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General discussion

I need advice on a HDD camcorder

by rocksolid123 Mar 3, 2009 11:31PM PST

I am shopping for a HDD camcorder. This is the first HDD that I have bought and the more I look into which one I want the more confusing it gets. I would like to get one that has at least 30GB hard drive or more with a decent optical zoom. I would like the picture quality to be good and I would really like to have a view finder. I will be using it for home movies not work. Now the problem, my budget. I was hoping to spend under 400.00 and I will most likely buy on ebay to keep costs down. I know I will not be able to get all the things I want, but I thought I would list them anyway. We were looking at the Panasonic SDR-H40, but I am open to all suggestions.

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5 Posts
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Some ideas...
by whizkid454 Mar 4, 2009 4:30AM PST

The viewfinder will be hard to come by nowadays.

Some examples that do have one: Sony SR11, Canon HG10, Panasonic HS100

It's very uncommon to find lower-end camcorders with viewfinders. Instead, the manufacturers have opted for larger, improved LCDs.

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sunglare
by rocksolid123 Mar 4, 2009 8:55AM PST

Do the LCD screen take into account sun glare? That is my big issue with not having a viewfinder. What other models would you recommend.

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The glare can be a problem in direct sunlight...
by whizkid454 Mar 4, 2009 11:05AM PST

Some screens do better than others, but that is something you'll have to test. The others I suggested are all HD and can be found pretty cheap from eBay granted you know that some bargains can be too good to be true. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any non-HD models with a viewfinder for around $400.

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so confused
by rocksolid123 Mar 5, 2009 1:04AM PST

I don't know what to do. You read all these reviews and some say good things about a camcorder and some say really bads things. I was looking at the Sony DCR-SR45, and I see good and bad but the bad stuff I see freaks me out like grany picture quality. I need a camcorder that will be good. Right now I am thinking of keeping my current sony DCR-TRV350 but the tape conversion is a real pain and a bit big and heavy. I just want a good camcorder that I can record my family vacations, copy into a file on my computer and then burn to a dvd and my external hard drive for safe keeping. Please I need suggestions.

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My suggestions were the best HDDs you can get...
by whizkid454 Mar 5, 2009 4:55AM PST

You can't get much better picture quality than HD. As I said, most lower-end camcorders do not include viewfinders any longer. So either, the viewfinder needs to drop from your list, your budget needs to increase, or a change in format is the next step.

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