Camcorders

[Drizzt]

Hi all

Just a plain and simple question: where can I find a forum about videocamcorder?
I'm in need of purchasing one, but I've got problems choosing...


Or is there someone on the Murc who wants to help me?

[Dr Mordrid]

I've had great luck with Panasonic's. Canon and JVC are also very good.

I've seen too many posts about Sony cams exhibiting strange behavior with their IEEE-1394 support to recommend one of them, but others may disagree.

Two features you'll want to look for though;

1. Low-light capabilities
2. Anamorphic 16:9

Low light is self explanatory.

Anamorphic 16:9 is where the widescreen image is horizontally squished to fit into a DV cameras 4:3 frame. MPEG encoders and display devices then un-squish it to restore the widescreen view.

What you don't want is a 16:9 mode that just crops the top & bottom to letterbox the frame.

Dr. Mordrid

[Drizzt]

Hi Doc


Problems are:
1) I'm not going to record something special
2) Here in Italy money has lost a lot of its purchasing power, so I cannot afford to spend too much.


About point 2, I think it's pretty self explanatory. I have a max budget of about 350 €, even If it should be a disaster for my finances.

About point 1, I'll simply use the camcorder to record camping time or a dinner with my friends...such things.

Do you know any web site where I can buy on-line, and find good prices?

[az]

Hi Drizzt, long time no see

I'd recommend buying from germany if you buy online and not from italy: We're generally among the cheapest in europe and you should have less problems with customs, money conversion, and warranty.

I can't give any advice though, sorry.

AZ

[Drizzt]

Originally posted by az
Hi Drizzt, long time no see

Lot of things to do, I'm really happy I've found the time to be here again

[RhinoZ]

Hey Drizzit,
Welcome back!!
I just bought a Panasonic GS70 not too long ago. Very nice camcorder. ( well anything was better than the VHS one I had before ) It's a nice size, fit's in your hand really well, has a whole lot of features that I haven't tried. It does take nice videos. Low light videos could be a little better, it's acceptable but barely. And my wife uses it, so that's got to be a plus.
Here a a couple of camcorder sites I used:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

http://www.dvspot.com/

Enjoy and good luck.

[Jammrock]

I've got a Sony DV camcorder. It's very nice. Very fast focus, 16:9 ability at 480i, etc. Haven't had any problems with firewire functionality either.

I hear the new Panasonic 3 CCD camcorders are very nice. Though I think they are out of your budget.

Jammrock