Digital camcorder review sites?
zero-zero
Registered Users Posts: 147 Major grins
Hello,
looks like pressure from the wife is getting me to a point where I didn't want to be: I guess I'll have to buy a video camcorder. Nothing fancy or pro, just mini DV, consumer quality, for shooting footage of the baby and such.
I am doing my homework right now but I've never been very interested in video making, so do you have links to share with me? camcorder reviews, what to buy and what to avoid, and all that. Something like Dpreview or Luminous landscape, only for video. I'll be eternally grateful.
looks like pressure from the wife is getting me to a point where I didn't want to be: I guess I'll have to buy a video camcorder. Nothing fancy or pro, just mini DV, consumer quality, for shooting footage of the baby and such.
I am doing my homework right now but I've never been very interested in video making, so do you have links to share with me? camcorder reviews, what to buy and what to avoid, and all that. Something like Dpreview or Luminous landscape, only for video. I'll be eternally grateful.
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Comments
cnet camcorder reviews
epinions.com is sometimes helpful when you know what model you want. You can see what real users think (which is sometimes very helpful and sometimes not), but it is usually worth reading.
epinions camcorders.
I've been thinking about selling it, if your interested I can give you more info.
Dave
http://www.lifekapptured.com (gallery)
I use a Sony "pocket size", it's a two year old Sony DCR-PC something. Despite its size, it's good enough in daylight to use the images on air. Not as good in low light.
This is one area where Sony is really rather good. When I was comparison shopping, I found the Canon Optura images to be inferior. And others were worse. Of course, that was two years ago.
Anyway, a strong vote for a digital format, preferably mini DV. And make sure you run some tape and see the image quality for yourself, in daylight and in low light.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Plus, I use the Apple iLife suite (iPhoto, iTunes and iDVD, at least), so I already have as many editing tools as I need in iMovie, for free!
Camcorder Has Plenty of Extras
By DAVID POGUE
Published: June 10, 2004
Some things in life are best experienced one at a time - mortgages, movies, marriages, for example. Others are most valuable when they come in pairs, like headlights, headphones or handlebars.
Trying to think of things that you want in sets of three is harder, but there's a great example in the world of digital camcorders: color sensors.
For years, magazines, experts and authors have praised camcorders with three sensor chips (known as CCD's, for charge-coupled devices) as delivering sharper images and more accurate colors, since separate chips process the red, green and blue parts of the video signal. So why are most people still buying one-CCD camcorders?
Unfortunately, most three-chip camcorders also come with three times the price, weight and bulk. Most resemble TV cameras, complete with carrying handle and prominent rectangular lens shade. You don't see many proud parents whipping these babies out at Disney World.
That's why the compact three-CCD MiniDV camcorders in Panasonic's PV-GS line are such barrier-smashers. For example, at 3 by 3 by 6 inches, and weighing one pound, the new PV-GS200 is even smaller than most of the one-chip camcorders you'll spot in the bleachers at ball fields this weekend.
Better yet, the GS200 costs only about $800 online. That's at least $1,000 less than the least expensive three-chipper from Canon, JVC or Sony.
Of course, those pricier cams are intended for semipro use and have larger CCD's for better light sensitivity, better optics and so on. It makes more sense to compare the Panasonic with single-chip camcorders in the same price range.
I decided to test the Panasonic against my own two-month-old single-chipper, the highly rated Sony TRV70 (also $800 online). I spent three days in buildings and parks filming various scenes with the two camcorders simultaneously, clutched side by side.
Frankly, I looked like the high-tech village idiot. Still, the results were intriguing. At night indoors, both camcorders did about as well as any consumer cam - which means pretty badly, filling shadowy areas with dancing graininess. The Sony, though, kept steady focus in dim rooms that made the Panasonic go focus-hunting.
Indoors during the day, the video produced by the two models was practically indistinguishable.
But outdoors, the Panasonic ducked into a phone booth and emerged as Three-Chip Man. Just about everything its Leica lens surveyed looked gorgeous, with brilliant colors that drenched the screen - even under overcast skies. Every viewer who saw the results easily picked the GS200's outdoor video as the winner.
But putting three chips into an $800 camcorder is not the only fresh thinking on display in the GS200 (and its predecessor, the PV-GS70). For example, something called QuickStart mode is a lot like Off, in that the camcorder is dark and still and uses almost no power. But when you hit On, the camcorder is ready to roll in 1.7 seconds. No longer must parents spend days at zoos, ballgames and theme parks obsessing over the eternal question, "Should I turn it off to conserve the battery or leave it on just in case?"
A wireless remote control is included for self-filming and for showing your videos on TV. But you also get a weird little wired remote that solves a host of problems. Its Record/Pause button and zoom controls let you operate the camcorder even when it's on a tripod or parked out of reach (and even if you're a leftie). As a result, you can sit next to the camcorder during interviews, not behind it, making your subjects far more relaxed and comfortable.
Better and odder yet, this remote is also a microphone. Pressing its Talk button cuts out the camcorder's built-in mike, making it ideal for narrating a shot or, again, for interviews.
Most camcorders can't focus when they're fully zoomed in on something that's only a few feet away - for a tight close-up, for example. But on the GS200, a button labeled TeleMacro brings such shots into perfect crisp focus, even when you have zoomed in so tightly that a single typed word fills the 2.5-inch screen (or the adjustable color eyepiece viewfinder).
A further innovation is so clever that its total uselessness is almost heartbreaking. In low- or no-light situations, you can pivot the camcorder's screen to face forward. A special button makes it go all white and very bright - a makeshift video light for subjects within a few feet. (Think how much more clearly we would have seen Heather filming herself sobbing at night in "The Blair Witch Project.")
For some reason, though, the GS200 goes into a jerky, blurry one-frame-per-second mode when you're using this trick. What a waste of a great idea.
This camcorder also includes a built-in flash for capturing average-looking 2.3-megapixel still photos onto a memory card. (Some samples of the results are at www.nytimes.com/circuits.) It also has an analog input, meaning that before your VHS and 8-millimeter camcorder tapes turn to dust, you can transfer them to digital tapes, and from there, if you like, into a Mac or PC for editing.
Yes, that's a lot of features. But over time, you'll probably come to view the thoughtfulness of the GS200's physical design as its most winning aspect.
For example, the GS200 is that rare consumer camcorder whose tape compartment opens from the top, not the bottom. Videographers love this feature because they can change cassettes while the camcorder is still on a tripod. But in fact, changing tapes while the camcorder is upright just feels safer and more natural, on a tripod or not.
You even get a manual focus ring on the lens barrel, which comes in very handy. When you're already having trouble getting a shot in focus, the last thing you want to do is spend time hunting through menus.
Finally, the rubberized top right edge of this camcorder features three gentle indentations for your fingertips. It's a sweet, subtle idea that pays off in three ways: You're more comfortable, the camera is more secure in your hands and you're less tempted to use the nearby zoom lever. (As you know from "Wayne's World," unnecessary zooming is a hallmark of bad amateur movies.)
In short, the Panasonic PV-GS200 comes close to being a slam-dunk hit. Alas, its two failures are big enough buckets of cold water that, for some people, they could be deal-breakers.
First, the electronic image stabilizer doesn't work very well. It's intended to iron out the jitters that mar everyday hand-held video shooting - but when you're zoomed in, it's hard to tell if the stabilizer is even turned on. The optical stabilizer on Sony's camcorders, by contrast, is light-years more advanced and really works.
Second, the GS200 has no infrared night-shot mode for totally dark scenes like camp-outs, soirées and nighttime scenes on "Survivor." Unless you want to attach a distracting video light to its hot shoe, this is not the camcorder you want for nighttime shooting.
Otherwise, the GS200 is a remarkable camcorder for many reasons, including its spectacular three-chip video quality and its $800 price. (In fact, if you're willing to sacrifice the manual-focus ring, the wired microphone, the built-in flash and a few other perks, you can buy the similar GS120 for as little as $560 online.)
No matter what you decide, Panasonic deserves a lot of credit. Clearly, its engineers had grown tired of a camcorder marketplace filled with nearly identical feature lists and very little fresh thinking. They decided to release two tiny mold-breaking three-CCD camcorders - and let the chips fall where they may.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
wxwax I don't need help spending money. Now I want one of these. I sold my big camcorder since it was too big to ride with. This one looks great for shooting footage of your friends riding the GS (appropriate that the video camera has that in its name) through the mud, plus I need a video camera I can hook the helmet cam up to and it will take quick snapshots for web posting and it will record video direct to mpeg-4, no loading of tapes or expense. I wonder how good it looks in mpeg-4? Most of what I will shoot will be short clips shared online anyway. It is a good think the mkII uses SD memory so I can pick up a couple 1gb and use them in both. Thanks for the help. My banker is working up the second mortgage.
Canon just announced their new Optura 400 and 500, but this Panasonic looks to be better, time to do some research, plus it is available now. At least I am a good consumer helping the economy.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
I took a look at the GS120. A few things I don't like, not very wide angle and not A/V input for the helmet cam. I think I can put an adapter on it and go from RCA input to S-video, but no audio, not that it is a huge deal, but a lot of other cameras have better input/output connections. It would be nice to test the single CCD Canon's against the 3 CCD Panasonic and see if there is a big difference.