Brit in USA wants to buy camcorder

[katieb]

Hi - I am pretty sure this must have been raised before but I have scrolled through previous posts and can't find this exact scenario:

We live in the US and will be here for another few years, however ultimately will return to the UK. We have a new baby and want to be able to record him now and send the recording back to my parents in the UK. We don't mind what method we use (video cassette, DVD, etc) but we need to be able to watch it in both the US and the UK. I would rather not have to do any kind of conversion especially as in a couple of years we'll be using the US purchased camcorder to record in the UK when we move back there and that will mean we'd have to convert everything we record.

I am NOT a technical person so please can someone explain in simple terms (!) what the issues are we need to consider and what our options are. I can't believe it needs to be this complicated - both Wolf camera and Best Buy are giving us the 'can't be done' answer. Is that really true?

Let me know if you need more information to be able to answer this question

Thanks so much

Katie

[MOVIEGEEK]

US is NTSC and UK is PAL...it can't be done without a framerate and resolution conversion.
The good news is most PAL DVD players support NTSC.
BTW:welcome to videohelp.com and the US.

[hech54]

1) USA is NTSC
2) 95% of PAL country equipment can easily deal with NTSC stuff.
3) .....except when it comes to MiniDV tapes. Just buy the NTSC camera and be done with it....then convert the footage to DVD while in the US(but still preserve the MiniDV tapes if you wish). You'll have watchable DVD's when you get back to the UK.

[katieb]

1) USA is NTSC
2) 95% of PAL country equipment can easily deal with NTSC stuff.
3) .....except when it comes to MiniDV tapes. Just buy the NTSC camera and be done with it....then convert the footage to DVD while in the US(but still preserve the MiniDV tapes if you wish). You'll have watchable DVD's when you get back to the UK.

Hi Hech54
Thanks for this. 3 questions:
* Are you saying that I should be able to record something here that my parents should be able to watch in the UK without having to do any kind of conversion? All they need to do is pop it in their DVD player (or video recorder - see qu3)
* The second question I guess will be per the above - any recordings we make when we have moved back to the UK should be able to be viewed on PAL equipment
* Is there any particular brand/type you would recommend us purchasing - video or digital, etc?

Thanks

[yoda313]

by video recorder do you mean vhs player? No those are different models in the uk and us.

Dvd should work just fine - author the dvd here and send it to them and they should be able to play ntsc in pal world as mentioned earlier.

You could dub to videotape but you would have to use a pal vcr while your here so you would be sure it would work on your relatives equipment back home. (but again you'd have quality loss and it would be a realtime dub with no menu options since vhs is linear and you can't do custom menus like dvd obviously).

[hech54]

1) USA is NTSC
2) 95% of PAL country equipment can easily deal with NTSC stuff.
3) .....except when it comes to MiniDV tapes. Just buy the NTSC camera and be done with it....then convert the footage to DVD while in the US(but still preserve the MiniDV tapes if you wish). You'll have watchable DVD's when you get back to the UK.

Hi Hech54
Thanks for this. 3 questions:
* Are you saying that I should be able to record something here that my parents should be able to watch in the UK without having to do any kind of conversion? All they need to do is pop it in their DVD player (or video recorder - see qu3)
* The second question I guess will be per the above - any recordings we make when we have moved back to the UK should be able to be viewed on PAL equipment
* Is there any particular brand/type you would recommend us purchasing - video or digital, etc?

Thanks

If you purchase a camcorder....whether it be MiniDV or some other format....and along with it you purchase(or already own a set-top DVD Recorder - attached to your television) and you make DVD's that way....the DVD's you send to your folks should play EASILY in their DVD player unless their equipment is 15 years old.
The same is NOT true with the MiniDV tapes(if that is the route you are going in camcorders).
Another route would be a DVD Camcorder....but the DVD's that they spit out have playability issues....even when played in the country they were recorded in...
Get yourself a camcorder and DVD Recorder that both have Firewire capabilities....and don't skimp(be cheap) on the brand of recorder OR the blank DVD's that you buy and you'll be fine.
Pioneer and Panasonic would probably be your best bet for DVD Recorders...and buy Taiyo Yuden brand blank DVD's (from rima.com for example)....that would be my recommendation anyway. If you are pressed for cash....search the (these) forums for cheaper alternatives to Pioneer or Panasonic recorders....but don't skimp on the DVD blanks.....store bought blanks are VERY hit or miss as far as quality goes.