Camcorder questions

[Amobe]

Hey,

I am looking to get a digital camcorder and have a couple of questions i was hoping you guys could answer.

First off i know NOTHING about camcorders apart from that they record video. So i need some basic info on what to look for.

What specs are good?

What sort of price range will get me a good camera? (i'm thinking around £300)

I need it to be OSX/Win compatible and record good quality video.

Apart from that i'm open to all suggestions

Many Thanks

[Elbonio]

things to want:


DV in AND out if possible
A good lens. Sony cameras use Carl Zeiss lens' so they're usually nice.
A good mic or the ability to plug in your own
A good optical zoom


Things not to bother about:


Digital Zoom
Effects built into the camera (fades, wipes etc)
DVD-cams (ie ones that use DVD's instead of mini-DV tapes




DV cams will produce excellent quality compared to analogue - by about a million times

for £300 you'll get a very nice one

Canon, Sony and panasonic are the makes to go for imo

[LozB]

check out www.camcorderinfo.com they are a good site to readup on...

cant really much more than previously said...

you pay for quality.

u might want av in too, its usefull sometimes.
sony camcorders that have DV in/out come with pixela (editing software).
dont forget that windows movie maker v2 is free with XP and its a good place to learn NonLinearEditing.
ignore megapixels for stills, get a decent digital still camera instead.
budget for case / spare tapes / batterys etc...

ive always used Sony cameras...

[Cabe]

http://www.dvspot.com is another place to look.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by Elbonio
things to want:

DV in AND out if possible


Things not to bother about:

DVD-cams (ie ones that use DVD's instead of mini-DV tapes



Both of these are very user specific.

You dont need DV input unless you are doing DV mastering, which 90% of people wont. Most home users just want to rip the video into Windows movie maker, or some other medium, to compile their home movies and then burn it to DVD.

The DVD burning cams are also not BAD, they will just cost you more in the long run as you cant re-use the disks.

If you are just using this for holiday videos, leaving out the DV input will save you a few quid.

One feature you SHOULD look out for tho is image stabilisation. Either EIS (elecronic) or OIS (optical) it stops a lot of the camera shake associated with amature video. OIS is better, but normally only available of £700+ cameras.

[Elbonio]

True about the Dv in and out - its a feature i'd want but perhaps maybe you could do without

[Amobe]

Thanks for all the input.

I now have some basic knowledge so i'm gonna hit the shops and check out some first hand.

Thanks again for your help :)