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Luke Nieuwhof
Goo Roo
WA
Soarer TT

Posts: 2235
Reg: 07-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 04:28 pm, by:  Luke Nieuwhof (Luke_nieuwhof) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I know my stuff on stills cameras but when it comes to video cameras I am a bit out of the loop.

I'm thinking about getting one to do some occasional filming at the drags, mainly so I can put it on to YouTube etc.

So something with:

Good optical zoom
Fairly light
Cheap

Fairly general but any help appreciated!
Don Bagnall
Moderator
New Zealand
I have WAY less Soarers than Hayden :-(

Posts: 6289
Reg: 05-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 04:39 pm, by:  Don Bagnall (Baggs) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Luke Nieuwhof wrote on Monday, August 06, 2007 - 04:28 pm:

Good optical zoom
Fairly light
Cheap



Your whizzer!


Sorry, I'll leave now..............TAXI!

Mike Bradberry
DieHard
Queensland
V8 UnLimited

Posts: 645
Reg: 07-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 05:01 pm, by:  Mike Bradberry (Halflife) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Luke, I think more info is needed. How much exactly do you want to spend? You can buy one for as little as $200.00, but you will get what you pay for.
Optical zoom is superior to digital zoom and you will pay more to get it.
Do you want mini DV or the newer disc type? Are you willing to buy second hand?
Light usually means less features. Do you want manual overrides or all auto functions?
Ebay is full of options and full of traps for the unwary. Good luck.
Jeff Harper
Trader
NSW
UZZ32 Active V8

Posts: 1329
Reg: 07-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 05:13 pm, by:  Jeff Harper (Jeffh) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

These type of cameras are excellent

http://search.ebay.com.au/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&fcl=3&frpp=25&from=R10&fcol=ship-off&satitle=handycam+dcr&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=2126&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=3&fsoo=1

They have Carl Zeis lenses and anti shake etc.

However editing the .vob file it creates can be complicated.

I finally cracked it though, you would need

VideoReDo Plus and
Ulead Video Studio 10 or 11

and a strongish computer.
Jeff Harper
Trader
NSW
UZZ32 Active V8

Posts: 1330
Reg: 07-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 05:16 pm, by:  Jeff Harper (Jeffh) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://search.ebay.com.au/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&fcl=3&frpp=25&from=R10&fcol=ship-of f&satitle=handycam+dcr&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=2126&sabfmts=1&sao bfmts=insif&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=3&fsoo=1
Luke Nieuwhof
Goo Roo
WA
Soarer TT

Posts: 2236
Reg: 07-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 05:33 pm, by:  Luke Nieuwhof (Luke_nieuwhof) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Mike Bradberry wrote on Monday, August 06, 2007 - 05:01 pm:

Luke, I think more info is needed. How much exactly do you want to spend? You can buy one for as little as $200.00, but you will get what you pay for.
Optical zoom is superior to digital zoom and you will pay more to get it.
Do you want mini DV or the newer disc type? Are you willing to buy second hand?
Light usually means less features. Do you want manual overrides or all auto functions?
Ebay is full of options and full of traps for the unwary. Good luck.


Yeah I sorta left it a bit wide open there.
It would't be used for DVD production or anything, maybe looking in $500-$1000 price range.
Decent optical zoom is a must. Would prefer newer disk type and I don't mind it having mostly auto functions.
If I can put it this way, I am looking for the video camera equivalent of say the Panasonic Lumix or Fuji type still cameras, if that makes sense haha.
Peter Nitschke
JunkFilterer
South Australia
GT4.0 V8

Posts: 8208
Reg: 11-2004

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 06:16 pm, by:  Peter Nitschke (Pen) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For the drags, it doesn't need long video times, so some of the still cameras could do it nicely as well.
Luke Nieuwhof
Goo Roo
WA
Soarer TT

Posts: 2237
Reg: 07-2005

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 06:28 pm, by:  Luke Nieuwhof (Luke_nieuwhof) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good point Peter, and something that has crossed my mind. Those Fujis had quite good video from memories of using one. Relatively hi res.

Although this thing looks interesting...
http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/taxid;2136212591;pid;1163;pt;1
Tai Johnsen
TryHard
QLD
UZZ31 - V8

Posts: 347
Reg: 04-2006

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Monday, August 06, 2007 - 07:54 pm, by:  Tai Johnsen (Privatejohnsen) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

See if you can grab an older model Panasonic mini-dv camcorder (nv-gs250). they have heaps of optical zoom (ignore digital zoom) it also has digital and optical image stabilisation.

If you are going to use it at the drags, you will need a good low light performer.
Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31

Posts: 2846
Reg: 10-2005

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Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 03:18 pm, by:  Matthew Sharpe (Madmatt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think if I was buying another one now I'd definitely go for a HDD model - 30GB would be more than sufficient I think. Most of them take pretty good stills now too.

My current camera is a Panasonic digital tape model - about 2 years old. It's good, but the tapes are annoying.
Tai Johnsen
TryHard
QLD
UZZ31 - V8

Posts: 348
Reg: 04-2006

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Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 06:26 pm, by:  Tai Johnsen (Privatejohnsen) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I disagree, tapes you can change in and out and have endless recording... HDD's fill up..

Plus they are a good backup. If your HDD dies your lovely video is goooooooone...
Jeff Harper
Trader
NSW
UZZ32 Active V8

Posts: 1331
Reg: 07-2005

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Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 08:08 pm, by:  Jeff Harper (Jeffh) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree, no HDD, they suck.
Leon Wright
DieHard
WA
V8 UZZ31

Posts: 767
Reg: 08-2006

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 02:01 am, by:  Leon Wright (Techman) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, DV tapes are the way to go. You can buy 'em from a supermarket in a bind!

The negative is that you have to capture it real time. No drag and dropping. But there is an inherent benefit, the recording is high quality and you
can capture and manipulate it in a variety of different programs. The hdd/dvd recorders record in a particular format, which whilst easy enough to manipulate with
the tools provided by the camera, those tools tend to be a little lack luster and rather limiting.

The sony's aren't a bad camera, but not i'd steer clear of them. Nice quality though.

I much prefer the panasonic I still have to this day.

The filming capabilities of digital still cameras are an absolute waste of time IMHO. But my Digital stills camera isn't capable of
them anyway :-) But high quality SLR photos and interchangeable lenses certainly make up for that :-)

Did a lot of Video editing in a previous job, so have a little experience, ask questions and I'll share what I know. :-)
Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31

Posts: 2849
Reg: 10-2005

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 07:30 am, by:  Matthew Sharpe (Madmatt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think if you are just a weekend filmer like my wife and I, then its a waste of time buggering around with tapes - they really do drive me nuts. With an HDD recorder I could much more easily dump my recordings to the computer rather than having to capture them via firewire, which always causes problems and confusion over which is the best way to capture. If I run out of space on a HDD camera, its my own fault for forgetting to dump it to the computer - if the camera fails and I lose my recordings, again, its my own fault for not backing up.

I'm sure tape is the way to go if you are more serious about home movies, but for me every time I hook my camera up to the firewire and have to remember what the hell I did last time to get a good quality transfer, it just pisses me off.
Rhong Hua Xie
Tinkerer
Victoria
N/A

Posts: 54
Reg: 01-2006

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 08:08 am, by:  Rhong Hua Xie (Wm_z) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mini DV tapes are still the preferred method for recording videos. HDD cameras are great but from what I read aren't as good as the Mini DVs. The only thing beneficial about the HDD cameras are their transfer speed.

In terms of which is better, since the release of USB 2.0 there really any significant differences worth noting regarding firewire and USB 2.0. Given the preference I prefer firewire over USB 2.0, but any transfer method is fine.

For a video camera, depending on your price range you can't go pass the Canon HV20.

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