Digital DVD camera question(s)

[iCe]

Apparently, because I own a digital camera, I am also a digital video camera expert. A friend of mine has aksed me to recommend a good digital video camera. I explained that I know nothing about them but apparently I was using the voices in my head to speak and they couldn't hear me.

So... what do I need to look for in a good digital video camera?

Apparently optical zoom and sensor size are related (no kidding right?). The 30x optical zoom cameras all have 0.6 Mp sensors. I'm guessing that's a bad thing.

Anyway... any ideas?

[Daniel Bates]

The XL series is Canon's pro model (like the 1D series). The GL series are their 20D / 30D type camcorders.

Panasonic has a DVX-200 which is also very good. Sony and the others also have nice cameras, I just don't know what they are off the top of my head.

What does he want to do with this camera?

[iCe]

He's about your age. I didn't ask but I'm guessing wildlife and sports. His dad is going to buy it and I'm betting that the budget is $400 or less. That's about all I know...

[Daniel Bates]

Wildlife and sports? Hmm...


it like SLR's. $400 gets you a P&S. $2000 gets you a pretty good one (counting a lens or two)... the systems I listed are in the thousand-and-up range.

[photosbysergio]

DVD camcorders are cool and work great if you don't want to do much editing to the recording. If you want to edit your recording, MiniDV tape camcorders are still the best especially at that price range ($400). That's just my personal opinion. Other's may disagree. I have both a sony DVD camcorder and a MiniDV camcorder and regret buying the DVD camcorder as it is not compatible with my Mac's.

[iCe]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

Wildlife and sports? Hmm...


it like SLR's. $400 gets you a P&S. $2000 gets you a pretty good one (counting a lens or two)... the systems I listed are in the thousand-and-up range.

Yeah but as you know there are features to avoid and features to look for even in P&S.

I keep getting hung up on sensor size vs optical zoom. Larger sensors are limited to 10x zoon. But I don't know if that really matters at the level of vidcam that he is looking at.

[johnastovall]

Now if I were going to do video this is what I would look at getting and not much more than an M8 with a Nocti.

[iCe]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

Now if I were going to do video this is what I would look at getting and not much more than an M8 with a Nocti.

I sent the link to him. Maybe his dad will spring for a $3,700 video camera... probably not

If I was a video person I would be all over it...

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

The two Cannon lines are very good, did a lot of research on them a couple years ago, and the GL2 is a great camera with loads of pro features added that the GL1 didn't have and is technically a better camera than the XL1 except it is limited to the one lens while the XL line allows you to change lenses. In fact some smaller TV stations use these as their cameras vs the $30,000+ pro models and a lot of videographers use them because they are so well reguarded.

I would stay away from the cameras that burn to a DVD disc direct and go to the units that shoot to the miniDV tapes......... No matter which version you use you will need to upgrade a desktop computer to do video editing (lots of RAM and a fast processor).

[Torrey]

I've been throwing around the idea of a video camera myself and had never looked at them before, so I did a search. This website sums it up pretty well, I think. As photosbysergio mentioned above, everything seems to point to the MiniDV, and they're cheap and plentiful as well.