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[Teddman]

I'm thinking of buying a digital video camera soon and wanted to get some opinions... I haven't used digi camcorders much lately, the most I've done in a few years is take short clips on my Canon Powershot. What models do you guys recommend or NOT recommend based on what you've used?

I'm trying to stay in the $500 to $1,000 range, and I'm looking for something easy to use with good low light performance. I'd even consider something in the $400 range if it were a good budget buy; I don't need super top-of-the-line...

Also, what's the good word on MiniDV vs. the newer Mini DVD camcorders?

Thanks for your valued advice

 

[manngc]

I got a Sony TRV22 a couple of years ago that has served me well so far. Very compact, with little to no motor noise and it has an analogue to digital conversion ability that is really nice to convert old VHS tapes to digital. We filmed are silly Matrix movies in it if you've seen them... Picked it up for $640ish. Should be a lot cheaper now 2 years later, if you can still find it. It has good low like performance too.

However, I believe it is Panasonic that has a 3 CCD camcorder for less than $1000, so you might want to look at that. I'd assume that it would have the best picture (at least superior to any single CCD camcorder).

Mann

 

[Atari2600]

I've been in the market for one, and have read a ton of the customer reviews at CircuitCity.com as well as the reviews over at Cnet. It seems like none of the cheaper (under $500 camcorders) have good low-light performance. Also, the mini-DVD doesn't seem like it has impressed too many, though I haven't read too much about that because it's out of my price range.

As manngc mentioned, the ability to hook up an analog source to the camera, and then have it output via firewire is nice, especially for anyone with a media center pc that doesn't seem fond of capturing an analog source.

 

[Warm Machine]

The Canon Optura XI is as good as you are going to get within your budget.

 

[Teddman]

Thanks for the advice guys... I've been seeing a lot of good reviews for the Panasonic PV-GS35 at various sites, and the price point of $450 is looking attractive. Anyone have experience with this model or other Panasonics?

 

[vatstep]

I've had good experiences with Canon camcorders, specifically the ZR line. You can get them really cheap if you look ($350 and less). They're built well, have good lenses and a lot of nice features.

Stick with MiniDV, skip Mini DVD. It's just a niche thing, like the old digital cameras that wrote to CDs. You could even spend the extra money (as in over $1,000) and get the awesome JVC Everio, which records straight to a 4GB microdrive. I've been waiting for HD camcorders to catch on, so hopefully they'll drop in price sooner than later..MiniDV is nice, but it's still TAPE. I don't want that shit anymore - give me full digital.

 

[Warm Machine]

There is always that new $6000 full HD Panasonic Prosumer camera that shoots straight to memory cards. About 1 minute of footage per gig of memory!

 

[Draff]

If you're considering the Panasonic PV-GS35, then at least consider the Panasonic PV-GS65

It's the cheapest 3CCD camcorder out there and it's very nice.
It's only recently that 3CCD camcorders have been sub 1000 so it's worth looking into.

 

[God's Hand]

The HDV onslaught is just around the corner. There's already a few HDV models at around $3000. I prefer Canon's, as I've had the best luck with them. Sony's consumer models have always been a bitch for me to connect to Premiere Pro or anything else as it forces you to use Sony's software. The Canon consumer models I've used let you connect (through FireWire) directly to Premiere Pro, which rules.

 

[Teddman]

If you're considering the Panasonic PV-GS35, then at least consider the Panasonic PV-GS65

It's the cheapest 3CCD camcorder out there and it's very nice.
It's only recently that 3CCD camcorders have been sub 1000 so it's worth looking into.

Cool, thanks. It's around $500 at some online stores too...