What is the best type of camcorder to get to make and edit home videos?

[cschinnerer]

MY wife and I are in the market to purchase a quality camcorder with the birth of our first kid. We are not very savy with the electronic or camcorder world, but are not idiots either. What is the best type of camcorder, (dvd, mini dv, or hard drive) to get to make simple, but also professional lookign home videos without breaking the bank? Thanks.

[guns1inger]

MiniDV is the only budget format designed specifically to be easily edited. All the other formats (directly to DVD, HDD recorders etc) have issues that take away a lot of the fun. DV tapes are cheap, the transfer process is simple, and the editing is a breeze. As HD takes over, DV cameras are becoming very cheap.

Chances are you will get some 'light' version software, probably Ulead's VideoStudio, with the camera. While this will do in a pinch, you should seriously consider either getting the full version of VideoStudio, or look at Premiere Elements or Vegas Movie Studio to do you editing with. As a Vegas Pro user, I would vote for Movie Studio, however all three have downloadable demos so you can try them for yourself.

[EGrier]

You can head on over to www.camcorderinfo.com to get some decent reviews on cameras. I prefer mini dv myself but, one thing to realize is that when you transfer your video footage to your computer it is done in real time. So, if you have 30 minutes of video, it will take 30 minutes to transfer. Still with that drawback, you will find that you will get the best editing experience with mini dv. I have no problems with it at all. Just wish you could transfer a little fast. Also, if you decide to get a mini dv camera, your computer will need a firewire port to transfer the video.

Ethan

[Marvingj]

I prefer Mini DV but Digital 8 is also great..

[Ollie6431]

... What is the best type of camcorder, (dvd, mini dv, or hard drive) to get to make simple, but also professional looking home videos without breaking the bank? ...

-Consumer Standard-def cams cannot produce a professional looking home video (in term of video quality only).
-Consumer High-def cams can produce surprisingly great video on a budget.
-For users who like to do lots of editing, get a High-def MiniDV cam. Software support is much better.
-For users who do not want to use tape and do little editing, either High-def Hard-drive or SDHC cams can be considered.
-Users have very different ideas about what format to use. Just pick one that fits your style.

[Soopafresh]

If you want a model number, check out the Canon HV20. Very good for the price and an entire website devoted to supporting it: http://www.hv20.com/ . You can get one for around $650. Check out the website for "Where to Buy", and have a look at the video clips that are posted there.

Here's some HV20 clips that are pretty indicative to what you'd see from the beginning "videographer".

http://www.vimeo.com/635889

http://vimeo.com/630924

And more "pro" looking stuff from the same camera

http://www.arsenal-entertainment.com/willyouRough.html

[JohnnyMalaria]

MY wife and I are in the market to purchase a quality camcorder with the birth of our first kid. We are not very savy with the electronic or camcorder world, but are not idiots either. What is the best type of camcorder, (dvd, mini dv, or hard drive) to get to make simple, but also professional lookign home videos without breaking the bank? Thanks.

Camcorder-wise I concur with the others that MiniDV is the way to go - best bang for the buck since it is being surplanted by the high-def equivalent.

You don't mention if you want to edit the video or not. If you just want to view exactly what is recorded, you *could* go for one of the DVD-type camcorders. They let you put the DVD into a player and watch it straight away.

If you do want to edit, you need to consider the software and the means to get the video into the computer and, after editing, onto a DVD (for example).

Re "professional" - that's as much about artistic capability as technical quality. The former can usually make up for weaknesses in the latter but not the other way around. I would expect that in the heat of the moment in the delivery room you probably won't be too fixated on what the camcorder is doing. And when viewed later on, I doubt the viewers will care too much about the compositional quality. The most important thing to try to do is to keep the camcorder still and minimizing zooming in/out.

[tmh]

OK, BEST advice i ever got here on video making is this : your movie/video will only be as good as your raw footage". So, you need to learn how to take camcored video properly. What sort of zoom to use forwhat, USE A TRIPOD when at all possible!!! What settings to use for various conditions. Wide angle lens use; etc.

Any decent mini DV camcorder will do the job - it's more about knowing how to take good video. Editing and making video productions is another matter, and you will hear lots of ideas on this. i use Magix movie Edit Pro 11 Plus and like it (cheap also). There are plenty of others, all have pros and cons.

Take good footage!!!! That allows you to make a very good video. Oh how I wish I had tose years when my kids were smaller to re-shoot the raw footage! I handheld always and too shaky, too long videos for many years. Now, yeah i can try "de-shaker" fliters, etc, but those reduce quality in other ways. Good footage is the key. So buy a good camcorder and use it correctly.

[TuxOmatic]

I have used Digital8 for years but I've recently joined the High Def world using the Sony HC7, which is mini-dv. I find these tape formats trouble free and the editing process very easy. The high def cameras allow you to transfer your HD video to your computer as standard DV footage which has just as good quality as DV footage from a standard definition camcorder (from a single chip consumer camcorder, that is). As pointed out earlier, these small cameras are hard to hold still. The quality of the video drops quickly with quick motion and fast zooms. (Go watch the movie Cloverfield in the front of the theater for a fast headache and good dose of motion sickness!) If you get a prosumer camera with 3 chips you will get better low light video inside your house. So, hardware is important, shooting technique is important, and editing your video before burning is important. Jump in and join the fun!

[edDV]

...also professional lookign home videos without breaking the bank? Thanks.

What editing do you plan and what is the budget?