Which MiniDV camcorder

[Rob100]

Hi all,

Okay the time has come to buy a new camcorder. I have been looking at the Panasonic NV-DS38B. One of the main things which attracts me to this is that it has DV in/out and analogue in/out, so no need for a widget to enable DV in. I can get it locally (within 30 miles) for £699 (incl VAT), which is a pretty good price. The best I found on the net was £619 plus delivery. I would rather buy locally if I can as I'm getting increasingly fed up with returning things to on-line suppliers when they go wrong and having to wait, wait, wait for a replacement. Anyway I'm drifting...

I really can't afford a 3CCD model, but I read a review on the NV-DS28B and they said it was one of the better single chip models. I am assuming here that the 27/28/37/38 are all bascially the same, but with additional features (still image, SD slot, analogue in) the higher up you go?

Any one own or has used one of the above? Any other recommendations? Different makes/models... I am planning to make the purchase this coming weekend so any advise or comments welcomed.

Thanks,


Rob.

[Dr Mordrid]

While I don't know what the US equivalent of that cam is, but I do have 3 Panasonics;

PV-DV 851
PV-DV 400
PV-DV 910

and 1 Canon Elura.

They're all different in features but are good, solid and reliable cams. That said I'm now saving my pennies for a Panasonic AG DVC10;

http://www.panasonic.com/PBDS/subcat/dvproline/dvc10_morev2.html

Yummy

Dr. Mordrid

[Graham Meredith]

Doc,
How is it that you can manage to "save your pennies" for all of these goodies without your missus on your case

Graham

[Dr Mordrid]

I'll never tell

As far as the wife & I go, we split much of the tax refund every year for "goodies", so no fight there. This basically means I get my AG DVC10 in about a month

Dr. Mordrid

[wkulecz]

Hey Doc, forget the video advice, I want some tax advice! In addition to what they withold straight off the top, we always seem to need to buy Uncle Sam the equivalent of a new GL-1 or VX-2000 every year! I'd rather buy it for myself!

--wally.

[sergiovalentino]

Happy with a Panasonic NV-DS15.

ciao

[Jerry Jones]

Check out the Canon ZR20, if you're looking for a low-priced, yet very reliable and easy-to-use DV camcorder.

I use one as a deck here at work and I like it so much I decided to buy one for home use as well.

In some lighting situations, its modest CCD actually does a pretty impressive job... even compared to our 3CCD Sony DCR-VX1000.

http://www.canondv.com/zr_s/zr20/index.html

[Phil Pugh]

I believe these ZR models are the same as the MV3xx/4xx models over here in the UK. My wife has one (MV450i) and it really is a very nice camcorder. Not brilliant low light performance but no worse than most other consumer single CCD models. One minor issue is that it is a 'bottom loader' which is a pain if your camcorder is on a tripod and you want to change tapes. Good battery life.

[Jerry Jones]

Canon today just introduced 3 new ZR models:

http://www.canondv.com/zr_d66/index.html

[Rob100]

Thanks all for the replies. I've been busy the last few days - hence the slow reply.

I took a look at the Canon's and agree that the ZR's look like the MV4xx models here in the UK. Feature wise they are comparable to the NV-DS27/28/37/28 range, but I'm not keen on the "upright" design.

Unfortunately I didn't get the NV-DS38 at the weekend as the local retailer up'ed the price from £699 to £799 - apparently it was in the "January sale" and Saturday was the 2nd Feb!

So I'm back to looking on the net and for the sake of a 90-120 minute drive I could get it £599.

However despite what I said earlier about being unable to afford a 3CCD I keep looking at the NVMX300 which I've seen now for just over £1300. Now all I have to do is convince the wife what a good idea it is! Is there a "major" improvment using a 3CCD model? Is it really worth twice the cost?

Rob.

[Dr Mordrid]

Yes

If you're going to use it for more than a door stop, yes

Dr. Mordrid

[Rob100]

Doc,

Do you get significant improvements in low light (indoor artificial light for example) conditions using a 3CCD model?

Rob.

[Dr Mordrid]

Depends more on the lux rating than anything else. As a general rule you should get better quality all 'round.

Dr. Mordrid

[Rob100]

The NVDS38B (single CCD) specs say that it operates at 0 lux. However so does my Sony Hi8 TR78, but even when capturing straight from the cam it looks grainy as hell...

The NVMX300 (3CCD) specs say minumum of 8 lux.

Surely this makes the MX300 worse!?

[Dr Mordrid]

Not necessarily. I have a Sony Hi8 too and it's lux rating was more than a bit optimistic, not to mention it had 1/3 of the active sensing area of a 3CCD model.

Dr. Mordrid