Camcorders

[Warthog]

Whilst I still want to record any future trips on Slide/jpeg, I have often considered a video diary, that I can watch over and over when HD TVs are old hat!!

First thought about it when we went to Argentina but scrapped the idea due to space and cost, but there are some nice looking HD camcorders out there.

If you are in the know, care to share with me the sorts of specs I should look for and what the 'corder specific jargon is?

Any particularly good brands too for quality, sturdiness, image and battery life?

Cheers

[colebatch]

There is a new one just out ... its HD, lightweight (the weight of only 3 mobile phones), and records to SD card (no moving parts, low battery consumption and jolt resistant)

Canon HF100. I havent had the chance to check it out yet, but its full HD... 1920 x 1080 , and the reviews are very promising. Its on my shopping list !

Google it for more info

[Flyingdoctor]

My Panasonic SDR S10 records to SD cards. At it's best quality 10 Mbps 704x567 it only gives 25 minutes on a 2 GB card! I wonder how much HD you would get even on an 8GB card?

I have the option to record at 5 Mbps and 2.5 Mbps with the reduction in quality and increase in record time. 5 Mbps is acceptable for youtube.

[colebatch]

I have used a SDR S10 a few times, and have not been impressed with the quality - especially in low light

Canon are saying that in LP mode (5Mbps) you get 6hrs 5mins recording on a 16 GB card. Full HD is 17Mbps ... implying you will get 1 hr 47 mins out of best picture mode. (there are also 7Mbps and 12 Mbps modes) There is a different compression algorithm in the new canons as well which is purportedly giving better quality video at higher levels of compression. 16GB cards are coming down in price all the time and are currently 55 quid. (High Capacity Secure Digital/SD Card 16GB Card (Class 6) from Offtek.co.uk) Before long there will be 32 GB cards out in SDHC format.

[Flyingdoctor]

You tend to get what you pay for with cameras. The canon is over 3 times the price of the little SDR. I haven't held one, but I bet it's 3 times the weight too. Horses for courses.

[blurg]

Hi,

I don't want to take over the topic but I want to add something, because I've got the same question as Colebatch, but want to add one thing:

Which brand is capable of taking with you on a humping-bumping trip.

I've taken videocamera's with me on the last couple of travels and they all died, from dust, bumps and so on.

I also want to buy a HD camera with solid state, because I've got enough of tape, last time I wasn't able to film anymore, while being in Africa.

Is solid state (because of the lack of mechanic moving parts) indeed much better to take for overland trips?

Jurgen

[XT GIRL]

We are using a Sony HDD 30gb Handycam.

This records to the internal hard drive, as well as a memory stick. We have yet to record anything and run out of memory... so 30gb seems to be surprisingly big.

Standard battery lasts around 90 minutes. I bought an extended battery which lasts 2 hours.

It was cheap, it seems to be pretty robust (translate: not broken by us, despite travelling across the desert, and filming us throwing spanners about etc.)

The only FRUSTRATING thing, is that you HAVE to put it in the cradle, to charge the battery, and to download to PC... this just sucks for me - cos I am very, very lazy. And forget things. Like the cradle.

Its got an ALMIGHTY zoom (40x) but we don't really use that... and the sound is pretty good. And its got night vision.

As for quality -- stills are pretty crappy. Dont bother. Your mobile does better.

Video -- 9M - whatever that means.

If I had more money, I would spend it on buying better picture quality.

[colebatch]

Its ALL compressed - doesnt matter what you use. DV format (as recorded onto DV tapes) is about 5 times compressed!. (thats right, raw DV data on a DV tape is already 5 times compressed) Burn it onto a DVD and you compress it a further 12+ times !! So recorded on a DV camcorder then burnt on to a DVD its compressed around 60 times. 720 x 576 pixels x 3 RGB values per pixel, x 25 fps, x (60 x 60 x 2) seconds per DVD = 225GB. But a DVD hold only 4.5 GB all up, including all the soundtracks, menus etc, so DVD quality is what video looks like when compressed about 60 times.

Those cheap 100 quid solid state cameras that record at 640 x 480 and hundreds of times compression are NOT comparable to a proper solid state video camera like the HF10/100 recording in 1920 x 1080 and about 6 times compression.

I would also add that its not difficult anymore to get 1000 GB external USB hard drives (for about 100 quid) that are compact and will store about 100 hours of full HD recording. Its a great way to back up solid state recordings so that you need no more than 2 x 16GB cards.... and 16GB SDHC cards are now around £35

Blu ray burners and players may not be that common today, but I would be very sure that in 5 years time you wont be able to buy a DV camcorder, or fix your existing one.


Edited PS ... there a good review of the HF100 here: SimplyDV Review: Canon HF100 AVCHD Camcorder