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Have been thinking about buying one of these for a while, not really got the money for one but with my birthday comming up soon I might be able to get some money together then hopefully get a job before my holiday for some more cash towards one.
Anyway I don't really know much about them and thought maybe someone on here would have one or know a bit about them.
So....
What kind of things should I be looking at?
Just want something for taking on holidays or when I'm going places, birthday parties, events etc.
Not looking for amazing picture quality or anything like that, just something that will suit my needs. Not really wanting to spend a lot on one but not really knowing much about them means I don't really know what kind of prices the decent enough ones start at.
Would appreciate any help from anyone.
Thanks
Anyway I don't really know much about them and thought maybe someone on here would have one or know a bit about them.
So....
What kind of things should I be looking at?
Just want something for taking on holidays or when I'm going places, birthday parties, events etc.
Not looking for amazing picture quality or anything like that, just something that will suit my needs. Not really wanting to spend a lot on one but not really knowing much about them means I don't really know what kind of prices the decent enough ones start at.
Would appreciate any help from anyone.
Thanks
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Went into one of the local electronic places to see some of them up close, didn't have any of the ones I had liked the look of online but it was good to see them up close - smaller than what I had expected.
Any chance you could show me a short clip of yours just so I can get an idea of the quality?
Any chance you could show me a short clip of yours just so I can get an idea of the quality?
Well I personally didnt get a miniDV cam for photos as I have my main digital camera. miniDV cameras do not take good photos anyway, even a 3 megapixel £1000 one can not compare to a bog standard 3 mega pixel camera, even a 2 mega pixel camera would be better.
If you want a video camera then just look at getting one that does video especially a miniDV. Mine does both because all the Sony miniDVs do photos, but it doesnt have a memory card slot, it just takes pics onto the miniDV tapes. As I had a digital camera I didnt think spending another £100+ on a miniDV camera with a memory card stick a good idea.
If you want a video camera then just look at getting one that does video especially a miniDV. Mine does both because all the Sony miniDVs do photos, but it doesnt have a memory card slot, it just takes pics onto the miniDV tapes. As I had a digital camera I didnt think spending another £100+ on a miniDV camera with a memory card stick a good idea.
Definately want one with video, already own a digi camera that takes a little movie but it isn't great.
Was just thinking one with both would be a bonus but as you said they are a bit more expensive.
Will hold out to see if they drop in price or I can find a good deal, seen a JVC one on that price runner site that gets a good write up so anything I see will be compared to that and the panasonic one.
Was just thinking one with both would be a bonus but as you said they are a bit more expensive.
Will hold out to see if they drop in price or I can find a good deal, seen a JVC one on that price runner site that gets a good write up so anything I see will be compared to that and the panasonic one.
AliBoy wrote:
> Thanks,
> got some money for my birthday and have been saving up a bit recently
> too. Going to try take on some of my dads extra work too then decide
> if I still want one of these.
>
> Been looking at the mini DV ones a bit more and I think its one of
> them I want, but I guess I'd need an additional memory card thing for
> storing still images too?
>
> Looking to spend around £250 but I'll shop around and try and
> find some deals as I'm not really in any rush to get one.
You should get a memory card with the camera. A miniDV for £250 with memory stick slot is going to be pushing it. £250 is going to be basic miniDV with no memory stick slot. My Sony hasnt got a memory stick slot and I paid £320 to get it you needed a model that was a good £450. On mine you can take photos but it puts it on the tape, but you do get a few seconds of sound as well.
You need to think of whether you want video or photo. If its video and thats it then miniDV is one to go for. If its a mixture of both then maybe look at getting a cheap digital camera and seperate camcorder, or get one of those memory stick camcorders.
> Thanks,
> got some money for my birthday and have been saving up a bit recently
> too. Going to try take on some of my dads extra work too then decide
> if I still want one of these.
>
> Been looking at the mini DV ones a bit more and I think its one of
> them I want, but I guess I'd need an additional memory card thing for
> storing still images too?
>
> Looking to spend around £250 but I'll shop around and try and
> find some deals as I'm not really in any rush to get one.
You should get a memory card with the camera. A miniDV for £250 with memory stick slot is going to be pushing it. £250 is going to be basic miniDV with no memory stick slot. My Sony hasnt got a memory stick slot and I paid £320 to get it you needed a model that was a good £450. On mine you can take photos but it puts it on the tape, but you do get a few seconds of sound as well.
You need to think of whether you want video or photo. If its video and thats it then miniDV is one to go for. If its a mixture of both then maybe look at getting a cheap digital camera and seperate camcorder, or get one of those memory stick camcorders.
:0)
The Panasonic NVDS-60, damn it.
Thanks,
got some money for my birthday and have been saving up a bit recently too. Going to try take on some of my dads extra work too then decide if I still want one of these.
Been looking at the mini DV ones a bit more and I think its one of them I want, but I guess I'd need an additional memory card thing for storing still images too?
Looking to spend around £250 but I'll shop around and try and find some deals as I'm not really in any rush to get one.
got some money for my birthday and have been saving up a bit recently too. Going to try take on some of my dads extra work too then decide if I still want one of these.
Been looking at the mini DV ones a bit more and I think its one of them I want, but I guess I'd need an additional memory card thing for storing still images too?
Looking to spend around £250 but I'll shop around and try and find some deals as I'm not really in any rush to get one.
[URL]http://uk.pricerunner.com[/URL] to look for camcorders as they have a Panasonic miniDV one for £230. You can also get Digital8 camcorder which would do what you want if the camcorder had a firewire connection. Digital8 camcorders are quite a bit bigger in size, but are cheaper.
Cheers for the info.
£500 is a bit much at the moment but I'll have a look around and see what I can find. Hopefully in a while will have some money to get a decent one.
£500 is a bit much at the moment but I'll have a look around and see what I can find. Hopefully in a while will have some money to get a decent one.
AliBoy wrote:
> adrian wrote:
> You after a a miniDV camera or a memory card based one? miniDV uses
> tapes still but they are very small. You then would connect the
> camera to a Firewire port and then capture the footage in real time
> to the PC. miniDV is something like 25-30mb a second, basically a
> 60min tape can take up 12gb so alot bigger than a DVD so needs
> compressing.
>
> My problem was I don't really know much about them so didn't know the
> main differences and also what prices the decent models come in at.
> So miniDV cameras have tapes and you then copy the stuff from the cam
> tape through the cam to your computer?
>
> Any idea how much a decent one costs?
>
> So the memory card ones not really worth it unless you pay a lot for
> one?
Yeah you basically film to a tape, which is very small 65mm x 47mm x 10mm approx. Camcorders are very small due to this. So you have the film on tape and you basically hook the camera up to a Firewire port, get a program which can capture video, if you have Win XP then you can get Movie Maker 2 off Microsoft for free. Once you start capturing the camera plays the footage as you would if you wanted to view it on the camcorder LCD or on a TV. It basically creates a movie file. You can select the sort of file it saves, if you want to quickly do a DVD save it as a DVD compatible file. I normally chose DV as it saves it as an AVI about 12Gb to every 60 mins, so I can edit it and then convert it to DVD afterwards, takes longer this way though.
Camcorders can be cheap or expensive. By cheap I mean £300 minimum for a pretty decent onem up to £1000+ for a decent one. Some sites to look at are [URL]http://www.avforums.com[/URL] and then click on the camcorder forum. And also check out [URL]http://uk.pricerunner.com/[/URL] for prices.
I saw one Sony at £300 so thats quite good, as Sonys do tend to be decent. I have a Sony TRV14 but thats now the out dated model. Sony's have decent picture and have good automatic control, so its basically point and shoot. People moan about not have as much control over exposure, gain etc compared to other cameras, but personnaly I dont need to change them, and just want to point and shoot and not worry about if the picture is ok. I walked around the streets of New York with the camera filming alot of the time and I hardly took any notice of the screen as I could just point shoot, didnt even have the LCD open. The automatic system is very good, and Sony also do touch screen LCDs which others dont do. So not many buttons on the camcorder itself just the on/off buttons, record, zoom and photo.
You can get camcorders which have memory slots which store still pictures, the quality of still pictures is not that great compared to a digital camera, and the camcorders with memory slots cost more so if you dont need it do get one, as usually its the same camcorder as a lower model but with a memory slot for £100 more.
Personnaly I would say that if you want a camcorder to take some home footage on then stick with the £300-400 ones as you will need to get another battery which could be £60 as the battery you normally get will probably last 45-60 mins if you use the LCD. You will also need some tapes, they can be bought off online stores for as little as £2-3 each, and they are like normal VCR tapes where you can use them loads. I bought 15 Sonys for £43 which was good. One thing to do is always stick with one tape maker, so if the first tape you use is a Sony one then stick to Sony tapes from then on. Then you may want a decent carry case so thats another £20-30. So you could be looking at spending another £100 on accessories so a £400 camcorder becomes £500.
> adrian wrote:
> You after a a miniDV camera or a memory card based one? miniDV uses
> tapes still but they are very small. You then would connect the
> camera to a Firewire port and then capture the footage in real time
> to the PC. miniDV is something like 25-30mb a second, basically a
> 60min tape can take up 12gb so alot bigger than a DVD so needs
> compressing.
>
> My problem was I don't really know much about them so didn't know the
> main differences and also what prices the decent models come in at.
> So miniDV cameras have tapes and you then copy the stuff from the cam
> tape through the cam to your computer?
>
> Any idea how much a decent one costs?
>
> So the memory card ones not really worth it unless you pay a lot for
> one?
Yeah you basically film to a tape, which is very small 65mm x 47mm x 10mm approx. Camcorders are very small due to this. So you have the film on tape and you basically hook the camera up to a Firewire port, get a program which can capture video, if you have Win XP then you can get Movie Maker 2 off Microsoft for free. Once you start capturing the camera plays the footage as you would if you wanted to view it on the camcorder LCD or on a TV. It basically creates a movie file. You can select the sort of file it saves, if you want to quickly do a DVD save it as a DVD compatible file. I normally chose DV as it saves it as an AVI about 12Gb to every 60 mins, so I can edit it and then convert it to DVD afterwards, takes longer this way though.
Camcorders can be cheap or expensive. By cheap I mean £300 minimum for a pretty decent onem up to £1000+ for a decent one. Some sites to look at are [URL]http://www.avforums.com[/URL] and then click on the camcorder forum. And also check out [URL]http://uk.pricerunner.com/[/URL] for prices.
I saw one Sony at £300 so thats quite good, as Sonys do tend to be decent. I have a Sony TRV14 but thats now the out dated model. Sony's have decent picture and have good automatic control, so its basically point and shoot. People moan about not have as much control over exposure, gain etc compared to other cameras, but personnaly I dont need to change them, and just want to point and shoot and not worry about if the picture is ok. I walked around the streets of New York with the camera filming alot of the time and I hardly took any notice of the screen as I could just point shoot, didnt even have the LCD open. The automatic system is very good, and Sony also do touch screen LCDs which others dont do. So not many buttons on the camcorder itself just the on/off buttons, record, zoom and photo.
You can get camcorders which have memory slots which store still pictures, the quality of still pictures is not that great compared to a digital camera, and the camcorders with memory slots cost more so if you dont need it do get one, as usually its the same camcorder as a lower model but with a memory slot for £100 more.
Personnaly I would say that if you want a camcorder to take some home footage on then stick with the £300-400 ones as you will need to get another battery which could be £60 as the battery you normally get will probably last 45-60 mins if you use the LCD. You will also need some tapes, they can be bought off online stores for as little as £2-3 each, and they are like normal VCR tapes where you can use them loads. I bought 15 Sonys for £43 which was good. One thing to do is always stick with one tape maker, so if the first tape you use is a Sony one then stick to Sony tapes from then on. Then you may want a decent carry case so thats another £20-30. So you could be looking at spending another £100 on accessories so a £400 camcorder becomes £500.
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