Buying a Digital Video Camera
Published 4 years, 6 months ago in life stories, photography + videoI’m researching digital video cameras. I’m in the market for one for the wife and I, and I’m finding that figuring out which one to buy is tough. The big publisher’s guides to camcorders are useless to me, either not providing enough information, or not providing enough facts on which they base their recommendations.
There is almost no documentation at the big box retailers that carry digital video cameras, and the sales people are only moderately helpful.
Thankfully, Jeff Keller’s DVSpot.com is available. It has a fantastic glossary of DV Terms, which, for someone just starting to look for a video camera (my first ever) is invaluable. (Jeff owned iMac2Day.com before MacNN bought it. I ran the site back in 1998/99).
I own a Canon Powershot S100 digital camera, and I love it. It was the first generation Digital Elph, and has been a constant companion for 4+ years. It works well and is still a great camera (though we’ve gotten sand and other stuff into some of the gears over the years). I’d like to buy a camcorder with the same sort of quality.
Without knowing anything about the manufacturers, I’m partial to Canon and Sony (just because of their brand equity in my head), though Hitachi, Panasonic, JVC and Sharp make DV camcorders too.
I think I want a camera that supports Analog to Digital conversion, though that’s not mandatory, and more of a nicety… I’ve got a few old VCR tapes I’d like to convert to digital format.
After spending a few hours reading the reviews over at DVSpot, these cameras are on my list of contenders:
- Canon Optura 40
- Canon Elura 70
- Canon ZR90
- Panasonic PV-GS200
- Panasonic PV-GS120
- Notice, no Sony’s after reading more about them… I don’t like the idea of having to buy Sony Memory Sticks, because I already own a few SD cards for my Palm Tungsten.
Canon is offering quite a few promotions on their cameras through June 30th from their CanonDV website.
All in all, I’m leaning more and more heavily towards buying a Canon. Now which one?
I’ll keep shopping around, and will gladly take any suggestions that my readers might have. June 30th is my current date of purchase.
Oh, and why am I shopping for a DV camcorder, you might ask? The wife is 11 weeks pregnant (due in November) so I want to get one now, so I know how to use it when we need it.
update: adding a few links:
PCWorld Digital Camcorder Buyer’s Guide
ZDNet’s Digital Camcorder Buyer’s Guide
5 Responses to “Buying a Digital Video Camera”
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I’ve got a Sony PC5 which I’ve had for a few years and really like. It’s small enough, but not too small, shoots 16×9 as well as 4×3 and has many features (most I don’t even use). You can definitely convert analogue to dv through it with either iMovie or Final Cut…
The mem stick is annoying, but I find I never use it for stills so it does not matter. You can do still capture from your videos if you like… We always use our digital still (Canon Powershot S40) to take snaps — though I am looking to replace that in the next few months.
I recall when I was looking at the Sony vs Canon race in DV, the main issue was the battery life… Canon was much less time per charge on same size batteries. I was looking at the Elura at the time.
if you can, try to find a camera store that rents cameras ( there’s tons in LA although ymmv ) and try them out. it costs a little, but its worth it. i was looking at a canon, rented it, and discovered that auto-focus on the canon lenses blows. fine if you’re a manual-focus-all-the-time kind of guy, but for me, it was a deal-breaker. i have 2 sony’s and love them. fantastic pictures, bulletproof construction, you can’t go wrong.
I second Jonathon’s endorsement of Sony. Memory sticks are *only* used for stills and I’ve yet to ever see anyone who actually uses their DV camera to shoot stills (because video-camera resolutions are much lower than the 4-5MP ELPHs you can pick up today for a song)
I’ve had a DCR-TRV900 for a number of years now, and it’s worked flawlessly for me the entire time.
I concur that memory sticks are a non-issue . A digital elph is 100x more practical for taking stills than a vid camera.
Most important thing (for me) is good ergonomics. I had a sony that I loved (It got stolen) but the zoom button was weird and took me a while to get used to. SIze is a close second - if it’s too big, you’ll never carry it.
The number of pixels in the CCD is important to video as well as the stills. The picture difference is visible, especially in a low-light environment.
This is the successor to the one I had, and this will probably be superceeded by something new by the time you buy.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000D8DM7/qid%3D1080711150/sr%3D2-2/blondedomme
If you plan on editing in iMovie etc, double-check that it’s compatible. When I was in the market 18 mos ago there were a few (mostly microdv) that weren’t. I haven’t scoped the market since so I don’t know if that’s changed.
The direct to DVD versions are retarded if you ask me.
I’ ve used a Canon XL1 (pro-sumer), a Canon ZR45, and a JVC DVM70. I have been working with a professional videographer for the past year and he shoots with a Sony DV CAM. His broadcast quality experience and knowledge of gear recommends Sony or Canon.
You’ve already discovered that Canon is the only consumer camera that offers Analog-Digital inputs. Note the these inputs are on a 1/8″ stereo type of jack on some models. Not the best type of input but better than having to buy outboard A to D gear.