Posted: 3/5/2008 12:42:56 PM EDT
| I am looking for a mini DV digital video camera. I have looked at Sony, JVC, and Canon. I had a Sony that recorded to DVD a couple years ago that was nothing but problems. Who makes a good miniDV video camera? What model are you you using. |
I am faced with the same decision myself right now. I think I have have decided to stick with Mini DV tapes because: (1) I can play all the old tapes. I recorded over several years I have always recorded Mini DV tapes and kept them. The quality of Mini DV tapes is very good, and the media is much more stable than recordable disks. (2) I see no good solution for what to do when the camera's HDD is full. My computer's disk drive is already pretty full without stuffing it with video too. Burning DVDs is time consuming and stability over multiple decades is not clear to me. I want to be able to show this video to my grandchildren in 20 years time ! Also, Mini DV cameras are very reasonably priced these days. |
I am lazy and I can see myself never clearing the hard drive and being stuck ready to record with no room for new footage. I can always carry a couple extra tapes or buy some if needed. Not to mention, I can get a miniDV camcorder for half the price of an hdd one. |
Some of the hard drives carry a lot of space. I'd have to check out the encoding format before I'd commit to a specific HHD camera. I'd want the best capture available, like a pure AVI, instead of a compressed MP4 or something like that. I think it's better to buy more HDD space on your laptop or PC and go with the HDD units. I got tired of carrying tapes and tapes aren't the most robust storage medium. I'm in the process of pulling all of my tapes onto an external 750gb HDD and then burning to DVD for safety. |