Canon HFS100

[jwillis123]

My old Hi 8 died about 2 years ago, Now trying to catch up with family movies and sporting events. I have been looking at the HD camcorders and keep going to the Canon HFS100. I like the 56mm lens and ease of recording to SDHC cards I guess. I need a camera to film family movies and kids sports such as Softball. Also new to the editing of movies so any advice on requirements as far as computer and software would greatly be appreciated. I have a HD plasma and Blue ray but do not plain on buying a Blue ray burner. right now if i can get the camcorder to give me good DVD quality, I will be happy.
Currently burning DVDs on laptop with Nero
Thanks for any replies

Jay

[edDV]

If your computer details are correct, you won't have much success editing or playing AVCHD on that laptop. You will be able to capture the file and place it on a DVDR that may play in your Blu-Ray Player.

From the manual, it appears the HFS100 can only shoot high definition.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=177&modelid=...nloadDetailAct

[stedyone]

I recommend the Sony line of HD camcorders. I personally recommend the HDD versions over the SSD models. I have the HDR-XR200V 120 GB HDD handy camcorder. I have always had Sony handycams as Sony has the superior steady shot and image stabilization over any Canon or Samsung that I have used. Sony handycams also record in both HD 1920 x 1080p AVCHD and SD(DVD) 720p. The SD recordings can be converted and burned to disk surprisingly easy with the PMB software from Sony. HD resolution can only be burned to Blu-Ray and be played on Blu-ray only. I am very happy with my handycam. I also have a miniDV sony that had become very cumbersome to place videos on FB and Youtube.

[jwillis123]

Not really worried about burning to a blue ray disk right now, just want to be able to shoot in high def, edit the movies, and burn to DVD until I get a blue ray burner.
With the Software that comes with HD camcorders, Can I edit on a lap top such as mine with
100gb
9 hundred somthing Ram
operating on Windows XP
If not, Why? And what does anyone recommend.

Thanks for any advice

[stedyone]

Well, that's the problem. If you record in HD (1920x1080p) AVCHD format, but want to burn to DVD you have to transcode (convert) the AVCHD which is MPEG4 to MPEG2 720p to play on a standard setop DVD player. This case is very processor intensive and a real time eater! This is why I recommend a HD camcorder that records in BOTH resolutions and formats so that you can switch between the two at will.

I have decided to set my new HD camcorder to Standard Definition (720p) since I do not have a BluRay writer or player. Now, in the future I may purchase these items and then I have the video cam that can accommodate that move.

[jwillis123]

Great Advice, Do you have some suggestions on Camcorders that would be able to shoot sports games and low light family movies. I guess I got hung up on the size of Lens on the Canon HFS.

[stedyone]

Depending on your budget; I would recommend the Sony HDR-XR500 series with larger better lens, and most importantly, larger CMOS sensor for better low light images. This camera would be around $1000 street price new.

I got the smaller sensor HDR-XR200 refurbished with Sony factory warranty from Buy.com for $399. This was a steal as new this camera is $800. These are both HDD cameras. Don't bother buying any additional memory cards as the HDD capacities are so big there is no need to save still photos on separate media. It's faster to upload still images and video off of the HDD than the media anyways.

[edDV]

Great Advice, Do you have some suggestions on Camcorders that would be able to shoot sports games and low light family movies. I guess I got hung up on the size of Lens on the Canon HFS.

I have a similar laptop to yours (AMD 64 X2 TK-55 + GeForce Go-6150) and it struggles and skips playing 1440x1080i AVCHD but handles broadcast 1920x1080i or 1440x1080i HDV MPeg2 (m2t) playback reasonably well. How do your laptop specs differ? Fast action sports will skip the most.

The workflow you would need is

Import AVCHD and find edit points,
downscale 1440x1080i to 720x480i for DVD (480p would be jerky),
encode to MPeg2
author the DVD.

You will find great difficulty with the first 2 steps with your laptop. I suggest you obtain AVCHD sports file samples and test this process before you buy. I'm convinced you would need a more powerful computer and graphics chip.

Alternative is the Canon HV20/30/40 series which I have which can play on your laptop but I wouldn't want to attempt the process above even with HDV. Instead I use a Core2Duo or Core2quad desktop.

HDV format camcorders offer a workflow feature that fits your need. You can shoot 1440x1080i HDV but downscale in the camera to 720x480i for DV format transfer over firewire. That way the camera handles the downscale realtime without loading the computer for hours. You can then edit SD DV format and author a DVD easily on your laptop.

The show stopper may be that the laptop needs a firewire port, or you would need to do the transfer on a separate computer.

Some AVCHD camcorders can record direct to SD 720x480i as suggested above, but in that case you don't have an HD master.

I hope this helps bound the issues.

[edDV]

Well, that's the problem. If you record in HD (1920x1080p) AVCHD format, but want to burn to DVD you have to transcode (convert) the AVCHD which is MPEG4 to MPEG2 720p to play on a standard setop DVD player.

AVCHD and HDV camcorders record 1080i/29.97. Some permit shooting 24p as 29.97 telecine.

DVD is 480i/29.97 or 480p/23.976. For sports 480i/29.97 (59.94 fields per second) is most appropriate.

[jwillis123]

Well with these responses I can tell I have a lot to learn/figure out. What a fool to think I could buy a HD camcorder and edit movies on the laptop I currently have. I think I am going to have to back down a gear or 2 and try to make good SD movies vs HD

Still shopping and trying to figures this out, so many to choose from

[jwillis123]

Alright I have purchased a Canon HG21 due to the fact that it can record in HD and SD. Thought that would help me out with movies, now I need advice on software. My girls got a new desk top computer for christamas with the following spec: 450gb mem 64 bit sys, and it has windows dvd maker software on it. I'm looking to get some software that will let me record in HD and convert and burn to SD on a DVD. Can't really tell which is easiest to edit and overlay music. Any help is appreciated

[Soopafresh]

Vegas Movie Studio Platinum