what to look for in dv camcorder?

[jean_hee_lee]

Hi,

I'm looking for a camcorder for family events and such things. I am

not sure what to be looking for though. I have a budget of about

600USD. I've been looking on the internet, but it's all very

confusing. What resoloution do I want? How useful are those features

like NightShot and image stabilizers? Help!!

 

Jeanie

[emre]

Image stabilization is absolutely essential; look for the optical kind. Other than that, make sure the ergonomics are agreeable to you, and be sure to buy spare batteries. At the consumer end that's all you need to worry about. Forget about resolution; camcorders make poor digital cameras.

[dave_redmann]

I agree that image stabilization is a very useful feature, and that the optical kind is definitely superior. The problem is that I don't think there is any DV camcorder with optical image stabilization for $600. Last I checked, IIRC, the low end for that feature was a Panasonic that cost about $900 or $1000.

 

High still picture resolution is probably a bad thing. It forces the pixels to be smaller, which decreases low light performance, all else being equal. A standard DV camcorder can't make use of more than about 700,000 pixels (0.7 MP).

 

I also suspect that recordable DVD's will not prove as durable as Mini-DV tape. Also, I think the point is that the DVD format involves considerably heavier compression than the Mini-DV format, so all else being equal, the DVD-cam will have more artifacts etc. than the Mini-DV cam.

 

I'd be inclined to look at the Canon and Panasonic models in your price range and see which ones are most comfortable for you to use.

[emre]

It's not just the compression, but difficulty in editing. MPEG-2 was intended for distribution, not mastering.

[beerbrain_ronny_perry]

The top features in a video camera are dependability and chip/CCD peerformance. The top manufactures of consumer video cameras to me would be SONY,,Panasonic and Canon. These cameras manufactures use very good lens, and high quality chips/CCD and the build quality of the cameras are very good.The bigger the CCD the better the SN ratio is and the dynamic range of tones.(ability to produce tones from highlites/white to shadows/black, without clipping/blowout/atomic whites and crunching black)A bigger CCd chip also has better sensitivity,,which pays off in low light. A 1/6in chip isnt going to look like a bigger 1/3 in chip, then if you add 3 chips you are doing even better..Panasonic has a line of consumer 3 chips cameras in the $600 price range,,,Panasonic is really making some very good gear right now in the pro and consumer market, I know they are driving SONY crazy.If you can get the $$$$ for a 3 chip camera you wont be sorry. Any video camera including high end broadcast cameras, needs light to operate, the night shot feature just amplifies ,so if you are in low light, and light creates a signal, and the light is low, the absence of signal is NOISE, so you get noise instead of signal, when amplify/night shot/boost the gain...you are also boosting the noise level at the same time you boost the signal, thats why a low light level shot looks noisy, so throw up a light to fix the shot. Image stabilaztion is a good thing, but if you use telephoto alot and no tripod, it will still look like youre standing in a boat while drunk.Telephoto magnifies the bounce and wobbles, if the lens is 10x and youre at the 10x from wide the camera shake is gonna be 10x than you see it normally, wide will smooth it out. Stay at the wide part of the lens and work closer to minimize camera wobble and invest in a tripod,, a good one with fluid head,,Miller makes some very decent tripods, but will cost more than the $600 camera, but look at it as a investment.

 

Panasonic 3chip link

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=314960&is=REG&si=spec#goto_itemInfo

 

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/panasonic-pv-gs120-camcorder-review.htm

 

 

SONY 1/3 in chip link

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-DCR-PC350-Camcorder-Review.htm

[jean_hee_lee]

thanks for all the answers, i feel like i know more about what to be looking for now!

[test11664875106]

I've completed step of purchasing camcorder just yesterday. I need it mainly for recording while scouting location for future photo-shots. My desire was to find a camera that has: 1) optical image stabilizer 2) manual control of white balance, exposure and desirable manual focus 3) has as little bells-and-wistles as possible to keep price down. After a month of discovery of a new field for me I ended up buying Panasonic NV-GS8 for only 400 euro at local dealer (that's in Europe, seems it's not available in US). The only thing it's missing is real manual-focus ring on the lens (though MF possible via cumbersome magic with buttons). I camera that would add manual focus ring without loosing optical image stabilizer would cost me 600-700 euro more, not justified for my purpose. My new camera does have night shot (even color, wow!???). I find it one of those features that could easily throw away and make camera 50 euro cheaper - its quality is useless.

 

Hope this will help you in your quest for the camera.