Camcorder just died. Any insight into DVD camcorders?

[MOXJO7282]

Good thing it happened now, with 33 days before our trip to do some research. Any insight into the camcorders that record directly on DVD? I hear they lack quality-wise, but hey I'm no Scorsese, and the convenience is nice.

Regards.
Joe

 

[JLB]

I got a Sony Handycam off eBay now long ago. I had googled a lot of comparative information and wound up with one that was not highly regarded, but pricey.

I am amazed at the quality. The clarity, zoom, and Super Nightshot Plus feature are amazing. I have taken night video, of things lurking around in the dark behind our house, that cannot be seen when other cameras I have use. I have also taken very clear long-distance day video with the zoom.

I really like the DVD aspect, over tape, but the new generation of camcorders have eliminated the DVD.

Camcorders are very competitive on eBay, with bidding programs capturing almost every one on them in the last minute. I got ours for under $200, probably because of poor reviews of that model. I have seen it at over $500 on the Internet. It took me a couple of weeks of trying.

 

[pwrshift]

Hi Joe ... I wouldn't get a camcorder that records directly to an internal DVD either, especially if you want to edit your movies, add titles, transitions, etc. Most 'movie makers' say that DV tape is best as you just capture the parts of your shots you want to put together, cutting out the parts where you left the camera on my mistake. Once you capture your stuff on your computer you don't erase the DV tapes - you keep them as archive tapes for later editing, etc.

Hi Def is just around the corner in home movie making. People are already buying HDTV widescreens and are disappointed in the quality of current DVD's as they are not yet HD and it shows compared to HD broadcasts. DVD makers are already converting their movies into HD and they will be available soon - HD DVD players are out already, but still pricey. But the change will be here before you know it.

So if you plan to use your new camcorder for a few years, this is probably the time to buy a tape based HD Camcorder. I'm going to be doing that myself this year but haven't started the research process yet but already bought a computer with HD editing capabilities. The difference of HD movies on an HDTV is incredible and much better than Standard DV.

I have had an interest in home movies from my teen years and recently found dozens of old family regular & super 8mm reels dating back to the 50's. I got a professional service to convert from film to digital tape and had a ball editing them on my computer and putting music tracks and narration on them - then mailed copies to everyone on them as a distant memory. I renewed many old lost friendships and the end result was very rewarding.

I'll be interested in knowing what you decide.

Brian

 

[gmarine]

I would take a look and see what models Costco offers. There is a big advantage in buying electronics there because of the excellant return policy. If anything goes wrong at any time simply bring it back for a full refund.

The only restrictions Costco has on returns is 6 months on computers.

 

[PigsDad]

I would also recommend against direct-to-DVD camcorders. The ones that use the mini-DVDs will only record 20 minutes in the highest-quality mode (and even then the quality is not as good as DV camcorders). DV tapes are usually at least 60 minutes -- do you really want to be switching out a new DVD every 20 minutes? For ease of viewing and sharing your recordings, DV tapes can be burned to full-sized DVDs very easily using a computer.

And as Brian mentioned, if you (or anyone else - kids, etc.) would want to edit the videos in the future, a DV tapes would be a) better for editing because of less compression, and b) most likely last longer than DVDs (although that is debatable in some circles).

As for the "DVD aspect" that JLB mentioned, the aspect ratio has nothing to do with the recording medium. There are plenty of DV camcorders that record in 16:9 (widescreen) ratio, vs. 4:3 (standard) ratio. 16:9 aspect is the future, and I have switched to recording everything in that format.

If you want to invest for the future, an HDV camcorder is the way to go, but you will pay for it. Although you get a better picture with HDV, IMO the quality you get with DV looks just fine, even on an HDTV. You just have to decide if it is worth the extra cost.

There are also the camcorders that record directly to a built-in hard drive. You then transfer that to your computer and burn it to DVDs, etc. The advantage is that you don't have to mess with tapes, etc. while on vacation. I don't have any experience with these, but I would be a bit concerned about a hardware failure and what it means to all of the video that is on the camcorder when that happens.

Good luck in whatever you decide to get!

Kurt

 

[JLB]

I certainly did not intend to use the word aspect in a technical sense.

I'm just a yay-hoo trying to say that I am impressed with how well our Sony Handycam works and how good the quality is.

I have done primarily nighttime recording and I get 60 minutes per mini-disc with very good quality. Certainly there is probably better out there, but I am not hoping for an Oscar in cinematography.

As for the "DVD aspect" that JLB mentioned, the aspect ratio has nothing to do with the recording medium. Kurt

 

[PigsDad]

JLB -- after re-reading your original post, I obviously interpreted your "DVD aspect" comment incorrectly.

My bad, and apologies!

Kurt

 

[JLB]

I still admit to not having any idea what I'm doing.

I wanted to edit portions of several of the mini-DVDs I've taken into one DVD. That sort of thing is done by computer now, but my PC is too old to support the Sony application designed for that.

So, I thought, what the heck, lets try it the way you used to do it with VHS, just dubbing it from one recorder to the other. I asked someone fairly knowledgable at an electronics store and they didn't think it could be done.

We already had a DVD recorder/player, so I got a little DVD player from Wal Mart for $30. Today was the day I made my little edited movie. It took a bit to get the sequence of moves down, but I wound up with 18 titles from 6 mini-DVDs on one full-size DVD, totalling 47 minutes. I used the 2 hour mode and the quality is excellent.

It's slicker than tape ever was because each title (segment) is introduced by a thumbnail showing the date and time it was originally recorded.

Then I made a copy of the new DVD the same way. The third generation is just as clear as the original DVD and much better than an original tape could ever have been.

I had checked with a computer guy to see how much it would cost to do what I did and he said $150 an hour.

My next project, probably tomorrow, will be to see if I can copy some VHS tapes onto a DVD.

 

[JLB]

I got that done successfully.

I copied portions of 24 hours of mostly-empty VHS video security tape onto a DVD. 32 titles totalling just 15 minutes and 41 seconds.

Pretty slick and not at all that difficult.

My next project, probably tomorrow, will be to see if I can copy some VHS tapes onto a DVD.

 

[PigsDad]

That $150 per hour is unrealistic. You can do a Google search to find that there are plenty of services that will do a basic transfer from tape to DVD fo less than $10.

Sounds like your system works well for you -- congratulations! If in the future you get a more powerful computer w/ a DVD writer, for $50 or less you can get some fairly powerful video editing packages. Then you can really edit, add titles, music, special FX, create DVD menus, etc.

Kurt

 

[JLB]

Dang. I was just ready to write myself a check.

I wonder what one of those services would charge to just pull 32 titles, 15 minutes, off 24 hours of tape, and assemble it in the proper order on a disk?

That $150 per hour is unrealistic. You can do a Google search to find that there are plenty of services that will do a basic transfer from tape to DVD fo less than $10.