Advice on DV cameras

[Ska Wars]

Time to pick your collective techno-brain.

A friend of mine is after a DV camera and is after some suggestions; what's worth checking out, what should be avoided, are inbuilt mics ok or should she get an external one etc

Basically has to fit the following:

- Be under or around £300 ($500)
- Will be used to make home movies/YouTube stuff
- Be suitable for outside use
- Decent(ish) quality
- Single frame capture for animation would be a plus but not a must

Aside from that any suggestions or tips are more than welcome and points for the best answers/tips.

[Stroddy]

Honestly, if he is going to get a cam.. he should find one that records to a card and not actual DV tape. I've worked with both, and most recently purchased a fuck-ton expensive camera with a buddy, and recording video to a card is so much easier than tape. Easy to format, easy to transfer to a computer, fast as shit, more compact, and not a hassle as tape is.

My 2 cents.

[Beer|\/|onger]

video cameras come in a wide variety. The smaller cheaper camcorders do use 1 small CCD (charge couple device) to do all the work, while the more expensive ones spread it out amongst 3 CCDs 1 for each of the three primary colors. The larger the CCD or 3 CCDs are, the better the quality of the video.

Also, optical zoom is always great.

I have not used cheap HD yet so I don't know if there is any benefit to using a 3 CCD standard over a 1 CCD HD.

Now a couple more things your friend should invest in:

1. A halogen work light mounted on a tripod ($40 or so at Hardware store)

2. An attachment microphone of some kind (onboard audio sucks)

3. A Tripod (A respectable smooth panning/tilting tripod will cost at least $100)

4. The required software to compress the video into a high quality youtube format.

[HS the Whap]

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2006/09/Sony_HVR-V1U_camcorder-angle-1158674206776-440_330.jpg

[JoJo]

Time to pick your collective techno-brain.

A friend of mine is after a DV camera and is after some suggestions; what's worth checking out, what should be avoided, are inbuilt mics ok or should she get an external one etc

Basically has to fit the following:

- Be under or around £300 ($500)
- Will be used to make home movies/YouTube stuff
- Be suitable for outside use
- Decent(ish) quality
- Single frame capture for animation would be a plus but not a must

Aside from that any suggestions or tips are more than welcome and points for the best answers/tips.Who thinks Ska is making a home porno with his lady friend and they broke their last camera while in mid bang bang?

:D:D:D:D:D

[Faceman]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8668998&type=product&id=1196470791061


http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2006/09/Sony_HVR-V1U_camcorder-angle-1158674206776-440_330.jpg

I sold mine.

[Beer|\/|onger]

wouldn't that be a junky camera with 1 CCD? You can ebay better for $500

[Cheeto]

wouldn't that be a junky camera with 1 CCD? You can ebay better for $500

By that logic a 5dmark2 can't shoot video for shit because it has only one sensor.

[Beer|\/|onger]

Damn, technology has changed.

[Beer|\/|onger]

Cheeto, explain to me how el cheapo:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1196470791061

Is of equal or better standard definition video quality then:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/sony_dcrtrv950_camcorder_review.htm
^Which currently goes for $500-$700 on ebay.

OR: Amazon.com: Canon GL1 MiniDV Digital Camcorder with Lens & Optical Image Stabilization: Camera & Photo (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-GL1-Digital-Camcorder-Stabilization/dp/B0000507JI)
^Again $500-$700 and the forums somehow made this a big advertisement.

Other things like lens size and lighting improve the quality of a shot but you have to have quality parts under the hood.

[HS the Whap]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8668998&type=product&id=1196470791061



I sold mine.

NOT HD ENUF.

[Cheeto]

Swordfish, first of all, we hate you. I just wanted to remind you of that because it's been about 10 minutes since anyone said so and I didn't want you to think we were going soft.

Secondly: I didn't bring up any of those cameras. I said a 5d Mark 2. Know why? Because of exactly what you said "you have to have quality parts under the hood." Just because it has 3CCD's doesn't mean it's a wonderful camera. A lot of times it's a marketing gimmick and the CCD's still suck. Then you'll have a 3CCD camera that can't shoot as well as one that has even just one CCD that's quality. So get off that myth.

Also your first link doesn't go anywhere, so learn to type.

[Beer|\/|onger]

If Faceman says thats a good camera I suppose I would take is word for it, but I was just asking.

Sorry, i meant by the first url the camera faceman posted to buy.

[Faceman]

I was going for the price constraints. He's not going to find what we think is high quality camera for that price. He'll be able to pull off some decent images with the camera I linked.