Does anyone have any info on digital camcorders

Am in the same boat as u r Bryan....for the last 3 weeks. Check these sites, quite helpful.
http://www.ecoustics.com/Home/Home_V...order_Reviews/
http://www.dvfreak.com/
http://www.dv.com/db_area/cgi-bin/fo...meras&number=2
http://www.dvspot.com
You have to search for that camcorder and get reviews. And they also have forums u can post questions and the like. Hope this helps.

 

I just purchased this camera a few weeks ago. Picture is fantastic, sound incredible and stills aren't bad either. I still have my old Nikon Hi-8 (actually it's a rebadged Sony) with lots of old 8 mm tapes. I can put these tapes into the 840, plug the 840 directly into my Sony Vaio desktop via firewire and I have an instant edit room.

There are very few differences between the 840 and the 740. The 840 has a 3.5 inch view screen, the 740 2.5. I read a review somewhere that stated the 740 was the better bargain for the money.

The one drawback: this camera seems heavy, heavier than my old Hi8 that I purchased in 1992.

Hope this helps.

 

As an alternative, I recently purchased the Sony DCRTRV-27, which is a Mini-DV camcorder. It retails for $999, but you can easily price-match it for $800 or less. It produces excellent video, has a ton of features, and I believe it is smaller and lighter than the 740, 840, etc. The TRV27 has a 3 1/2" screen, while the model below it, the TRV25 has a 2 1/2" screen. I really prefer the bigger screen, but if you don't need it, you can get good deals on the TRV25 as well. So, you might want to consider this line as well.

 

I recently bought a $500 Sony digital camcorder at Circuit City for work. The model number is DCR-TRV140. It is an excellent camcorder. It does not take still pictures, but stills are not vital for our needs. It is a Digital8 camcorder, which means it uses tapes. It is very easy to use. We have had no problems with it. With accessories (carrying case, extra battery, extra tapes, etc.), I spent $700. A colleague and I took the camera on a business to California last month, and the camera worked very well for us. (We were in California in June, but we restricted our use of the camera to work-related projects. )

 

Maybe someone can help me. Please comment on my requirements:

1) External light source, as well as built-in flash
2) Mini-DV. (I don't really want Digital 8 but that's negotiable.)
3) Digital pass thru (ie. analogue to DV converter for external devices)
4) Firewire
5) Optical image stabilizer (not digital)
6) Progressive photo, preferably at > 1 Megapixel resolution, saved on a removable card
7) Stereo audio
8) Small size

Of the above I'm thinking the must haves are Firewire, digital pass thru, and capability for an external light source.

Whaddya think?

 

I have been very happy with my Canon zr30 which is the same as the current zr50. It has the hot shoe and firewire not sure about the digital pass thru but I will check. Here is the link to the zr50. They run about 600-700 or so.
Matt

 

Eugene, good call on the optical stabilization. It really does make a difference in overall video quality. This (along with true progressive scan capability) was one of the deciding factors in my purchase of a Canon Optura Pi last year. The Pi has been discontinued for a while now, unfortunately. It's replacement, the Optura100mc, has not been as well received. Worth checking out, though...
http://canon.ca/english/index-produc...=5&gid=2&ovr=1
One other thing to keep in mind is that stills from pretty much any camcorder are going to suck. You'd be far better off saving some $$ on a video cam without any fancy still features and buying even a cheap 2MP digital still cam.
Cheers,

 

Kris,

Why has the Optura 100MC not been as well received? I've only seen a couple of descriptions of it online and they've been positive.

As for stills, I'm not that concerned actually, and hence it's not a make-or-break feature for me. I already have a Canon G2 4 Megapixel still camera. Am I right in thinking that the progressive capability has no relevance for motion video?

The digital pass-thru is key, because I have a couple of VHS movies to convert to DV. I don't want to have to buy a separate machine for this since at most I will only convert about 4 tapes.

I think I may hold off on a purchase for some time though, since it seems the machines with all the features I want are going to be $$$$.

 

The 100MC are said to be one of the year's "best buys" by some due to its optical stabilization and better than most stills but u will pay for it. One point against it though is it still (might be a Canon thing) has the motor noise pick-up during recording. I noticed this on my previous ZR20 and I think still hasn't been addressed fully in the succeeding lines. While some couldn't care less about this issue, it is quite annoying in recording of muted scenes.

 

When I was in the market for a camera for my school, I found this forum very helpful. Set up a lot like HTF so it's easy to use:
http://www.dv.com/community/forums.j...BGCFFA?si d=1
BTW, I ended up getting the Sony TRV900, which had some of the manual controls that I needed - but, a bit more expensive then the original poster's needs. It is a very good camera and I imagine that the cheaper mini-dv cameras that Sony makes are good.

 

I have seen ads for the Hitachi DVD camcorder (8cm?) for aroud $900. It is suppossed to have a hardware A to D encoder for converting your old tape formats straight to DVD also.

 

Good thread. I think the Canon 100MC looks like a killer camcorder and one I'm interested in. Eugene - my wish list is about the same as yours, but I've realized it's gonna cost us $$$!

Eric - I hadn't read about the motor noise problem, where did you read that?

Thanks!

 

I must've read it on one of those forums. Beleive me, it is one of my choices (looks far more hi-tech too!) but money still makes a point. FYI, I've already decided on a Sony DCR-TRV27.