A friend will be buying a camcorder soon and needs some help in understanding which features are useful.
This camcorder will be a gift for her parents who live in Bombay, so it should be easy to use.
1. Which format is better for her? mini DV, DVD disc, or internal hard disk? I don't know anything about their reliability, but my concern was that DVD and internal hard disks may not be able to tolerate shocks much. I have an old Hi-8mm camcorder, and it has worked flawlessly for 15 years, so I am inclined to recommend mini DV.
2. This is important. Do digital camcorders come with software that easily allows downloading of the videos to home computers via USB? Ideally it should be as easy as downloading photos from a digital camera.
3. Is there any use to having 30x optical zoom? I doubt anyone can hold their hands steady enough for it to be useful.
4. Her budget is about $500.
Thanks 1. -If she wants to edit and put onto the computer, Get a MiniDV camcoder. Its the only format that will easly alow her to transfer and edit on the computer
-If she just wants to recorder and then watch it on the TV without ever editing it get a DVD camcorder
-HDD (Harddrive) camcorders are best if you want to trasfer onto computer without carrying around tapes. Because of the recording format it is still difficult to edit.
2. All Digital camcorders alow easy downloading of photos via USB. But you cannot download your video via USB (expect HDD camcoders because they recorder in MP4). A miniDV camcorder will alow her to transfer video through a firewire cable. DVD camcorders will only alow her to transfer pictures.
3. 30X zoom is not neccary. 10X or 12X is enough for most people.
4. For $500 i would recomend -
-for miniDV, Panasonic PV-GS180, costs $429 on amazon. has 3CCD which means alot better picture quility.
-for DVD, the Panasonic VDR-D250, costs $400, had is the same as GS180 but DVD instead of miniDV
-for HDD, JVC Everio GZMG37, costs $435, has a 30GB Harddrive and 32X optical zoom but only 1 CCD |
