I am looking to get a new camcorder but I am still a little confused and undecided about the current options. I know quite a lot about camcorders but none of the three formats (MiniDV, DVD, and Hard Drive) seem like a clear winner.
DVD camcorders seem great that you can record and watch the DVD easily. However there are some downsides to them. They do record in lower quality than MiniDV and are hard to edit. The DVDs can record only 20min in HQ mode and that isn?t a lot. So if you recorded a 1hour video you have to get up three times or put them all in a regular size DVD. Also the biggest issue, this year the HD DVD and Blue Ray players are coming out, and next year the recorders will probably be out as well. So DVDs seem like they are about to phase out and I wonder what the future of DVD camcorders is.
Hard drives are a good idea so you don?t have to carry a lot of tapes with you around and they let you record about 7 hours in HQ mode(for 30GB ones). There is the downside that the video quality is lower then MiniDV and files are harder to edit. People say that your hard drive might break down but so can the MiniDV tapes and DVDs.
MiniDV camcorders do offer the best quality and are the easiest to edit. I think that Digital8 and MiniDV camcorders both record in the same digital format(different tape sizes) and they have been out for about 8 years now. 8 years is a long time in electronics and technology so I also wonder how much longer they will last.
There are High Def camcorders out there but I think most people can?t afford those prices. So what are some of your thoughts? Will high def camcorders become a lot cheaper and the most common in the NEAR future? Will DVD camcorders disappear?

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