tricks.
-No-Names. I know I may take brand loyalty too far sometimes. But,
please, don't buy a GE camcorder. You get what you pay for, and crappy
brand names sell crappy cameras.
If you have any more questions, just ask. Also....see next response for
my number one-low cost DV camera tip...
--
nbrazzi
any God with sense is going to want to promote unicycling
-onewheeldave on religion
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