Do any of you guys know about camcorders?

[EArp]

Ok, I need some help. My wife and I are expecting a baby boy at the end of may, and we are looking at buying a camcorder to take down all those special memories... LOL. Problem is, I don't know the first thing about them. I don't even have an idea what is a good price range to be in to get a decent product. Here's what I do know - I have a Sony HD TV that will do 1080p, I have a Mac laptop, and I want the camcorder to be compatible with both. Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

 

[kenny61]

Sony makes a great product and I prefer the hard drive models Pick which one you can afford Sony : High-Definition - BestBuy than add a 1few more bucks for sony editing software Sony Creative Software - Vegas Pro, Vegas Movie Studio, and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition and enjoy the birth of your child

 

[EArp]

Thanks Kenny. I appreciate the input, I had Sony in mind because I know they make good stuff. Plus I guess since I have a Sony TV it would probably hook up pretty easy. I had also thought about Canon because I have heard they make a good product in this area. I know there are a ton of brands out there though.

 

[kenny61]

Sony = camcorder
Canon,Nikon = Still Camera

 

[BrianJ]

Sony = camcorder

Canon,Nikon = Still Camera

I strongly disagree. Canon is continually one of the highest rated camcorders. cnet.com is a good place to go for reviews of electronics.



If you are going to make the outlay for a camcorder, I would go ahead and spend the money on HD (hi def), and I personally prefer the hard drive models, even better the ones that allow flash memory on top of the Hard Drive.



Any Canon, Panasonic, or Sony will be compatiable with what you want to do. You may want to take a look at the Canon Vixia HG20 which is HD, has a 60G hard drive (plus optional flash memory), and is one of the highest rated camcorders at an attractive price of ~$450.



Sony was generally at the top in the mini-DV days, but since flash and/or hard drive and hi-def video has come along Canon and others (Panasonic) have rated as good or better, and often at a much more attractive price.

 

[kenny61]

My opinion is only that an opinion. I have owned 4 Sony Camcorders since 1991. Only one has broken and that's because my brother accidentally knocked it off a table and than later used it as a foot rest, Yes it was a good party, The camera still worked but the viewfinder was bot able to be economically repaired. As far as reviews go road and track once named the renault le car the car of the year... . I like websights like best but where you read actually customer reviews

 

[EArp]

I really appreciate both of your opinions. If anyone else has had good luck with certain models or have suggestions, please keep them coming. It's so hard to tell these days about electronics. I always try to research things before buying, and the last time I was going to get a cell phone I was reading all these customer reviews and website reviews, and everyone was raving about the Motorola Q, so I got one, and this phone has been the biggest piece of junk! I'm already on my 3rd one because the other two malfunctioned in one way or another. I'm not hard on my electronics either.

 

[kenny61]

I'm not hard on my electronics but I don't baby them either. If you go to this post https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/off-roading/215560-atv-ing-pa.html and look in the back of my atv there are 2 black camera cases. They can hold up to a few bumps and bounces

 

[fest3er]

Just remember that Sony is really a large marketing company. I bought Sony's F707 still camera some years back. I took a few thousand pics with it, but I never wrote home about the quality or the usability. It focused slowly, zoomed slowly, auto-turned off quickly, ate batteries anyway, and was limited to 128MB memory sticks. I now have a Pentax K20D, which may well be the last still camera I ever buy; they still make the best and most affordable glass for still cameras.

IMO, you want to consider:

• the lowest light level the camera can 'see' in; extremely low levels will allow you more flexibility
• how fast the auto-focus, if any, works; if it's slow to focus, you'll miss a lot of action
• how fast the zoom works; if it's slow, you'll miss stuff
• get a 1080p model; frames can be printed as small snapshots, or published on a web site
• get the highest physical zoom factor you can; digital zoom just doesn't cut it at 2. 1 megapixels
• get the best battery performance you can; nothing's worse than constantly changing and charging batteries
• test the camera-to-PC connection(s); you'll want the fastest link you can get
• if your computer is more than a few years old, plan to buy a new one; you'll need the extra zzubs to store and process HD video.

This should be enough to keep you scratching your head for a while.

 

[azpete]

I have had the Sony Hard Drive HD camera for almost 2 years now and have made some very nice videos. The one thing to remember is that they record in AVCHD format and once burned to a DVD can only be played on a Blueray player. Always had to convert to MPEG that takes a long time and looses some quality until I bought a Sony PS3 to play them on.

 

[E7mack96]

My 2 cents worth

I really like the JVC Everio series camcorders. They are Hard drive based, and take an SD card as well to take still pics, or small movies on. You can upload the movies to your computer and play them on Windows media, or edit and burn DVDs. You can plug them right into your tv and watch too.



I have used them for about 5 yrs now. No problems yet. knock on wood



Tony

 

[EArp]

Thanks very much guys. One of the concerns I have whether I go JVC, Canon, or Sony is whether they will be compatible to download to my Mac computer. Do any of you have a Mac or are you guys all PC guys?

 

[E7mack96]

I am a pc guy... Was an Apple IIe, Mac, IIgs, and Lisa guy in the '80's though