Which Camcorder Is Best? Have VHS Model but Thinking of Getting a DVD Model

Hi there,

We have one of the Sony DVD camcorders. I think it works just fine. You can buy the re-recordable mini dvd's or the 1x recordable dvd. It came with software that allows us to edit the videos on our computer. (The salesperson you spoke with may have meant the ability to edit on the camcorder itself.)

I thought the Sony one was fine, but when we needed a new digital camera, we bought the Canon one. It's the size of a credit card and if you buy a 1G memory card, you can film up to 15 minutes of video. This too you can download onto your computer and then edit it on your computer. I LOVE this one b/c it's a camera and video recorder all in one and it fits into your back pocket. We've had ours for almost a year. At the time it cost around $300 - much less than the DVD camcorder.

So good luck in making your choice. I visit CDNet.com for techinical opinions. Plus Circuit City's website has a section that defines the terminology used for certain products. This has helped me in the past decide which features I need. Good luck!

Easiest kind to edit on computer is a mini DV camera or the digital kind that has an internal hard drive. If you want to use an analog camera and edit on your computer, there are little boxes you can use to convert it...the ones we have at work are the canopus brand. I would think the DVD kind would be a pain to edit also unless you have one of these boxes because the DVD format is just not easy to work with.

Hi. The information you had gotten was incorrect as stated in the post before mine. A question to you is....why don't you get a digital cam corder and just transfer to your computer and then to a disc?

Hi G.. I'm a fairly technical person so I really like my mini-DV camcorder. It allows me to do alot and transferring and editing for me, is easy. Personally I never liked the idea of a DVD camcorder because...well, there are numerous reasons. It's not a bad idea, it just wasn't a solution I was looking for.

In my opinion, the best option, for those that want something simple and those that want lots of options and versatility, is one of the newer hard drive based digital camcorders. Hard drives as a media are extremely cheap and therefore usually larger in GB size and can record tons of video. Then, all you do is transfer to your computer to either A) do editing and burn to a DVD or email out clips, or B) do no editing and burn to a DVD. It's easy to burn original unedited copies to a DVD for storage.

Software is almost always included with digital camcorders that allow you to easily edit video. These days, there are so many editing software choices and they're fairly inexpensive, that you can try a couple to see which one is best for you. Most companies also have trial versions you can download.

If I didn't already invest so much $$ into my mini-DV digital camcorder, I'd definitely get a hard drive based one. They're the new thing and will most likely drive the DVD based ones out of the market in the next few years.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Hope you find something that you feel comfortable with and are happy with.

-Jen

My husband always visits the library and looks up bigger purchases in consumer reports. Just a suggestion to help you narrow the search.

Hi,
How about getting the camcorders that have a hard disk drive? We have that kind. There aren't any tapes or dvd's. There's 24 hours of actual recorded material. Which is a lot of time. You can down load it to your computer, edit on your computer and either watch it right there or then you can burn it to a dvd. This camera has the switch to change it to a digital camera also.

good luck

Hi - depending on how old your camcorder is, it may or not have a cable port to export/import the video footage directly into your computer to do editing/transfering/copying. I have a camcorder that uses the mini-DV tapes and a Mac, and it's very easy - the IMovie software that comes with the computer lets you do all kinds of editing, then save the edited version. You can burn to a DVD, or send it back to the tape into the camera, and then record onto a VHS tape through your VCR.

If you're near Woodfield, stop into the Apple store there (also one downtown & in Oakbrook). You may never want a Mac, but they do have free classes on I-Movie that you could probably pick up some tips from.

If you have a PC, I was at Office Depot today & saw a sofware package similar to the I-Movie, but for PC's (about $60).

I have been video taping my little angels for years and have run into the same problem. We have just purchased Sonys DVD505 Handycam 4.0 mega pixel, with the wide 3.5 lcd. I love it!!! we were at disney and watched our trip on the way home, on our portable DVD player, you can up load these on your computer (with the right program) We made copys for Grandma and sent them to her.

I hope this was helpful
J.

We have the Sony DVD203 camcorder and love it.

The information you were given in the electronics store was not correct - you CAN edit the footage either on the DVD in the camcorder (depending on the model you get, the mode you record in and the type of DVDs you buy - it isn't as complicated as it sounds - our does it and it is simple. That's why we bought the one we did) or on your computer afterwards with the software that comes with the camcorder.

If you get a cheaper model, it may only record onto DVDRs (rather than RWs - ours uses both)which means it cannot be edited. We picked the camcorder that can be used as an external DVD Burner which allows for more simple editing. We have wonderful footage of our newborn son and sent the grandparents edited versions of the tape.

I hope this helps - good luck & happy filming,

R.

Hi G.,

Just before Christmas this past year we purchased the Sony Handycam. It's a DVD camcorder and digital camera all in one. It records on the mini DVDs. I love it!! On one disc you can get up to 800 photos at best quality and 8,000 at lowest quality. And about 30 minutes of video in surround sound. Then you can just put the mini DVD right into your DVD player for veiwing. There are programs on the computer for editing. The camera even comes with a limited program. I have taken so many great pictures with this camera and I have become obsessed with taking pictures ever since :-)! Good luck with your decision!

We have a mini-dvd camcorder. You can edit the footage, but it is a pain and goes beyond basic computer skills.

You have to change the file type using a video rendering program (several are available free on the internet). After you change the file format, you can edit it with software such as Windows Movie Maker (it came with our PC). It is a pain in the #@!, but possible. If you just get a digital camcorder that goes onto the mini-DV tapes, you can import the video directly into Movie Maker or other software without the conversion steps. The files direct from the DVD are HUGE and you wouldn't want to store them directly on your computer without converting them anyhow...

My inlaws bought us the DVD camera, thinking we would just send them the originals, which I don't want to part with. The whole thing is a fiasco, because they feel like we're cheating them out of movies. I wish we had a simpler digital video camera... It was probably cheaper, and would be much simpler to edit.