Q. Thanks.
A. Hi Deepak, and welcome to Yahoo!Answers:
Since I see you are in Tezpur India (from your Y!Profile), and this Panasonic is only a $200 USD pocket camcorder, I don't know what kind of performance-level or quality you are looking for. And are your shopping options for other models & brands limited to local stores or the internet?
For the small size, the pocket-model camcorders like this one (Sony Bloggie, Sanyo Xacti, etc.) all make compromises in image-sensor sizes & quality, and low-light sensitivity, and still-photo capability.
And all of these type of camcorders use flash-memory storage with very highly-compressed video files, which are not good for shooting action sports (or even running children!) without all sorts of motion blurring and digital "artifacts".
Editing compressed HD (1080 & 720) on your home computer can also be a challenge, if your processor, video card, and memory RAM aren't up to the specs needed.
Feel free to use the Y!A Action Bar link to add "Additional Details" to this discussion, if you wish to tell us the types of video or still-photographs you want to take, and we can give you better pro's and con's for that model or other models in your price range.
hope this helps,
--Dennis C.
Record video from camcorder to PC directly?
Q. Can anyone tell me the best camcorder to record live video directly to computer. All video recorded files need to be stored in my computer hard drive while recording.
Is this possible?
A. Hi Cader, and welcome to Yahoo!Answers:
Since you appear to be in Chennai, India, you will want to make sure you select a "PAL-TV" compatible camcorder model, and not a USA/Japan "NTSC" model.
And since I don't keep up with the currency-exchange rate for Rupees, I'll stick to pricing in US Dollars ($USD) and let you compare local prices yourself.
Having said that, there is no one answer for "best" since that is a relative term, tied closely to how much money you wish to spend. (One man's "cheap" is another man's "expensive".) But as far as "type" of consumer camcorder best-suited for the direct-to-disk style recording you describe, I would recommend any camcorder with FireWire output (typically the miniDV cassette-based models), since these output the highest datarate (and lowest compression rate) as well as embedded audio in the same datastream.
If you have a PC without a FireWire port (often marked "DV" or "IEEE1394"), it's only a matter of adding an accessory card (relatively cheap @ $15-$50 USD, depending where you shop, and desktop versus laptop style) and the correct FireWire cable. And DO NOT be fooled by "USB to FireWire" adapter cables: they will NOT work for video, and are a total ripoff.
Sadly, consumer-priced miniDV models (recording either/both "DV" in Standard Definition, and "HDV" in Hi-Def on the same style cassettes) are being discontinued by the major manufacturers (Sony, Canon, JVC); and Panasonic bypassed HDV entirely and went with DVCPRO format recording for miniDV Hi-Def capture. The current-until-recently Canon Legria HV40E has been the best-priced miniDV/HDV camcorder (with FireWire out) available. It is still sold in stores and online, and occasionally can be found at bargain prices as "factory refurbished" from Canon dealers. The older HV30 and HV20 Canon models are also frequently found online (on eBay & Amazon) and from camera dealers who have left-over new-in-box stock. Again, make sure you buy an "E" suffix model with PAL-TV compatibility, e.g., Legria HV30E, etc., not the Vixia HV30 USA model.
But miniDV cassette-based camcorders are still being made at the "prosumer" and professional/broadcast quality level models, and will still be a strong format for years to come. These cameras typically have 3-CCD image sensors and better lenses, which drive the price up to the $2000-$5000 USD (and above) level. The Sony HVR-FX7E would be one of the cheaper cameras in this price class.
Many current SD-card storage consumer HD camcorders have HDMI output (carrying both video and multi-channel sound), but most computers with HDMI ports on them are only for OUTPUT of the computer's video card to a Hi-Def TV screen or projector. These won't act as both inputs/outputs like FireWire ports can.
If you don't mind spending around $200 USD (or more) and have a fast desktop or tower PC model, you can buy HDMI capture cards (like the popular Blackmagic Design "Intensity Pro" PCI card) and capture uncompressed video and digital audio from any consumer camera with HDMI output. (Being able to bypass the consumer HD compression allows better motion-capture fidelity and fewer digital artifacts that can plague "consumer HD" quality.)
The only thing providing better capture quality, along with embedded audio, is "SDI" and "HD-SDI" (for Serial Digital Interface) but these are found only on more-expensive pro-level cameras & camcorders (typically $5000 USD and up).
hope this helps,
--Dennis C.
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