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General discussion

WHAT CAMCORDER SHOULD I BUY??

Dec 21, 2005 10:59PM PST

I just purchased a Hitachi DZ-MV730A. I was under the impression that I could erease what I shoot (if I mess up) and edit it accordingly.I have realized that with this DVDCAM I can NOT do anything but record straight to a disk and view it in my DVD player. I am not by any means a pro at this stuff but I do know a little. If I take this recorder back,what should I look for? I like the idea of the disk over the tapes. I don't really know the difference between the mini cam and just a dvd/cam. What would be a decent camcorder to buy if I wanted to stay with a disk,edit it as I'm recording(go back and erease if I mess up), and be able to put it on my computer? SOMEONE IN CYBERWORLD HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!! ):
NOTACLUE

Discussion is locked

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Sony or Canon Mini-DV is the way to go
Dec 22, 2005 2:28AM PST

I know you said that you wanted to stay with a disc, but Cnet recommends users that want to edit should go with Mini-DV camcorders. The Mini-DV tapes cost about $5 dollars each, but you can reuse them for quite sometime before you notice any degrading of quality.

Check out any of the Mini-DV camcorders from this list:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Camcorders/4521-6530_7-5021303-1.html?tag=dir

These are in the price range of the Hitachi DZ-MV730A.

If you are really big into editing, buy a editing program such as Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 ($100). This will let you take all your video/audio and combine them to make DVD. I also suggest using firewire to upload your video rather than USB. Hope this helps.

Nicole
Sony DCR-HC90
Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0
Dell 3.0Mhz 250GBHD 1GBRAM

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TAKE IT BACK AND GET A MINIDV CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dec 22, 2005 3:48AM PST

The best thing you can do it to take it back!!!
The are so many realy good MinDV cameras out there, repost with your budget and we will try to help. John

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MY BUDGET!!
Dec 22, 2005 2:33PM PST

I would like to stay under $500.00. I just went to look at the mini-dvd's at the store and decided I better come back home and see if anyone had some advice first!!What brand do you think?
notaclue

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Cnet budget camcorders
Dec 22, 2005 11:27PM PST

Like I said earlier follow this link.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Camcorders/4521-6530_7-5021303-1.html?tag=dir

These are Cnet's top budget camcorders. They are all in the $500 range. I personally like Sony. I have the Sony DCR-HC90 and am very happy with it. The list includes a lot of Canons which can't be ignored. I believe all of the camcorders on this list are MiniDV camcorders. Good Luck...Nicole

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Canon Elura 85
Dec 23, 2005 2:53AM PST

I bought the Canon Elura 85 this fall and LOVE IT. I did a lot of research and in my opinion when it came to the mix of cost and quality it was one of the better mixes. There are $600-$800 better ones out there and cheaper $100-$300 ones, this split the difference.

Have found it easy to use, great quality pictures, pretty good sound.

I got mine of buydig.com - seemed at the time to have prices a bit lower than others, and got it within 2-3 days I think