Q. I want to get a camcorder that can film in pitch dark and in full daylight with good memory and battery life. Any suggestions?
A. HD camcorders interpolate the video, which means of every 25 frames of video, 4 or 5 frames are taken by the lens assembly; the other frames in between these are filled in by the camcorder inner circuitry, thus giving you not true video. It looks like this -one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, one frame from the lens assembly, 7or 8 from the electronic circuitry, from front to back of the video. Near impossible to edit, even when you have the Multi port processor computer with the big 1GB Graphics card and a Sound card that is required to edit, view, watch and work with the files these camcorders produce.
Consumer level HD camcorders have 4 problems. 1) Blurry, fuzzy, out of focus areas closely around people in videos taken by consumer level HD camcorders. 2) Any movement, even a wave or lifting an arm, while in front of a recording consumer level HD camcorder, results in screen ghosts and artifacts being left on the video track, following the movement. Makes for bad video, sports videos are unwatchable. 3) These Consumer level HD camcorders all have a habit of the transferred to computer files are something you need to convert, thus losing your HD quality, to work with your editing software. 4) Mandatory maximum record times - 1 hour, 30 minutes, 8 minutes, 3 minutes � four different times advertised as maximum record time for some consumer level HD camcorders. No event I have ever been to is that short. Either take multiple camcorders or pack up with out getting the end of the event on video.
MiniDV is currently the most popular format for consumer digital camcorders. MiniDV camcorders are typically more affordable than their HDD and DVD counterparts. Each MiniDV tape will typically hold an hour of footage at normal recording speed and quality. MiniDV tapes are available for purchase at not only electronic and camera stores, but also at drugs stores and grocery stores, making them easy to find while your on vacation. There are literally hundreds of MiniDV camcorders available; both in standard and high-definition. And add the fact that to get a HD camcorder that could produce better video quality footage, one would have to spend in excess of $3500 for that camcorder that could produce higher quality video.
http://simplevideoediting.com/learn/part1_camcorder_choices.htm
http://simplevideoediting.com/learn/part2_connect_camcorder.htm
http://www.canon.ca/inetCA/products?m=gp&pid=1017#_030
which HD Camcorder should I buy?
Q. I am looking for the best quality HD camcorder, I would like it to use either DVDs or a hard drive or memory stick. I would like to spend under $1000 and I will be buying from eBay, or other good sites were I can find the deals, but first I need to no which brand/model I should buy? I just want an overall High quality camcorder, not top of the line independent film producer type but not a beginners one either somewhere in between what are some important features i should look for..... Image Sensor size?
A. I've been using a Sony HDR-HC1 for about 2 years.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
Camcorders you should look at: Canon HV20 or HV30... or Sony HDR-HC7 or HC9.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
Just so you understand the "range":
Standard definition Canon ZR800 is ~$250.
Standard definition Sony DCR-HC96 ~$500
The Canon HV20, HV30 and Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9 cameras listed above are the cheapest high definition cameras at ~$1000.
Then there is a big jump to the Sony HDR-FX1, FX7, HVR-A1U, V1U and Z1U... and the Canon GL2, XL2, and XHA1... and Panasonic DVX100 and HDX200
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
Why are most of these camcorders miniDV tape? Because the compress the least DV for standard definition and HDV for high definition. The internal hard drive and flash camcorders use MPEG2 for standard def and AVCHD for hidef - and that is a LOT of compression - when you compress that much when capturing, you lose data - and video quality. You want the least compression at capture - what you do in the edit and post production environment is downstream and controlled - if you lose the data at the beginning there is no recovery.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
There are two exceptions to this - the Panasonic cameras use P2 cards. As well, Firestore makes external hard drive capture devices (which connect using firewire to miniDV tape cameras). These storage items store using DV ad HDV format, so are not subject to the compression video quality loss of the traditional internal hard drive and flash consumer devices.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
Be careful of "best price" - there are a lot of scammers that are "gray market resellers", open the box and take out the battery and other included items - then sell the camera cheap, but force you to buy the accessories they just took out of the box.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
Best purchase method is to buy locally. You keep your neighbors employed and taxes pay for roads, and all that other stuff you take for granted. Next best is stay with the know on-line folks... Amazon, Adirama, B&H Photo. Beyond this, you are on your own - Buyer beware.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
DVD based camcorders compress even more (into MPEG and AVCCH formatted files) than hard drive or flash memory based camcorders do. The video they capture is poor quality compared to the other camcorders and painful to edit.
DO NOT BUY A DVD BASED CAMCORDER.
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