Advice for buying a camcorder

[cavortingtheaces]

Hello all,

I am in the market of buying a camcorder. I am looking to use it for general family use, but would like to leave some room to grow into. Some of the camcorders that I have looked at are the Sony HC40, Canon ZR90, and I recently came across the news of Canon Elura 70 (www.camcorderinfo.com). I was wondering if any of you could help me choose a camcorder. I am looking for good color rendition, as well as good performance indoors, outdoors, and perhaps some evening and night videography.

I would appreciate your help.

If you have any other suggestions, they are welcome as well.

Thank you

[energy80s]

The Canon's have better colour rendition, but the Sony's are better in low light.

[FFK_Pennywise]

I recomend the Panasonic PV-GS70. Its a 3 CCD camcorder. This camera takes AWESOME video with its Leica Dicomar lens system. The colors are very rich and accurate! I've heard some people say it doesnt do well in low light, but i've found that not to be the case if you adjust it a little. One thing it doesnt do is total darkness recording. It tries to but just cant. On the upside, it comes with a wired and a wireless remote with built in mic. It has a manual focus ring as well as auto. Lastly, it can take 1280 res 1.2megapixel stills to an SD card. I paid $630 with mine at www.onecall.com an authorized dealer. Hope this helps!

[racer-x]

FFK_Pennywise,

I have the Panasonic PV-DV 953. It's the big brother to your GS70. Just out of curiosity, does your camera shoot in Frame Mode?

[BSR]

I have the Sony DCR-PC101. I am more than happy with it's quality and performance.
If you plan on doing any indoors or evening video, no matter what DV cam you get, my recommendation would be to get a light for it. You will notice a big boost in quaility for any indoor or low light conditions.

I agree with FFK_Pennywise, I also recommend www.onecall.com. That's where I purchased my camera.

[FFK_Pennywise]

racer-x,

No, the pv-gs70 doesnt have Frame Mode as far as I know. Whats the major differences between yours and mine? Know any tricks I should be aware of? I'm new to DV so I will take all the advice I can get. Thanks!

[dynamix1]

I purchased a sony dcr-trv33 last year and its a great camcorder. Never any problems. Lots of features I think.

[racer-x]

FFK_Pennywise,

I've only had my Panasonic PV-DV953 for a couple of months now. I'm still trying to learn all the settings on it. So far I'm very pleased with my $1127 Camcorder. I don't know much about yours, but you can read a good review of mine here:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/panasonic-pv-dv953-camcorder-review.htm

You may find this interesting:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=204186

[g_shocker182]

If your looking for a good DV Cam, be prepared to lay down the:

[Peplogic]

I just purchased a Canon ZR85 (the reason I didnt go with the 90 is...I didnt need 22X optical zoom, 20X was good enough)...and I love it...

The color is great. It is easy to use. I checked out the Canon optura and the Canon elura, but it didnt make any sense and by that I mean the Elura was just a super small DV recorder, but had many of the same features of the ZR 85...the optura had a few more features (none that I would really use), but the big differance was the opturas ability to take higher res Still photos.....got a camera for that, so it wasnt worth the extra money

Hope that helps...

Peplogic

[pijetro]

1)Price
2) How does it feel in your hand??
3)Lens
4)CCD size
5)Analogue to digital passthrough

This is my personal order..

[Vanster]

Also, make sure it has a color viewfinder. I bought a JVC that had black and white and couldn't stand it. I took it back and bought a Sony.

Another thing to consider is the size of the view screen. The JVC I originally bought had the 2 inch. The Sony I now have has the bigger, 3 inch screen. It makes a difference.

Finally, I totally agree with Pijetro about the analog to digital passthrough. If it doesn't have that then keep looking.

Vanster

[lenti_75]

1)Price
2) How does it feel in your hand??
3)Lens
4)CCD size
5)Analogue to digital passthrough


this is the way.....5 is one of my favorite too, you don't need any capture card and the results are perfect.....[/quote]

[racer-x]

Vanster wrote:

Also, make sure it has a color viewfinder. I bought a JVC that had black and white and couldn't stand it. I took it back and bought a Sony.

Wrong! A black and white view finder is best to adjust manual focus. It's hard to adjust focus on a color view finder.

Get the best you can afford.

1) 3CCD of the largest size you can afford.
2) Optical Image stabilizer.
3) High Optical Zoom.
4) Lots of manual settings.
5) High Quality Lens, Glass only.

[Vanster]

I film a lot of my kids sporting events. Try filming a hockey game or a baseball game through a black and white viewfinder. It doesn't work! My camera focuses itself so I don't have any need to manually focus it anyway.

[rcguy]

The Cannon GL-2 is the way to go. Well worth the money.

[dwight55]

My first camcorder (about 17 years ago) was a Sony, it still works. I have a newer Sony, it still works. The newer has both b&w viewfinder & color, each has good uses the other can't/won't do. I have heard less than good reviews on the digital camera that uses the miniDV's though. Stay as another post advised, with all the best you can afford (including a 3 chip camera if you can afford it), . . . go to www.pricegrabber.com or www.pricewatch.com and read the reviews of each, . . . happy videoing.

May God bless,

Dwight

[slnorth]

I was curious if you purchased a camera yet and would offer any remarks.

What was you final decision?

Where did you buy it?

[lacywest]

I have the JVC GRDV800US 3.5 LCD Screen and the JVC GRDV500US 2.5 LCD Screen.

I got the JVC GRDV800US on Ebay for $370 ... low light ability ... yes it is not that great.


And the JVC GRDV500US from Sears. JVC is phasing them out. Sears could have a decent sale if you look around. Especially if its a display model like the GRDV500S was at my Sears store.

See Review >>

http://www.dvspot.com/reviews/jvc/gr_dv800-review/index.shtml

[turk690]

A serious prosumer shouldn't be caught dead without a 3-CCD camcorder:
1) Sony TRV-953: best low-light performance of the three;
2) Canon GL2: most expensive of the three;
3) Panasonic PV-GS70: smallest, newest, cheapest, and worst low-light performance of the three

[Brpod]

IMHO there is only 1 thing to remember when buying a cam, always go for a sony.

[energy80s]

IMHO there is only 1 thing to remember when buying a cam, always go for a sony.

Unless you want good colourful pictures!

[crazycatz0]

The Cannon GL-2 is the way to go. Well worth the money.

hey,
i am looking at getting the GL2 and was just wondering what everyone thinks about it. also, are there any downsides to this camera? and it takes memory cards too right for pictures?
thanks.

[Meteor]

If money is no object, check out the Panasonic AG-DVX100. It's the worlds only 24 fps progressive DV cam. Makes encoding a breeze and you get that "film" look. But it'll cost you over $3,500 but the possibilties are endless with this camera.

[crazycatz0]

wouldnt 24fps be PAL? im in canada so i'd rather get an NTSC camera since everything else here is NTSC...

[Sam Ontario]

Hello all,

I am in the market of buying a camcorder. I am looking to use it for general family use, but would like to leave some room to grow into. Some of the camcorders that I have looked at are the Sony HC40, Canon ZR90, and I recently came across the news of Canon Elura 70 (www.camcorderinfo.com). I was wondering if any of you could help me choose a camcorder. I am looking for good color rendition, as well as good performance indoors, outdoors, and perhaps some evening and night videography.

I would appreciate your help.

If you have any other suggestions, they are welcome as well.

Thank you

In early days (1980'), I bought 3 Canon Camcorders at very expensive prices and none of them work after about one year. From then on, I swore never buy another Canon Camcorder again!

[Meteor]

25 fps is PAL. 24 fps is NTSC film and it is an NTSC camera. It also does 30 fps interlaced but you're not paying over 3 grand to use that.

[crazycatz0]

ok thanks. i looked at that camera though, and i would say that is too much money for me because that is probally a USD price so the conversion into canadian dollars would just be too much.