OT: video cameras

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Sun May 17, 2009 1:43 pm

Okay...heres the deal. Mine is a piece of sh** and has been for a few years. Plus Im tired of dealing with tapes. Havent look into this technology in a while. My kids are 1,3, 6 and I'd like to record a few family memories.

Any suggestions? Looks like HD has become readily available. Do I want a camera with a hard drive or some kind of memory stick/unit/drive.

I figure you guys are in the know.

Tony

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Sun May 17, 2009 3:00 pm

I have not bought one in years but there are some good sites that do reviews, what is best for you, etc.

Here are a couple

http://reviews.cnet.com/camcorders/?tag ... ent;rb_mtx

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/elec ... tarted.htm

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sun May 17, 2009 3:05 pm

Check the comments about the Sanyo Xacti HD 1010 here:

http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... ic&t=13315

Cheapest price I've found is here:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s ... caid=17902

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Sun May 17, 2009 4:03 pm

jondiehl wrote:Check the comments about the Sanyo Xacti HD 1010 here:

http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... ic&t=13315

Cheapest price I've found is here:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s ... caid=17902

\\I agree, I got this on Jon's recco and it's the best camera I've ever owned.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sun May 17, 2009 5:37 pm

Yeah, we use our's constantly. I love that I can just dump the native files onto my desktop, laptop, whichever... and then stream them to the HDTV via my 360 in their native glory. The kids love seeing themselves on the big screen.

I'm going scuba diving next month for a week and was wishing they made a waterproof case for it, I'm sure I could take some killer videos down 90-100ft in the crystal clear Caribbean water.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sun May 17, 2009 9:32 pm

Depends on how much you're willing to spend. Tape formats aren't compressed in the camera so some say the quality is better.

But the convenience of HDD or flash memory is probably going to win out in the mass marketplace.

Now HD Video is migrating to DSLRs and in a year or two, cell phones will be capable of recording HD video as well.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sun May 17, 2009 10:22 pm

wco81 wrote:Depends on how much you're willing to spend. Tape formats aren't compressed in the camera so some say the quality is better.

But the convenience of HDD or flash memory is probably going to win out in the mass marketplace.

Now HD Video is migrating to DSLRs and in a year or two, cell phones will be capable of recording HD video as well.

I've used all three, here's the run down:

mini-DV tapes -

+record in raw DV mode, no compression
- unless you're using Pro level equipment, you'll hear the tape mechanism whine being picked up by the onboard microphone
-limited recording time
-have to make sure you're not recording over something
-can only dump to your PC, and even then it's done in real-time
-eventually degrade and wear out, can't really archive it and preserve original quality
- battery hog (moving parts)

Hard drive based -

+huge record times
+no media to swap in and out
+files are archivable, will never degrade in quality once transferred to backup/permanent media type
+you can't accidently record over something
- no media to swap if you run out of space, or more importantly if the drive fails
- have to use dock or USB cable to transfer movies... requiring a charged camera, cables, drivers if you are someone else's PC
- battery hog (moving parts)

Flash based -

+smaller form factors available
+zero moving parts, so more reliable and consumes less battery
+removable media, swap out as needed for more recording time
+plug and play media type (SDHC), just pop it into a Mac, PC, etc and drag/drop your files to anyone's computer (using a media reader slot, or USB stick drive reader, I keep one in my bag, costs $10).
+files are archivable, will never degrade in quality once transferred to backup/permanent media type
+you can't accidently record over something
+basically instantly ready to record when you turn it on, no waiting for a tape or hard drive to power/spin up.
-video is compressed as you record it, no way to shoot in a raw mode
+compressed video is also a huge plus IMO, it's easier to edit, you get smaller file sizes so it's quicker to transfer and you get more recording time since it's compressed on the camera.

IMO, the flash based solution is by far and away the best option. Bonus major pluses for the other media types can be easily discounted:

no compression in miniDV tapes - almost everything you watch in HD is compressed HD video! Cable, DirecTV/Dish, even OTA. The lenses and imaging chips, not video compression, of consumer or pro-sumer level digital video cameras are going to be the limiting factor in the quality of the final shot, not even counting lighting and the user's ability to take good video. Unless you're shooting semi-pro level stuff, and then editing it on semi-pro level software to finalize and retain most of the original quality, this is pretty much a non-factor.

large recording time of hard drives - you can get 32GB SDHC flash drives for like $35 now. 64GB ones are about $80. The advantage of the big hard drive is a moot point now that large capacity flash media is dirt cheap.

We are seeing HD video in alot of still cameras now, and as you mentioned perhaps cell phones eventually as well.

However, just like these HD video cameras can also take decent still shots, they're nowhere near the quality of a dedicated still camera. Even the HD video capability of a good DSLR is going to be well behind what you can do with a dedicated HD video camera. For the still cameras, video is just an add-on feature, nothing you'd want to do any serious shooting with... and vice versa.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sun May 17, 2009 11:25 pm

I've seen some beautiful videos shot from the 5D Mark 2.

DSLRs use a fraction of the pixels they have when they shoot 1080p video plus they have access to optics which consumer camcorders do not have. Looks like all the manufacturers will integrate HD video sooner or later.

But it's nascent right now. They're limited to how much video they can shoot and not being able to continuously focus or zoom while shooting.

That should get better but the form factor isn't as convenient as the dedicated video cameras.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:58 pm

jondiehl wrote:Check the comments about the Sanyo Xacti HD 1010 here:

http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... ic&t=13315

Cheapest price I've found is here:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s ... caid=17902

Sorry for the bump, but:

You can get this for a steal now, only $319 w/ free shipping from B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... ition.html

Kind of depressing, knowing that I paid $699 in Aug '08 for it, and back then that was a good deal ($100 of retail). Anyway, it's a fantastic HD camcorder and will run circles around alot of the mini HD flip style camcorders.