Help on camcorder purchase. (1 Viewer)

[Shawn R]

I am new here so I wasnt sure what forum this should go in but here it goes. Ok, I am thinking about buying a camcorder. Well, I have some questions and I was hoping you guys could help. Firstly, Does anyone recommend anything specifically. I dont want to spend more than $400. I would like to spend from $200- $400. Also is digital neccesary; or should I go 8mm. What are the advantages of digital. I would like to edit on my computer and move scenes around and add music and effects but is all that possible with a cheaper digital cam. What moviemacking software is recommended. And also if I do edit like stated above on the computer with a digital then when I finish can I put it on a tape, or will it only be asscesible from the computer. Can I even burn it on a CD and take it with me? Thanks for all the help and I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Can I even burn it on a CD and take it with me?

If you have a CD burner, and either

(1) A program that can convert the DV-format files into a VideoCD disc / disc image.

(2) A program that can convert the DV-format files into a bunch of ordinary media files (e.g., QuickTime files) for storage on a regular data CD.

The advantage of the VideoCD format is that many standalone DVD-Video players can play it. However, I've seen it written that the quality of a VideoCD is no better than the quality of a VHS tape, and sometimes worse.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Do not get an analog campcorder. The reasons are multitudinal, if you want to use your computer to capture and edit video, get a digital, either DV or Digital8 but I personally would avoid the Sony proprietary Digital8 format.

I am using an older model refurbished Panasonic PV-DV900 DV camcorder that I got from www.refurbishedstore.com for $359. I highly recommend this model and this online retailer.

Also, forum sponsor www.gotapex.com had a DV camcorder on their deals page yesterday - look for it.

What moviemacking software is recommended.

I use Pinnacle Studio8 on my PC and I am extremely happy with it. I have made VideoCDs of most of my DV tapes for casual everyday viewing and I've been shocked at how good they work on my DVD players.

 

[Mike__D]

You should probably increase your budget if you plan on editing movies on your PC. Also, as recommended, go with miniDV. The big difference with digital, aside from the much better picture quality, as that no matter how many times you play the tape, the quality will not degrade like analog. Also, you lose little to no quality when transfering from camcorder to pc and back to camcorder (after editing).

I did the whole 9 yards last year. First I bought a miniDV camera, a Sony TRV-18. Then I added a new 80GB hard drive for video, and a firewire (IEEE 1394) card. For software I bought Ulead's Media Studio Pro 6.5 Directors Cut.

I've been pretty happy with my setup, but it did cost a bit of money.

Mike D.

 

[Philip Hamm]

no matter how many times you play the tape, the quality will not degrade like analog

I disagree with this statement. In the last few weeks some of my older tapes that used to play perfectly dropped a lot of frames when I transferred them to the computer. I cleaned the heads and reran the tapes and the same frames dropped. MiniDV is still tape and it's still subject to the same kind of degradation of any tape, it just manifests itself differently.

That's why I'm making VideoCDs for casual watching. In the future when DVD-R is cheaper I'll go through this excersize again and make DVDs. However, between now and then I won't have to play the tapes.

By the way, all my big problem tapes are Panasonic DV tapes. I haven't had a single dropped frame with my Sony and Maxell tapes, only the Panasonic tapes and a little problem with a Fuji tape.

 

[MarkHastings]

In the last few weeks some of my older tapes that used to play perfectly dropped a lot of frames when I transferred them to the computer.

That sounds more like a computer problem than a tape problem.

 

[Mike__D]

In the future when DVD-R is cheaper I'll go through this excersize again and make DVDs

I forgot to mention in my original post I also purchased a Sony DVD-RW & DVD+RW combo drive. It does all formats and cost about $350.. not bad!

Mike D.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I believe Mark is right, sounds like a computer problem. Either your HD is not fast enough to capture the video correctly, or there's a problem with the interface between the pc and the camera. Which interface are you using?

I bought a new motherboard/chip/ram/case about 3 weeks ago. In the last three weeks I've captured approximately 7 DV tapes to my hard drive. The first 2 or 3 didn't drop a single frame; only the last 3 or 4 have had problems. WTF?!?!?! Last night I reformatted my capture drive to NTFS so that I can capture a full hour instead of breaking it up in 15 minute intervals, and also to try to help with my frame dropping.

 

[MarkHastings]

Phil,

What kind of capture drive do you have? As Mike__D stated, the drive could be having trouble keeping up with the capturing. SCSI drives are the best for video capture, Firewire drives are perfectly fine as well, but I'd avoid IDE drives...I'm not 100% sure on this, but I don't think an IDE drive can keep up with the demand for capturing video.

I guees it's also possible that there is a glitch on the tape. Anything's possible. Do the dropped frames happen in the same place....I know you can't figure out exactly where the droped frames are, but when you were recording in 15 minute intervals, was there a specific segment of the tape that gave you drops or did it seem random?

 

[Jim Tressler]

Guys, not to change the subject, but I too am in the minidv boat and basically have decided on the new JVC DR-90US.. now my question is: on mini dv tapes.. are they essentially recording 1's and 0's to the tape.. so can I reuse a tape? or is it like analog where I need a new tape for everything? Also what is the difference between sp/lp.. if its digital why would it matter? - One more thing - the GRD90 says it has "Analog Input" - I am assuming that means I can take an old VHS tape and convert it into digital with the pc?

thanks!

jim

 

[MarkHastings]

the GRD90 says it has "Analog Input" - I am assuming that means I can take an old VHS tape and convert it into digital with the pc?

Most DV cameras have an anolog input, it's a great feature. The only thing is that you use the 3 RCA outputs of your VCR (Red, White, & Yellow) on one end of the cable and the other end of the cable is a single mini plug that goes into your camera, then from there you can use the firewire output of the camera to go into your pc. It's not a super clean way of doing things, but it works.

Actually, whenever I do that with my VCR, I get a slight hum in the audio...I guess it's from too many variables in the equation.

 

[Jim Tressler]

thanks mark.. by "reusing the tape" I mean transfering it to the pc, then just deleting it on the minidv tape.. whereas with analog, if I want to keep it, either I dub it or save the tape.. In my mind I imagine shooting it with the camera, transfering it to the pc, burn to dvd, then erase tape. Does that make sense?? Finally does lp/sp just mean more compression?

thanks!

jim

 

[Mike__D]

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I don't think an IDE drive can keep up with the demand for capturing video.

Newer IDE drives can keep up. I'm using a 80GB Western Digitial 7200 RPM drive with an ATA66 interface. I forget what the transfer rate needs to be for video capture though. Maybe Philip is using an older HD?

Philip, since you were able to capture the first few tapes without a problem, I'd suggest "defragging" your HD and deleting old files. You might have an older drive that's adequate for the job but needs to be kept in top performance for the demand of video capture.

Mike D.

 

[Mike__D]

Jim,

You can reuse the tapes. DV is stored magnetically on the tape, just like analog.

Mike D.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Philip, since you were able to capture the first few tapes without a problem, I'd suggest "defragging" your HD and deleting old files. You might have an older drive that's adequate for the job but needs to be kept in top performance for the demand of video capture.

Thanks. Last night I reformatted the drive as NTFS so I can capture a whole hour long tape at once. On a fresh (not "quick") format the frames got dropped! I've asked on the Pinnacle boards and have some ideas and suggestions for getting back to where I was a couple weeks ago (working perfectly).

 

[MarkHastings]

Mike,

Adobe Premiere's DV capture requires at least a 7200RPM UDMA 66 IDE drive. I thought DV runs close to 15MB/sec., but Adobe says: "hard disk or disk array capable of sustaining 5MB/sec"

 

[Thomas Newton]

In my mind I imagine shooting it with the camera, transfering it to the pc, burn to dvd, then erase tape. Does that make sense??

For things you might want to edit again? Not really, unless you're planning to burn DVDs of all of the DV files (1 tape's worth of video => 4 DVD-R's worth of DV files) in addition to the final MPEG2-format DVD-Video disc.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I found a great review of that JVC, and it doesn't do well in low-light, which I would need from time to time.

My Panasonic has an effect called "Gainup" which works extremely well in low light. It amazes me every time I use it. It's a little herky-jerky and a little grainy, but you can see everything really well.