Stepping up to HD Camcorder

[Demon Geek]

I am a camcorder user who wants to make videos of holidays and my kids sporting events. I am running Windows Xp. I run a basic non blu ray LG DVD recorder/ player on a HD TV at home. I am a mild computer enthusiast and I am planning to buy a new camcorder ahead of our next holiday in a couple of months to the Middle East. I have look been researching what to buy. I have a Canon DV Ccorder that has died and am considered buying a Ccorder in the cheaper end of the HD market.
I am looking at the JVC GZ HD 300 (20x Optical zoom) 60Gb HDD. It will cost USD 540 in Australia (It seems the best deal going where I live.). My choice is based on: 1. Point and shoot use 2. Low cost entry to HD 3. Good storage 4. Easy to use and handle. 5. Most footage will be taken on hand held rather than tripod basis.
I have a couple of questions:
1. What are you views on JVC GZ HD 300?
2. The JVC model runs AVCHD. What issues are there that I will face in creating home movies to play on the home non blu ray DVD? If I need AVCHD conversion software, can you recommend a reliable, non crashing free conversion software? I would like to edit what I record on the Ccorder but I am no expert.
3. Does AVCHD and the desire to edit HD create minimum PC processing requirements and if so what do you believe they are?
Thanks in advance.

[redwudz]

I have that same JVC HD camcorder and I've been happy with it, especially the video quality and the storage space on the hard drive. Maybe just me, but a small monopod to steady the camera helps a lot and isn't too bad to haul around. The camera isn't much bigger than a soda can, so I got a lot of shaky footage till I got used to it.

The down side is editing AVCHD. Not nearly as easy as DV. If you are just doing simple cuts and pastes, not too bad. But more elaborate editing needs a fairly fast computer. If not, converting it to a different format is one option. I'd also suggest a second hard drive as editing any HD video can burn up a lot of hard drive space.

For accessories, I would suggest a spare battery or two. The one it comes with is very small. Some of the aftermarket batteries will work, but the camera may not read the battery charge with them. They also usually need a charging adapter. Probably better with a OEM battery. They come in at least three capacities.

Also, the addition of at least a UV filter will help. I picked up a cheap UV, florescent, clear, circular polarizer filters and wide angle adapter from a Chinese company for a decent price. It uses 37.5mm filters, so not so easy to find.

The UV filter doubles as lens protection, so it stays in place all the time. It also helps with glare, and the circular polarizer helps with reflections. The camera doesn't do well with wide angle shots, so the wide angle adapter is useful indoors. With most all HD cameras the low light performance isn't great, but that's one of the penalties of HD home camcorders. Nothing that I can't live with.

I leave the video in HD format, but others here can probably recommend some freeware conversion programs. After conversion to SD, maybe MPEG-2, editing should be no problem.

And welcome to our forums.

[Demon Geek]

Thanks for the welcome and your comments as well redwudz.

I like the specifics and size of the JVC camera but I took note of your editing AVCHD. I dont intend to make Hollywood type movies but I am concerned about AVCHD. Is AVCHD an MPeg4 format and is it easy to transfer to mpeg 2 to edit.

Is there any reliable freeware anyone can suggest I can use for this task?

Thanks for the heads up on the battery.