Best/Least Expensive Camcorder for Streaming (Straight to HD)

[enter8]

I'm looking into a camcorder > firewire > laptop configuration so I can film training sessions and play them back immediately without having to take the time to transfer the video. Can all DV camcorders do this? It's not 'live' streaming, just recording the video straight to the laptop's HD rather than to tape or the camcorder's HD.

Also, I plan on (hopefully) doing some quick edits on the file before/during playback, so I'll need the file in a format that's easily editable/manageable.

The video will primarily be played on the 15.4" laptop screen (during the training), with the possibly of being shown on TV later- the resolution doesn't have to be that high, though.

Also, I'll have the camcorder in hand (no tripod) and I'll probably be moving around, as will my subject matter (trainee), so I'll probably need a cam with decent image stabilization. I shouldn't need much of a zoom, though.

Do you have any suggestions for the best/least expensive camcorder to achieve this?

Background: I'm teaching 1-on-1 tennis lessons and want a way to film my students and then immediately play it back for them with maybe a split screen effect and (if I can achieve it) John Madden style scribblings. It's a little unwieldy, but I'm currently pondering having a laptop in a knapsack firewired to a camcorder in my hand. A tablet PC in a fanny pack is a slightly more elegant solution, but the laptop gives me a larger screen at a fraction of the price. If anyone has a better method to achieve this, I'm open to that as well. I'm pretty sure a wireless solution is out of the question, as bluetooth can't transfer that much data. Maybe recording the film to a flash memory card and then plugging the card into the laptop might work- whatever solution I find has to be quick- I can't have my students waiting for me to get the video up and running.

[thecoalman]

I'm looking into a camcorder > firewire > laptop configuration so I can film training sessions and play them back immediately without having to take the time to transfer the video. Can all DV camcorders do this?

I'd imagine so but don't quote me on that. On my Canon its just a matter of switching it to cam mode. DV is quite large though, approximately 14 gigs an hour. Guess that won't matter if you're deleting it. DV is about the most editable it gets, it's supported by wide variety of softwre because of it's popularity. Any consumer cam should fit your needs especially if your filming in a bright environment and will provide very good quality.

try www.camcorderinfo.com

[enter8]

DV is 14 gigs an hour... wow. Can the resolution be reduced to bring that down a bit? I'm only going to be taping maybe 5 minutes worth of footage, so the file won't be huge, but I'm still thinking it might make whatever on the fly edits I'm considering somewhat time consuming.

Have you worked with your Canon in cam mode? Does it work well? Any glitches?

[mats.hogberg]

DV is a fixed std, with fixed bitrate and fixed resolution. If you want smaller file - You can't use DV.

/Mats

[thecoalman]

but I'm still thinking it might make whatever on the fly edits I'm considering somewhat time consuming.

It won't make difference where that is concerned and most likely will be your best bet where most software is concerned, may even perform better. Less compression equals less time the CPU need to spend processsing it. If space is really a concern you can try using something like Ulead Video Studio which will encode to MPEG on the fly, make sure to download the trial first to try it out to make sure your laptop has enough power to do it.

One additional benefit to going right to MPEG perhaps that you wouldn't realize is you can immediately author as a standard DVD, time would be relative to your burner speed. This suggestion is for speed, you'll get better quality using other methods.

Have you worked with your Canon in cam mode? Does it work well? Any glitches?

Works fine but I haven't done it extensively, it's no different than transferring it by tape except its a live image instead of recorded.

[enter8]

Thank you, this has all been incredibly informative.