Camcorder suggestions?

[Premezilla]

Hi. I'm interested in purchasing a camcorder. Nothing too fancy, just something I can use to capture some memories with; hopefully at or under the $200 mark. I'd need something that could be handled easily; something a little more on the "rugged" side, if you know what I mean. I was looking at that Sony camcorder that records on circular discs; annyone have any experience with that one?

I'd prefer it to be a brand-name, as I've found they tend to be a tad more reliable. Ease of use is a big plus as well; can I plug it into a computer, upload the files, and be out recording again in a flash, or do I need to take the time to convert it from one video format to another?

I'd probably be taking it with me a lot, so it shouldn't be fragile or a clunky, hard-to-use one.

Any input would be helpful. Merci.

[Maitre]

Hi. I'm interested in purchasing a camcorder.  Nothing too fancy, just something I can use to capture some memories with; hopefully at or under the $200 mark.  I'd need something that could be handled easily; something a little more on the "rugged" side, if you know what I mean.  I was looking at that Sony camcorder that records on circular discs; annyone have any experience with that one?

I'd prefer it to be a brand-name, as I've found they tend to be a tad more reliable. Ease of use is a big plus as well; can I plug it into a computer, upload the files, and be out recording again in a flash, or do I need to take the time to convert it from one video format to another?

I'd probably be taking it with me a lot, so it shouldn't be fragile or a clunky, hard-to-use one.

Any input would be helpful. Merci.
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Not sure about the Sony per se, but a few years ago my wife and I bought a Panasonic that records to MiniDV (that's the mini digital video tapes). We were looking at the MiniDVD variety, but found that we would have to pay a premium for the format, or loose capability in terms of lense power to pay the same price. Now looking back, we probably should have waited a while and gone for the MiniDVD format. The only way to get the files off the tape is to use Firewire, and a software package that came with the camera (which means a new card for the PC cause they didn't build-in a firewire port). I would check on it, but my recollection is that the MiniDVD can be dropped into any drive and played as is.

Also, forget the number they try to sell you for digital zoom, it's crap: worry about optical zoom instead. Optical zoom is like making an object take up more of the frame, digital zoom is like walking up close to the TV. The mid to high range of digital zoom is almost useless because the impact of camera movement is huge, breathing comes across like an earthquake.

Last comment, get a tripod. I don't care that you never think you'll use it, just spend the $40 for a cheap one. There will be a time that you want to record that you won't want to hand the camera to someone else, and you shouldn't just be standing there with the camera, you should be helping (like baby's first bath for example). Oh, and for Pete's sake, don't ever record something that would end up on America's Funniest (Home Injury) Videos.

That's my 2 cents (or 84 cents, whatever).

[Klaus]

Yes, the Mini DVD's can be played in almost any player. My problem with them is that the image recorded has to be encoded to MPEG2 on the fly, which results in data loss compared to what the MiniDV tapes store (The DV format is also compressed, but not as heavily). So, if image quality is a concern, I would stay away from the DVDs. The media is also more expensive, last time I looked, which was last fall. A firewire card can be had for around $30, and capture software can be had for free (I'm using a little tiny app that I grabbed from a website because I get better results with it than from anything else I've tried).

The firewire link is 1x regular speed, so an hour of tape takes an hour to capture into the computer. It also takes up around 13GB/hour, so you need lots of disk space to work with. Conversion to DVD can take a while, depending on your computer, but it's the sort of thing I fire up and walk away from, usually overnight. Of course, editing the final product is highly recommended.

Sony has a reputation for making cameras that are easy to use, but that don't give you the kind of control that videophile freaks want (things like manual gain control, white balance, etc. etc.). I have a higher-end Sony and I like it very much.

And yes, stay away from digital zoom, on both camcorders and still cameras.

[Premezilla]

The probability is that I'll just head down to CompUSA with all of these suggestions in my head but get sucked into a highly informative sell by an employee.

1. Tripod.
2. Optical zoom.
3. MiniDV? Or DVD? I'm not interested in extremely high quality footage, although I would like to be able to see what I recorded.