Camcorders, which one to buy?

[Eljohno]

I am planning to buy a Camcorder to take some footage on my next trip to the Philippines but there are just too many to choice from.

I am thinking of the ones with the Hard Drive or the dvd.

Has anyone bought one recently or would suggest a good brand?

[aromulus]

I am planning to buy a Camcorder to take some footage on my next trip to the Philippines but there are just too many to choice from.

I am thinking of the ones with the Hard Drive or the dvd.

Has anyone bought one recently or would suggest a good brand?

I am quite happy with the small and unobtrusive Aiptek cam I bought from this lot couple of years back.
There is a better one from them now.:xxgrinning--00xx3:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=222362&doy=4m5#overview

The price shouldn't bust the bank...:D

I am not too keen on harddrive in the Philippines searing heat and murdering humidity.
Also DVDs, however handy they might get spoiled in transport, or bent, or scratched.
I am a firm advocate of memory cards.
I find them more to my liking due to a lot of reasons, but mainly because I can re-use them time and time again in different cameras, cell-phones, car stereo, etc....:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[KeithD]

Tape is still the best, but if you want instant editing, etc, Hard Drive. DVD ones are just a bit of a fad, soon be Blu-Ray....then Sting Ray!!!

You didn't say howm much you'd pay!!! Spend over £35 in Staples online and get a free one :)

Best are 3 CCD, at least x20 OPTICAL zoom, stabilizer, HD.

Below £200 you are talking not that good.

[Eljohno]

Was thinking of spending about £250, the one i like at the moment is this one;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-GZ-MG330A-microSD-Camcorder-Minolta/dp/B0012ZQRWC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1209918509&sr=8-5

[walesrob]

We bought a Panasonic DVD camcorder, the quality is superb, however, getting the footage onto a computer to edit is next to impossible, requiring all kinds of software and converters. Take Keith's advice, get a HD camcorder.

[Sangoma]

I have very deffinite views on this!

Don't go DVD, unreliable, difficult to copy off and edit sometimes, can't take extreme conditions.

Hard disk are better, but not suitable for rough use, and you really need to take a laptop with you, or some other means of storing the films, otherwise lose the camera and you have lost everything.

SD card is good if you can afford, or are willing to carry around a good one. The cheap ones are fine for "snapshot" movies, but lacking optical zoom, are pretty limited in what they can do.

Mini DV is still the best all round. Tapes are cheap, they can take heat and knocks well, you can use a different tape each day (more than one if you like) and so not lose everything in one go. Easy to edit on PC with cheap or free software, and the cameras give the best performance for price ratio by far.

If you want something that works very well, and costs just over £100 (I paid 103 a month ago) have a look at the PanasonicNV-GS60. Very easy to use, and small and light. For about £10 you can get a big battery off ebay that will give 2 hrs recording.
I bought one because I wanted something small and cheap I could let kids use at school to save my bigger one, and I have been very impresed by it.
It has a 30X OPTICAL zoom, which is very useful out and about.

[Piamed]

We bought a Panasonic DVD camcorder, the quality is superb, however, getting the footage onto a computer to edit is next to impossible, requiring all kinds of software and converters. Take Keith's advice, get a HD camcorder.

:xxgrinning--00xx3::xxgrinning--00xx3::xxgrinning--00xx3::xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Eljohno]

I think the one i have the link to is HD and cannot seem to find it any lower in price than there. Would be happy enough to buy a used one but so far ebay etc has not had one for sale.

[Sangoma]

It's gone up slightly now, but still excellent value.

You may like to look at the site for others you are interested in.



http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134792

[KeithD]

Best value for money http://www.elitegadgets.com/P/Panasonic-SDR-H40-HDD-Camcorder(548).aspx

HD's can take big knocks, and heat isn't an issue, PC's can run over 150 degress.

[Eljohno]

Best value for money http://www.elitegadgets.com/P/Panasonic-SDR-H40-HDD-Camcorder(548).aspx

HD's can take big knocks, and heat isn't an issue, PC's can run over 150 degress.


Great price for that spec and 40GB also:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Eljohno]

It's gone up slightly now, but still excellent value.

You may like to look at the site for others you are interested in.



http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134792


Looks like good value for money!!

[Eljohno]

Another good priced site for the cam you suggested Keith that i just came across;

http://www.simplyelectronics.net/mainproduct.php?pid=1766&gclid=CNLZ18SpjZMCFQT-1Aod4zVigQ

[Sangoma]

Best value for money http://www.elitegadgets.com/P/Panasonic-SDR-H40-HDD-Camcorder(548).aspx

HD's can take big knocks, and heat isn't an issue, PC's can run over 150 degress.



A drop from average eye level onto a solid floor can cause a hard drive to crash if it's spinning and not parked.

Not a problem if you are close to spares or a service centre, or it is not the only camera. But could be a disaster if you come home without the pics you wanted.

I would use one in the UK, but I always take my laptop with me to back up still and movies.

I have two disasters I'm trying to sort out this weekend, one was a wedding taken on a Sony DVD cam, and nobody can get the footage of it, and the other a brand new Hitachi DVD cam that worked on the ferry, and then not again for a colleagues holiday in Malta.

Personally I think if you can eliminate as many potential problems as possible, you have less worries and more chance of success.

[KeithD]

A drop from average eye level onto a solid floor can cause a hard drive to crash if it's spinning and not parked.

Methinks you're thinking of the drives from the 90's!! They are very robust now, and most, like the camera I mentioned, have anti-shock in them.

Tapes....move rapidly, and you get blocks on the tape, DVD...move quickly, bang it, DVD corrupts.......ANY dropped camera will possibly break something...so you don't drop them!!! :doh

Never dropped a camera in my life.

If hard drives survive a journey on the Space Shuttle, they'll pretty much survive anything.

[andypaul]

HDDs still conk out due to heat and violent movement, but the worse one for most of them is sudden power interruption or surges.


Not really into camcorders and the like but as well as the media you record to, controls (how easy to use), start up time amazing how just a short delay will end up in you missing the ideal shot. The weight and size in phill i would not want to find it so bulky and heavy you cant conceal it if needed or simply carry it about in the heat.
If someone did decide they were reliving you of the device it would be nice to keep the pictures and recordings. You might get insurance back but the memories? So thats where some SD card and small tape cams may have a plus point.

I find the most important factor is power consumption, the ways they can be powered and ways they can be charged up. Nothing worse than the low batt sign or it even being dead when you need to start using it.
If your in the middle of nowhere it maybe nice to have the possbilty to use say AA or AAA battries or a seperate battery device which will plug in and charge up the on board battery as you get with mobile phones.
The best way would be if you could use one of the solar free loader devices to supply a emgency top up or slowly charge it up for free.

Eljohno

Make sure you try out a few different types shops are desperate for trae at the moment so will be just a little more patient if you want to try out different cams.

How much is a spare battery?

How is it to get it recording or taking still shots?

Whats the battery life and can you get longer life batteries?

Can you charge as you record?

As others mention how easy is it to transfer to other medias?

Do the cables come free with the device, if not are they easy to get off?

How heavy is it?

How bulky is it?

[KeithD]

HDDs still conk out due to heat and violent movement, but the worse one for most of them is sudden power interruption or surges.

Exactly, as do DVD's & Tape.

Memory cards are a safe option, but slow, hard to work with, and don't hold that much. Alright as backups......and don't put them near a magnet!!

[aromulus]

Memory cards are a safe option, but slow, hard to work with, and don't hold that much. Alright as backups......and don't put them near a magnet!!

I have a selection of 2 and 4 gig, sd, xd, M2, Duo, pro duo, compact flash, Memory sticks.... You name it, I got it....:omg:
It is the card reader that lets me down a bit, it is so ancient....:NoNo:

[andypaul]

Exactly, as do DVD's & Tape.

Memory cards are a safe option, but slow, hard to work with, and don't hold that much. Alright as backups......and don't put them near a magnet!!

Same with tape and HDD :D

[andypaul]

With sd cards and all the other various flash cards avaiable check exactly what you have there. Before buying and trying to use in a camera.

Some devices such as cameras will only take up to certain sizes all so you can get low power and high power devices which will not work if in the wrong unit.
Also a huge difference in speed of flash cards now. But a fast card in a device which cant write and read at that speed is a waste of money.

[Sangoma]

Methinks you're thinking of the drives from the 90's!! They are very robust now, and most, like the camera I mentioned, have anti-shock in them.

Tapes....move rapidly, and you get blocks on the tape, DVD...move quickly, bang it, DVD corrupts.......ANY dropped camera will possibly break something...so you don't drop them!!! :doh

Never dropped a camera in my life.

If hard drives survive a journey on the Space Shuttle, they'll pretty much survive anything.


I agree they are more robust, and we no longer have to park them manually, but they all still have the maximum Gs they can be exposed to printed on them, and a 3' drop will cause many more Gs than the shuttle would experience. Also some laptops, and cameras, detect vibration and move the heads of the hard drive to a position off the platters.

The picture quality is the same as tape, but the price is higher. A 40GB drive could well hold all the video from a holiday, if it went wrong or got "lost" and there was no backup, everything would be gone.

I have spent the last couple of weeks with a very similar decision, as I may visit in August. I decided to take the small camcorder, and a Panasonic TZ1 and TZ3 (my daughter will use one) instead of the Olympus E510. May not offer the best solution as far as images go, but I think it offers the best chance of coming back with the photos I want, and I wont look like a Yank tourist waiting to be relieved of cameras. :laugher:

Of course if nothing went wrong, any choice would be OK, and if the choice made goes wrong, it will be the wrong one, no matter how good it looked!

[KeithD]

You don't have to worry about filming the whole holiday, getting home and finding the tape head was dirty and you're watching 4hrs of snow with a HD.

Dropping any camcorder 3ft onto hard ground will break it whatever saving mechanism you're using!!

I've been using a hard drive that's been in my pocket for over a year, dropped on the floor, banged against walls, been through security at airports, works fine.

....and you should always backup any data. IE HD to memory card, and put the card in your pocket. Copy tapes straight to laptop, duplicate DVD, not to do so is just lazy, and folk who then lose data....well...hard luck.

[Gavanddal]

I bought a Panasoniv DVR 250 3CCD camera for my last trip to the Philippines. With a stock of 60 minute disks I got some good footage. However, on a bumpy ride across the channel on a RIB it all went horribly wrong. I think things came loose inside and it took 4 months to get it fixed under warranty.

I'd like to get an HD camcorder now probably with a hard disk.

I think the important thing is to have decent editing software and a PC that can cope with large amounts of memory usage.

[Eljohno]

Thanks guys you have given me food for thought and i think i will go into Jessops and check a few out in person though think i am going to get one with maybe 30GB but of course buy it online!!

[andypaul]

Thanks guys you have given me food for thought and i think i will go into Jessops and check a few out in person though think i am going to get one with maybe 30GB but of course buy it online!!

Find out if they do price match and if they give a discount for cash many will. Dont forget if you use debit cards its 2.5% of the cost the card people take and i think 5 % for credit cards.

At the moment cash is very much King and remeber to haggle

[KeithD]

If the manager in Jessops has a brain, he'd offer a discount, however you WILL NOT get the online price, you have to give some ground to cover extra costs for bricks & mortar. It depends on if you want piece of mind taking it back to Jessops if it breaks, or bunging it back in the post.

[Eljohno]

If the manager in Jessops has a brain, he'd offer a discount, however you WILL NOT get the online price, you have to give some ground to cover extra costs for bricks & mortar. It depends on if you want piece of mind taking it back to Jessops if it breaks, or bunging it back in the post.

That is probably the best thing about buying from a shop like Jessops is that you can bring it back where online you have to post and sometimes pay for p&p.

I usually buy from ebay but have had some bad experiences when buying electrical goods going faulty and trying to get money back from paypal has been a waste of time.:doh

[KeithD]

Don't listen to what they tell you....bigger is better :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[andypaul]

If the manager in Jessops has a brain, he'd offer a discount, however you WILL NOT get the online price, you have to give some ground to cover extra costs for bricks & mortar. It depends on if you want piece of mind taking it back to Jessops if it breaks, or bunging it back in the post.

I can think of several places where you can order online and either get delivered or pickup from their store/depot. Never used jessops. If possible worth doing otherwise check out for restocking fees and return post and packaging calling hotlines for returns:Brick:.

Some online stores by the time you paid p and p and waited for the parcel the difference is not worth the hassle. Been there and got the t shirt:cwm23:
I know in London a bit of shopping around,for most electrical goods the savings if you go to the right store (not the chains) will be only a little more expensive if at all. Plus i know the camera works, all the bits are with it and its the model i was looking for.

Also make sure that you dont get a grey import. Seen to good to be true deals on various electrical goods but when you look closer theres a reason for it.

[Sangoma]

I order from Ebuyer all the time, £15k plus a year, and they deliver the next day if they say they are going to, if the courier messes up, they refund the extra charges for next day delivery. They also refund for returns if DOA or the item stops working very soon after purchase.
Can't say they are perfect, I have had to be persistent at times, but compared with Pixmania thay are perfect!

I have also used cameras2you.com and buyacamera.co.uk in the last couple of weeks, and the delivery has been next day as stated.

Make sure that any online shop has a UK contact address and number, and stock is UK stock held in the UK, as there are quite a few American companies with .co.uk addresses that are not in the UK, so you get non-UK models, and they lie about the parcel contents to get it through customs, obviously if you are the unlucky one whos parcel is checked, you will have to pay.

Jessops will sometimes match prices, but you need to have the advert, and they do actually phone the company to see if they have stock at the price stated! But I have had such poor service from Jessops that there is no advantage dealing with them. (not from my point, your branch may be different)

[andypaul]

I order from Ebuyer all the time, £15k plus a year, and they deliver the next day if they say they are going to, if the courier messes up, they refund the extra charges for next day delivery. They also refund for returns if DOA or the item stops working very soon after purchase.
Can't say they are perfect, I have had to be persistent at times, but compared with Pixmania thay are perfect!

I have also used cameras2you.com and buyacamera.co.uk in the last couple of weeks, and the delivery has been next day as stated.

Make sure that any online shop has a UK contact address and number, and stock is UK stock held in the UK, as there are quite a few American companies with .co.uk addresses that are not in the UK, so you get non-UK models, and they lie about the parcel contents to get it through customs, obviously if you are the unlucky one whos parcel is checked, you will have to pay.

Jessops will sometimes match prices, but you need to have the advert, and they do actually phone the company to see if they have stock at the price stated! But I have had such poor service from Jessops that there is no advantage dealing with them. (not from my point, your branch may be different)

Blimey if i spent 15k a year with a company id hope they can deliver on time you must have your own personal driver:D

Its true its not the good deliveries you should take notice of its the cock ups where good companies normal come in to their own

[KeithD]

restocking fees
It's illegal in the UK to charge restocking fees.

[andypaul]

Blimey if i spent 15k a year with a company id hope they can deliver on time you must have your own personal driver:D

Its true its not the good deliveries you should take notice of its the cock ups where good companies normal come in to their own


It's illegal in the UK to charge restocking fees.


Very true after having a bucthers at the DSR and what not not.

But it is legal it seems if bought as a business sale which i guess is where i have seen it mentioned.

Apparently all items sold as part of an auction say on ebay are not subject to the DSR unless you "buy it now".

a right old minefield buying on line or via the telephone.

Also worth knowing is one of the Wifes mates upgraded her phone with orange thinking she was getting the n95 8gb but recieved a n95. Orange no longer allow people to return phones unless faulty in store but because she bought via the phone she could return (this was after she was told on the pohne several times she couldn't, it was only when the wife asked me to look for a way for her to sort it out )

Heres the bit i found of use

The regulations give consumers an unconditional right to cancel an order. This is to allow the consumer the opportunity to examine the goods or consider the nature of a service.
If a consumer cancels an order, written notice must be given to you by:
goods – seven working days from the day after that on which the goods are received by the consumer;
services – seven working days from the day after that on which the consumer agrees to go ahead with the contract.If you fail to provide consumers with written confirmation of all the required information, then the cancellation periods can be extended up to a maximum of three months and seven working days. If the missing information is provided during this time, then the cancellation period ends seven working days beginning with the day after the full written confirmation is received by the consumer.
Where a contract is cancelled, the consumer must ensure that reasonable care is taken of any goods received and 'restore' them to you. This does not mean that they have to return them - unless you stipulate this in the contract - only that they make them available for you to collect.
You must refund the consumer's money as soon as possible and, at the latest, within 30 days of receiving the written notice of cancellation. The consumer may, at your discretion, be charged the direct cost of returning the goods, but you must tell them about this in the written information you give them.

If payment for the goods or services is under a related credit agreement, the consumer's cancellation notice also has the effect of cancelling the credit agreement.

[chino]

don't know if your after one but last year i bought a Sony 30gig HD (hard drisk not high def) CCD 20optical zoom video camera for around £250......

Thinking of a HD video camera when they drop to £400

[andypaul]

don't know if your after one but last year i bought a Sony 30gig HD (hard drisk not high def) CCD 20optical zoom video camera for around £250......

Thinking of a HD video camera when they drop to £400

With all the HD tv's sold im sure they gotta be one of the next must haves, piled up in dixons and the like. Which like you say will drive the prices down.

[KeithD]

When you watch HD you think lovely.....after a few days it just looks the same as the old one, as your eyes & brain automatically adjust to concentrate on the main action rather than the pixel colouration.

[andypaul]

When you watch HD you think lovely.....after a few days it just looks the same as the old one, as your eyes & brain automatically adjust to concentrate on the main action rather than the pixel colouration.

word it just becomes the norm so when you see an old tv your like :Erm:

[KeithD]

word it just becomes the norm so when you see an old tv your like :Erm:

Is this a game? Do we need to make a sentence out of those words? :BouncyHappy: