Quality over Price...

[red ryder]

hey i was wondering how the picture quality of a camcorder after editing on your comp and burning to a vcd/svcd compares between a $400 camcorder and a $900 camcorder. i don't care about any random features or even sound cuz i'll be editing out the sound anywayz most the time. all i care about is how is the sound quality between a $400 and a $900? i appreciate all comments on any camcorder ya have, no matter what price i'd like to know how the quality is, thanx.

[jtor]

you'll have to elaborate a little more, specifically on the type of camcorder that you're comparing. Because the difference of a $400 VHS-C cam and a $900 miniDV cam...is like night and day. But then, you're not doing an 'apples-to-apples' compare.

[red ryder]

compare the $400 miniDV and $900 miniDV camcorders. or ya don;t even hafta compare just tell me about what knda cam ya got and how the visual is...

[jtor]

The camcorders I've had are kinda 'incomparable'...I started with a $700 Sony Hi8XR camcorder way back, and I thought it was great...the footages were nice. But quality degradation was very obvious when I created VCDs out of them. To get good (acceptable) quality, I had to use the max datarate that my capture card (and system) was capable of for capturing...6MB/sec...and from there, do XVCDs/SVCD.

Basic philosophy in video capturing/editing...Garbage in=Garbage out. So I decided to take a giant leap, and get a 'better' camcorder just so I'm assured that I have a good source to begin with. I bought a Canon GL1 ($2K), and man...why didn't I go this route from the very start. 3CCDs really do make a big difference in quality. And VCDs created from these footage were great (way better compared to VCDs from my analog cam). But obviously, it's not a fair comparison, a 3CCD cam will run rings around 'ANY' singleCCD cam anytime (analog or digital).

Bottomline, look at the difference in the specs of both camcorders. If the optics are the same and the difference are non-optics related (camA has a pass-thru, camB does not), then I don't see a reason why you won't consider the cheaper cam. But my recommendation...if you really don't care about price and you're after best quality shots/footages, go 3CCDs. They really are pricey, but it's worth it.

hope this helps.

[Nelson37]

OK, well I have a cheap JVC VHS-C, about $400 today, gives decent, vhs comparable quality. I have been able to convert to S, XS, and XV type CD video with results equal to standard VHS or slightly better.