Advice for the amateur video enthusiast

by musik junkie Nov 6, 2007 1:44PM PST

I am in the market for an HD Camcorder to begin using for recording home videos and making amateur movies to burn to HD DVD's. I plan on using it for a variety of things, from family outings to air shows to nightime club scenes and concerts. I have a decent 6MP digital camera to take still photos with so I am not too concerned about an HD camera that shoots still pics. I am concerned about the quality of the videos and the editing and transfering to HD DVD's. I don't want to have to go blu-ray and I think I have found a good 3rd party software program that will work with most HD camcorders (Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 11). I have gone back and forth between the below models.

1. Panasonic HDC SD1/SD5
2. Canon HG10
3. Sony SR5/SR7
4. JVC GZHD7

All are HDD format (except the Panasonics) because I want to minimize the use of tapes/disks etc in my transfers from camcorder to PC to DVD. I've read reviews on all and once I think I've made up my mind I read something else which directs me back to one of the other models. I've also been reading alot about how Hi Def takes up space on your PC. I've got an HP dv9000 series laptop with 160g total and I'm hoping I don't have to upgrade or buy an external hard drive. I just don't know enough yet about the connectivity and compatibility with all these devices to make an educated decision. Hope someone out there can help. thanks!

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If you are THAT

by boya84 Nov 6, 2007 10:17PM PST

"concerned about the quality of the videos" then you would be using miniDV tape to capture/store your hidef video. So, either you are or you are not. AVCHD compresses - a lot - and whether you like it or not, the video image will be degraded as compared to a HDV rig. So your choice is to either drop all these camcorders from your list and look at the Canon HV10, HV20, or Sony HDR-HC5, HC7. I would suggest dropping JVC of your list.

On the other hand, if you think you are immune from the issues AVCHD will provide in this environment, I would suggest making sure the camera you select has manual audio control - you will need that for concerts (presuming the audio there is loud). The built-in auto noise level circuits will be over-driven and the sound will be very muddy (this cannot be fixed in post-production). Personally, given the electromechanical nature of hard drives (spinning at 5400 rpm is not normally found in nature, nor are the close tolerances of the head-platter relationship), I would be looking at the Sony HDR-CX7. Fewer moving parts.

I would also suggest an external hard drive (250 gig minimum). As you already know, HD video can take up a LOT of space.

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Minimum recommendations for computers working with HD

by Kiddpeat Nov 7, 2007 12:10AM PST

are in the neighborhood of a fast core 2 duo with 2 gigs of ram. A large, fast harddrive (7200 rpm or better) is also needed. If you get an external drive, the lack of a firewire port could be a problem.

I don't know how your system measures up to that. You will have to be the judge. The speed is needed to play the video while you are editing.

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Thank you

by musik junkie Nov 7, 2007 2:59AM PST

This is great feedback and the info is much appreciated. If I go to miniDV doesn't that eliminate the ability to edit the footage and recreate home movies? I do intend on purchasing an external hard drive to store the files. Of the ones I have looked at (best buy) they all are USB and no firewire. I do have a firewire input on the laptop but is there a converting wire that is available? USB to firewire? perhaps there is no point to that..

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Um... I use a Sony HDR-HC1

by boya84 Nov 7, 2007 3:30AM PST

miniDV tape based 1080i hidef camcorder and edit pretty regularly. I don't understand why you think miniDV would "eliminate the ability to edit the footage and recreate home movies". I have also used various standard def camcorders and also imported via firewire.

MiniDV tape based camcorders connect via firewire and import the video to the computer - you can also export finished projects from the computer to the camcorder for archiving (to tape).

MiniDV tape based camcorders also use USB to transfer stills from a memory card - but video from the tape comes over firewire. The firewire port on the camcorder might be labelled "DV".

FireWire, IEEE1394, i.Link and "DV" are all the same thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewire

Hard drive (and memory card) based rigs typically do a file transfer (like copying a photo from a still camera) via USB. Yes this step is easier and takes less time. When you walk through the entire process, this ease and time savings will get used elsewhere - so the trade-off becomes video quality and miniDV wins on that.

Different people need adapters for different reasons...
http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-527950.html
Though I don't know why you would want this. Seems expensive, too. Most traditional Windows manufacturers have not included FireWire on the machine (the Sony Vaio higher-end machines do) - but have several USB ports (my HP/compaq laptop has no FireWire and 2 USB on the right, 1 on the left. FireWire is preferred for video import because is streams high-speed. USB (2) can burst high speed, but cannot stream high speed and is not recommended for use when importing video. Data file transfer is not "import".

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There are Firewire drives. I have one. A Seagate 750 gig

by Kiddpeat Nov 7, 2007 7:17AM PST

drive which has both a USB and a Firewire connection. I bought it a couple of months ago at Fry's.

MiniDV offers the best opportunity for editing in your price range. The only thing better is a direct feed from a high def camera to a hard disk array that captures uncompressed video directly from the camera. The high end high def cameras all utilize miniDV as their storage medium.

Hint: Best Buy is one of the worst possible places to look for any equipment. They carry only high volume stuff. They do not carry the good stuff.

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Kiddpeat, you crack me up!

by boya84 Nov 7, 2007 9:20AM PST

"Best Buy is one of the worst possible places to look for any equipment."

That is so RIGHT. They are also the MOST expensive...

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