Which Camcorder, Digital or Digital8???

[Mudhole]

hey guys, couple of questions for yall! I am have a b-day here in a few days, and will be getting a new digital camcorder, but the question is which one? Full digital or the D8?? It must have "pass thru" capablities so I can continue to use my other cameras as well (VHS and VHS-C) and have external mike/head phone jacks as well. I want to be able to edit the footage on my pc, then record back to the d-camera, then onto VHS and eventualy to DVD and offer the videos for sale on my web site! Also, I am looking into getting the Pinnacle Studio 7 to go along with this new camera, any comments on either of these??

Mudhole

[resnullius]

I've been looking for a digital cam myself for a while and i have a fewpointers which may help in your choice of cam 1. most minidv cams have a higher resolution than digital8 2. if your looking for a comsumer grade product sony is apparently the way to go because they have a good lens they are usually made strong and so last longer 3. more and more comsumer grade cam have manual white balance which helps alot if you don't want your video to look too amateur.
U might want to look at cnet for pointers on a good cam and get the specs and reviews to help you out

[resnullius]

oh and by the way sony has bad mikes so keep that external mike handy if you choose them

[rahbmelb]

the general consensus is that Digital8 is better if you have older V8 or Hi8 tapes - it will play them and convert to digital out; at least my Sony trv330 will anyway!

If you dont already have a cam, or it isnt V8/Hi8, then miniDV seems to be the way to go as more vendors are making them. Just make VERY sure that the camera you select really WILL convert to digital from an analogue source - not all do. Also, not all miniDV cams are higher resolution than D8; some of the newer ones are, but it is a function of the cam, not the format.

Another advantage of my cam over most newer (and more expensive) ones is that it has much higher optical zoom factor - this can be better than higher resolution in a close contest (because the higher resolution will be chewed up by digital zoom).

But whichever format you end up buying, you will love the fact that you can now get tapes that last so much longer than VHS-C and give so much better quality.

[1newbee]

Hello,
Perhaps I can help a little. I was in the same delimma as you were about a month ago. I can tell you for certain that a MiniDV cam is the way to go. I wanted a cam that could do as much as posible for a resonable price. Sony offers a quality cam but it didn't have all the features that my Panasonic PV-DV701 has. It has two digital interfaces (USB and EEE1394). A built-in digital camera with removable and upgradable multimedia cards. The camera only has a resolution of 640x480 pixels but hey it's nice to have it. The MiniDV is SMALL! I can fit it in a fanny pack and it has a large 3.5 inch LCD screen. The cam has a switch for wind cut for an ext. mic. or built-in. Like the sony it has image stabilization during recording. The Panasonic has a neat feature called "Magic Vu" an IR filter that lets you film in total darkness. There are many special effects. The digit zoom is selectable; Zoom1 (10x to 25x), Zoom2 (10x to 500x) andOFF. The fuction selections are very well displayed on the LCD. I could go on but I am continuely learning more. Hands down, Digital tape is currently the best for editing. The camera comes with pretty decent movie and photo editing software. I also use Pinnicle express for fancy VCD's. I paid $800.00. Sears is selling out pretty fast to incorporate the next generation. Hope I helped a little.

[EBK]

I have a Sony TRV730 Digital8 camcorder, and I really like it. It has a resolution of 520 lines (NTSC), whereas most MiniDV are 500. Mine has pretty much all of the same features as 1newbee's MiniDV, but it costs less. You can find the best price on the Internet and Sears should match it (at least the Sears in my area do). It has a Digital>Analog pass thru, with either composite or s-video in. It also has a USB cable for transfer of digital pictures. The maximum resolution is 1024x728 for digital stills, better than most other cameras.

That was just my 2 cents.

[Truebrit]

i would stay well away from studio7 and look for viable alternatives

if you can get it - go for premiere 6

want evidence to avoid studio

look at pinnacle forum on their site - massive problems with no support

i was one of the lucky ones who managed to obtain a full refund

it is the most unstable program i have ever owned what does not do what it says on the box due to constant crashing during varied stages of production/editing under win98 and win2k in my experience

good luck