Looking for a digital camcorder

[Rogue 9]

Okay, I'm looking for a camcorder suitable for capturing video and transferring it to a computer. I'm on a fairly tight budget, and don't need anything fancy; just some basic zoom, a fair amount of storage for footage, and good enough quality to not fall apart on me with moderate to heavy use is acceptable. Does anyone have any recommendations?

[TimothyC]

Okay, I'm looking for a camcorder suitable for capturing video and transferring it to a computer. I'm on a fairly tight budget, and don't need anything fancy; just some basic zoom, a fair amount of storage for footage, and good enough quality to not fall apart on me with moderate to heavy use is acceptable. Does anyone have any recommendations?

A MiniDV one might work.

What is a "Tight Budget".

[phongn]

Many a point-and-shoot digital camera have built-in video functionality for the lowest-end work.

But define "moderate to heavy use," "fair amount of storage," and "tight budget." What I think of "moderate to heavy use" might be very different from what you think.

[Rogue 9]

Okay. I need at least an hour of footage storage (more is good), and it needs to be able to stand up to near continuous filming while walking around outdoors. "Tight budget" is $200 or so at the very maximum; I can stretch that higher by saving for a few paychecks, but not by much.

[Rye]

If I were you, I'd get a miniDV camera. Tapes last about 60 mins, and the advantage over ones that record to onboard hard drives is that you can change the tape afterwards. I've not tried the mini dvd recorders, but I doubt you'd be able to get one of those in that price range anyway. You'll need a firewire port to capture from most mini dv cameras. Windows movie maker can capture footage for you.

Just check on amazon and go with the best priced name brand you can, really.

[Rogue 9]

That would also work. I'll look into it; I don't know much about cameras, and was unsure how easy or hard it might be to transfer from a tape to a computer.

[TimothyC]

That would also work. I'll look into it; I don't know much about cameras, and was unsure how easy or hard it might be to transfer from a tape to a computer.

Not hard at all. You are limited to a one-to-one transfer time (one hour of recording time takes a hour to transfer to the computer), but as others have said, they are easy to use. For you, if you don't need still pictures in addition to the video, the Canon ZR800 might be a good one for you.

I would avoid miniDVD, as it is hard limited to a 55min record time on a dual layer disk.

[Rye]

In my experience, Canons are shit. I would go with Sony. I bought a Sony HDV tape camera for £600 or thereabouts, and it's great, probably gets a better image than the "semi pro" canon XM2s we're supposed to use at uni.

[TimothyC]

In my experience, Canons are shit. I would go with Sony. I bought a Sony HDV tape camera for £600 or thereabouts, and it's great, probably gets a better image than the "semi pro" canon XM2s we're supposed to use at uni.

I was leaning toward the "Budget" Part of the OP, not quality. A New ZR800 can be had for less than 200USD, and a New ZR950 runs about 250USD.

[Lisa]

I second the "stay away from dvd cams". I had one, it died while filming my cousin's wedding (it was lightly used for maybe a total of 40 hours). You had to flip the discs as well.

I now have a HDD/Flash unit that works well. The flash slot is SDHC and takes a maximum of 16gb memory card which i think is about 12-14 hours. the hdd will hold about 35 hours of video.

I went with this over DVtapes because it makes pulling the files off much easier and I don't have to worry about running out of tape/disc at a crucial moment. I just process the files in mpeg stream clip, toss the clips I want into iMovie and then burn with iDVD. Granted with a DVtape I could go straight to iMovie but it would be at real time speed. I have the Panasonic SDRH40.

[Joviwan]

For the love of god, don't get a MiniDVD recorder. It's complete and utter bullshit. Aside from the 55 minute limit for expensive dual layer discs, you can't capture the footage. You have to rip the video off of the DVD with dvd-ripping software. That was my experience at least, I had a sony HandyCam MiniDVD, and I hated every minute of it.

[lukexcom]

I've seen JVC Everios with 20-30gb HDDs for as low as $200 or so. Ebay seems to have a few of them.

I have a first-generation JVC Everio 30gb GZ-MG30U. I picked it up in December 2006, at Sears. At the time, they had a few unopened boxes of that model, and since the 2nd-generation Everios had just came in, they were trying to clearance these off. I snatched the last one for about $150.

[Lisa]

For the love of god, don't get a MiniDVD recorder. It's complete and utter bullshit. Aside from the 55 minute limit for expensive dual layer discs, you can't capture the footage. You have to rip the video off of the DVD with dvd-ripping software. That was my experience at least, I had a sony HandyCam MiniDVD, and I hated every minute of it.

With my old panasonic dvd cam I just dragged and dropped the files onto my hdd and played with them there, it had 2 options, standard dvd vob/ts files or vro files. could either finalize the disk or just hook the cam up to the computer (which is what i did on slot load machines).

[TimothyC]

I've seen JVC Everios with 20-30gb HDDs for as low as $200 or so. Ebay seems to have a few of them.

I have a first-generation JVC Everio 30gb GZ-MG30U. I picked it up in December 2006, at Sears. At the time, they had a few unopened boxes of that model, and since the 2nd-generation Everios had just came in, they were trying to clearance these off. I snatched the last one for about $150.

The catch with the JVCs is that the image stabilization leaves something to be desired.