Which camcorder?

[dchip]

Try this site for some user comments on the Canon Ultura and use search to seek out some comments on other models. I found this site very useful. I got honest opinions, or epinions, if you will, before I made my choice.
http://www.epinions.com/elec_Camcord...V-Canon_Ultura

[Brian Ellis]

£20 for a mini-DV tape is a rip-off, pure and simple (unless it is sold in a solid gold case ). On several occasions, I have bought a supermarket pack of three 60 min mini-DVs (well-known makes), in Switzerland (almost unobtainable here!), for SFr 18-20, equivalent to about £7-8. OK, VAT in the UK is 10% higher than in Switzerland, but that shouldn't add more than an extra quid to the pack.

I agree with Doc - and so do several mag reviews - that D8 cameras have poor optics which reduce the visual quality. This is why Sony also produce some mini-DV cams which are better in quality - and price They address different strata in the market. This is not to say they are bad, even if the mini-DV are slightly better.

As for the EU decision on taxing cameras with DV-In at a much higher rate, I think it is SCANDALOUS, when the difference is just a firmware tweak. For high-end cameras, it is cheaper to take a cheap flight to Singapore and brave the sharks in the Orchard Road shopping centres and buy a fully enabled camera, after haggling with the different shops for a few hours. When returning to the UK, though, make sure it is in an old, battered case. HM Customs look out for brand new top-end camera cases, when the Singapore and Hong Kong flights come in. ... And you get an exotic holiday thrown in!

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Brian (the terrible)

[dchip]

Pace: I will probably sound redundant, perhaps even annoying, but, try to put Optical Image Stabilization at the top of your list and refuse to remove it. If that narrows your choices way down, it will make your search more focused and your cousin will get better video. The image quality is superior to digitally interpolated stabilization.

The way I interpret digital stabilization is that the jittery image goes into the camera but is somehow reprocessed before being taped, to supposedly fool the eye. With OIS the jittery image never gets into the camera at all. It is optically corrected, period. Like when we move our heads around and our eyes make a quick correction so we don't see trails behind objects. Some might say our brains make that correction, but I would debate that. Anyway, I have heard someone refer to the digital stabilization as being kind of "floaty" and "wavering," definately not natural looking.

I don't know about the specs for the Canon Elura's PAL equivalent or even if it is equivalent, but if it does have OIS and RGB primary color filter and you can demo it someplace, try making a tape with it (move around with it or tape something or someone that is moving) and then connect the S-video out to a TV capable of at least 500 horizontal lines and play the tape. You will see something amazing; Video that looks so alive you may believe it looks better than life.

[This message has been edited by dchip (edited 12 August 2000).]

[CarterTG]

Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) - now mostly marketed as just Image Stablization - centers its useable image on the CCD that is smaller than the CCD itself. The "software" in these camcorders attempts to figure out if the picture is moving. If so, it 'grabs' the surplus lens image that fell outside the center spot. The software isn't the shiniest coin in the fountain as EIS on some camcorders have been fooled when pointing at a bouncing basketball. Welcome to the bouncing world. People evaluating EIS have claimed that when activated, the image shows a motionlike blur due to the 'frame' being electronically slid around the CCD.

Optical Image Stablization (OIS) is a more mechanical method. Canon licensed it's VariAngle lens to Sony (I think the TR700 was first). This lens element is actually two pieces of glass sandwiching a viscous clear fluid with bellows surrounding. One of the glass elements is free to move and refract the image around. Internal gyros sense TRUE movement in the camcorder and simply re-angles the glass so that the image falls back on the CCD. This means the full CCD can be used and the image remains sharper while OIS is active.



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Carter
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Tyan Tiger 100 rev.F (BX) ATX
Dual PentiumIII 650e CuMine Slot1
Dual 128mb PC100 generic
[C:] 10.2g Seagate ATA66 5400rpm
[D:] 10.1g IBM ATA66 7200rpm
Promise FastTrack66 RAID
[E:] Dual 30.7g Maxtor ATA66 7200rpm DM+
[F:] Plextor 12x10x32x CDRW
Dual SVGA 17" screens
Matrox G400 DualHead AGP 32mb
SBLive PCI
NDC 10/100 PCI
Canopus DV Raptor
USB IntelliEye
FourPoint2000
Windows2000 wo/SP1, MSP 6.0
Canon XL1
Canon GL1

[Brian Ellis]

Better still, use a tripod or a Steadicam, when you can. If you make a deliberate camera movement with any form of image stabilisation switched on, you get all sorts of weird effects.

I remember seeing, probably 30 or 40 years ago, a "black box" which screwed into the tripod bush of a cine camera, containing three high speed gyros with wheels of about 500 g each. I think the rotational velocity was about 20,000 rpm. It resisted any camera movement. The negative sides were noise (it whined, requiring a sound-proofing bag) and battery consumption (it used a 12 V belt accu which lasted about 15 min per charge, but it could be plugged into a car). I remember it was expensive but can't recall the price. it also had a bush for tripod mounting, making even flimsy tripods rock steady. It was possible to select which motors were working, so that you could disable one to make the smoothest pans or tilts. Don't know whether it is still made. I remember seeing it at the Photokina exhibition in Cologne.

IMHO, this would be much better than IS of any type as it treats the source and not the symptom

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Brian (the terrible)

[Riddek]

Hi, can anyone recommend a good "prosumer" Panasonic digital camcorder? (me and Panasonic-we go way back!) I saw the NV-DS11 mentioned in this forum-how does it measure up against the Canon Elura? (it seems like the Elura it the pack leader in it's class)
What main features should I look for in a digital camcorder? DV in and out? Can anyone recommend a reputable web site that reviews camcorders? Dr Mordrid, can I impose upon you for some advice? You sound like you know your stuff forwards and backwards.

Thanks,
Riddek.

[jeffw]

What does Canon mean by "Digital Motor Drive"? It sounds like progressive scan, but I've heard conflicting comments. Canon lists that the Ultura has Digital Motor Drive.
http://www.canondv.com/ultura/prodli...e/concept.html

BUT I've seen posts that the Ultura is an interlaced-only camera. (On the Studio DV forums).

The Ultura seems pretty good, and cheap! But I want to know more about any shortcomings before I dive in.
Should I just pay the extra $500 and buy an Elura?

[CarterTG]

Digital Motor Drive is indeed Progressive Frame Mode. 30fps. IMO, the extra price you'd pay for the Elura would be for it's smaller, flatter size and because of its RGB CCD filter. The filter supposedly results in colors a bit closer to those of pricier cams. When I checked it out at the store under florescent lighting, I was rather impressed by its sharpness and color reproduction. No noticeable green overcast one normally sees under florescents.

The Optura while looking like it's about the same size profile-wise, has more of a boxier depth to it. The slim Elura would look a lot less conspicuous in a coat pocket.

[Brian Ellis]

Riddek

Without any doubt, the Panasonic NV-DX1xx series count amongst the best mini-DV cams on the market, although not the cheapest.

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Brian (the terrible)

[Phil Pugh]

Try http://www.7dayshop.com for miniDV tapes and other camera accessories. I have just bought a couple of SONY DVM60PR2 miniDV tapes at £6.45 with free p&p. I live in UK and these people are based in Guernsey.

[Riddek]

Brian Ellis,
I couldn't find the Panasonic NV-DX1xx series that you had mentioned, but on the Panasonic web site I found the Digital Palmcorder PV-DV100-K to PV-DV800-K series. http://www.panasonic.ca/products/palmcorder/index.html
Can you (or anyone else reading this) recommend the best "bang for the buck" from these models?
Thanks.

[Brian Ellis]

Try http://www.amerinet-electronics.com/...ic_dx-100.html
for example

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Brian (the terrible)