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General discussion

Please HELP!

by kspace Mar 1, 2009 12:37AM PST

Hi, I need a very basic HD camcorder and wanted all of your expert advice. I don't do any editing at all. I just want a camcorder that I can record in HD, then as easily as possible, burn the movie onto a DVD so I can watch on my HD TV. Which camcorder is the best to do this? Looking for easiest and fastest way to get from recording to HD DVD! All this software stuff seems a little complicated.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Presuming you have a BluRay
by boya84 Mar 3, 2009 8:20AM PST

high definition player connected to your HDTV, then just get a camcorder that records high definition AVCHD video to the DVD.

I don't use them... just read about them.

No fair changing your mind later and wanting to edit...

What is your budget? Once you establish that, check to see what matches from Sony, Canon or Panasonic. Then flip a coin and get one.

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so...
by kspace Mar 6, 2009 11:06AM PST

Hi, so we don't have a BluRay now, but will eventually get one. Our plan was to buy an AVCHD camcorder (such as the Canon HV11) and hang on to the video files and store them on DVD (not burn them as a movie format, but just leave them as files) and then eventually burn them onto DVD via an HD burner when they're cheaper or when we can afford one. In the meantime, we were planning on watching the movies off of the camera hard drive/flash drive. So the question is, is saving these files (onto a DVD or other source, such as an external hard drive) a possibility?

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Personally, I would not trust
by boya84 Mar 7, 2009 12:24AM PST

optical media as a long term (archive) storage method. Especially if you are planning to use them back in the camcorder for playback. Handling - over time - will result in finger prints and scratches and other potential surface irregularities that could render them not usable. As well, the discs don't hold much and can get pricey.

Can you save the video data files to another external source? Sure. I believe they are just AVCHD data files (at least they aren't the oddball VOB files from standard def DVD camcorders. But as indicated earlier, I don't use them - maybe someone else can chime in here.

And just so you know, a single external hard drive is not a long term archive method either - unless the hard drive array you maintain copies the data file to multiple hard drives in case of one failure, the other still has the data. Lots of the new NAS (network attached storage) devices operate that way.

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