Camcorder - Which format? MiniDv or MiniDVD ?
 

Ok, I just want to start shooting some "amateur" looking stuff, and I want to buy a camcorder for about $500.

I looked at Sony HC-90 or Sony DV403, both have the same lens, same general characteristics, but the Hc-90 uses MiniDv and the Dv403 uses MiniDVD.

Which one you would choose considering the format and the editing issues involved in the process ? and Why?

Thanks!

PD: Also if you want to recommend me another cam.. I listen to you :thumbsup

dvd has the advantage that the handling is easier, but the material is already compressed. tapes provide uncompressed and therefore better quality, but you have to capture the clips which causes more work.

:2 cents:

MiniDV

you do NOT want to try to edit video already in MPG2 format.

So, MiniDv has better quality? , I didnt know that..

Why? is hard to handle?

So, the process should be..

1 - Shot in MiniDv
2 - Transfer to PC in AVI
3 - Encode to MPEG 1 and edit it
4 - Reencode in the format I want (WMV, other..)

Right? or not?

Thanks!

It's compressed off the tape too.

I like MiniDV myself.

Look you can listen to people who dont do it for a living or you can listen to me ...take your pick

Heres the rub

if you shoot in MiniDV your process is simple

capture to PC
edit
encode to what you want

if you shoot DVD

xfer to PC as a file

recompress to DV format (MPEG2 cant be edited with frame accuracy and most systems cant edit it real time)

edit

encode to what you want.

you would NOT want to capture from DVD as that would even further degrade your quality

trust me on this one...MiniDV

no, edit in avi - which is actually dv compressed but way better than MPEG - and then encode to whatever you want

I shoot minidv, I just got the new Panasonic AG-DVC30 last week, here is a pic and specs of the camera. Camera

Shoots great, sound is great and the low lighting capabilities is top notch.

You can use the same format Juicy did with Mary in Miami...The Mini-PP. :pimp

stay with tape.

internet surfing speeds will continute to increase and as the speeds increase you can periodically re-encode your footage to give max image quality.

minidvd does not hold enough raw data at this state-of-the-art.

All my cameras are minidv, I would not change or upgrade to anything else. The work involved with encoding the video after is a breeze. The quality of minidv is perfect and then you can add effect screens to the editing stage later on, to give the clip more edge or "hollywood" type feel to it.

I have been looking around at camcorders also... came across the following few and was wondering what people think or if they have tried them or not

http://www.jvc.ca/en/consumer/produc...model=GZ-MG50U

Basicly the new camcorders that don't use DV or DVD but a 20-30gig harddrives but they do record still in:

"High-Quality MPEG-2 Video Recording (up to 720 x 480 / 60i in ULTRA mode) with Dolby Digital Audio (MOD file)"

So what you think?

As already said stay with miniDV if you are going to edit the footage

MiniDV is the only way to go for production, but it sounds like you are a bit new. Are you making dvd's or web clips for a production or "home movies" and what program do you plan on using to edit/encode. :)

Forget any cameras that record to hard drives or DVDs. Like others have said, you only want to use a mini-DV camera and preferably a 3-chip mini-DV camera for productiton. Capture to pc thru firewire cable as a DV AVI file, edit in that format, then encode to mpeg-1, wmv, or whatever end user format you need. Save the raw footage on the original mini-DV tape and the project files from your editing app so that way you can always re-edit and/or re-encode the same movie with minimal work later.

I actually like these hard drive cameras for web production. I honestly find the resulting work to not be any worse in quality than most website content out there. It will save you a lot of time when compared to using miniDV tapes. These cameras come with cyberlink software that allows you to do some basic editing (ie add transitions, sound tracks, etc). I bought one a couple weeks back just to do some testing and the results are better than I imagined.

I'm just going to repeat what everyone, who knows what they're doing are saying.... stick to MiniDV. Quality is by far better then MPEG2 on the fly, plus it's a EASY couple step process to compress MiniDV to a DVD file.

damn the apocalypse must be near me and Jim Gunn agree on something....

I'll do web clips, and planning to use premiere, vegas, etc.. the usual stuff

When you said "Save the raw footage on the original mini-DV tape", what does mean?, keep the MiniDv in a safe place or transfer from the AVI to MiniDV overwriting the original material?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1099390045731
Use a bunch of light and this cam will do you right.

What do you think about Panasonic GS400 ?

AJ-HDC27H
VariCam® Variable Frame Rate 16:9 HD CinemaTM Camera with CineGammaTM Software

U.S. List Price $65,900.00

Only $64,400 more!

Tnxs! very usefull information!

it's actually quite good as a 3 chip camera for that size - needs good lighting and then it makes excellent quality