Recommend me a camcorder

[Minnie_the_Minx]

The trouble with storing pictures on DVD is that over time, the DVD discs will degrade. One scratch and you can chuck them away.

At least with tape based recorders if there's a problem it will only affect a few seconds of footage, you'd be able to rescue the rest. Plus it's more likely you would be able to buy a tape player than a mini-DVD player ten years from now.



Again, tape based storage is probably what you need, given that you're looking for long-term use. HD storage is pretty good, and as long as you back it up regularly it shouldn't give you any issue, but it is always best to have precious footage stored away on tape. It's a tried and tested method.



Pretty much all cameras will have a mic input, though the lighting thing is interesting - often the compatible lights will only be the same brand as the camera, the shoe for the lights will have a series of contacts to power the light.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about lights. You can always buy a cheaper third party lighting kit if you need one, unless you can get a good deal on the branded one that is designed for the camera, just make sure it's a standard light shoe and you can fit whatever you like into it.

Be aware that lights can reduce your battery time too, they draw a lot of power.

But will using tapes add a lot of extra cost?

and what about copying the tapes?

 

[gentlegreen]

Tape ?

What a load of old cobblers.

Whatever format the camera - and a secondhand miniDV (tape) camera would be serviceable if obtained cheaply, you will USB it onto your PC and make multiple backups.

It's true that recordable optics are an unknown quantity where archiving is concerned, but any multimedia enthusiast will end up with a couple of large external drives and backup their films along with their still photos and MP3s ...

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Tape ?

What a load of old cobblers.

Whatever format the camera - and a secondhand miniDV (tape) camera would be serviceable if obtained cheaply, you will USB it onto your PC and make multiple backups.

It's true that recordable optics are an unknown quantity where archiving is concerned, but any multimedia enthusiast will end up with a couple of large external drives and backup their films along with their still photos and MP3s ...

maybe I should have done a poll

 

[soonplus]

i was tempted by a mini-dv camcorder... but my laptop doesnt seem to have a firewire socket.... and i'm not sure there's anyway around that

 

[ViolentPanda]

i was tempted by a mini-dv camcorder... but my laptop doesnt seem to have a firewire socket.... and i'm not sure there's anyway around that

Easy solution (unless you've got a mutant lappy that doesn't have PCMCIA ports) is to buy a PCMCIA card with firewire ports, which will cost you £5-15 off ebay.
My old Thinkpad T23 doesn't have firewire or USB2, so I just got a combo firewire/USB2 PCMCIA card off of ebay, and now have two firewire and two USB2 ports, all for £13.

 

[pk]

50 hour long mini DV tapes - £80

You're not getting 50 hours onto an HD built into a camera for quite some time, and precious footage is safer on well looked after tape than on a hard disc, which is going to cost more than the tapes for the same storage.

Back them up on HD to be sure, but ten years from now I'd say the tapes would be more usable for playback than an HD.

Tape ?

What a load of old cobblers.

Whatever format the camera - and a secondhand miniDV (tape) camera would be serviceable if obtained cheaply, you will USB it onto your PC and make multiple backups.

It's true that recordable optics are an unknown quantity where archiving is concerned, but any multimedia enthusiast will end up with a couple of large external drives and backup their films along with their still photos and MP3s ...

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I abandoned all this for a while.

Are these Flip cameras shite. They seem to get good ratings, but I'm wondering what's the catch for something so cheap?

Ignore that, it looks like you can't pause, ffwd etc. on them. That would be annoying

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'm swaying towards this one, but I don't know if the software will work with my Windows 2000

Can anyone help please?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-S...7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244068912&sr=1-7

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Opinions welcome

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

VW-BN1 DVD Burner (optional) using a USB cable, video recordings can easily be copied to a 12-cm DVD (DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/-R DL). The disc can then be played back on DVD players.

What's a VW-BN1?

Don't know why I'm even asking on here, you're all ignoring me