Heh all,

I'm going on a family vacation around Thanksgiving, and think it might be time to get a new camcorder.

I currently own a Sony DCR-DVD201, made in June '04. Nice, but some limitations.

Any suggestions (including "steer clear from")?

Planning on spending $750 or so. Primarily to use in home movies. Will likely get Creator 2010 around time of purchase.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

I have been really happy with the Canon HV20. HDV that uses tape. There are arguments for and against tape systems. I still haven't warmed up to AVCHD format. Still too many issues editing, etc. Some manufacturers don't publish the bitrate of camcorders so it varies to quality. I always consider 'last years' models, too, which are usually heavily discounted.

I'd go for a model that records on a HDD if possible or maybe tape,

I've used a VHS-C model from Panasonic, and currently have 1xHi-8, 1xDigital-8 & 1x30Gb HDD model from Sony, and 1xMiniDv model from Panasonic. The Hi-8 camcorder I have doesn't have a digital connection so it's a pain the .... to get the footage onto the computer. The HDD camcorder I have isn't top of the line but it seems to do the trick for most of the stuff I do and transfering "footage" to the computer is a lot faster than using firewire/i.link or a video capture card.

I also have a Canon HD that records to tape using a standard format HDV. I like tape since they are easy to switch out and store. My personal preference would be to not get a hard drisc camera. One you fill it, then you are stuck until you download the disc to your computer. Granted, they do hold a lot of video.

Some camcorder manufacturers do not completely comply with the standards or they develop special codecs or formats that cause some frustration. Sony is known for that and JVC has some special issues. They all work well but some just require some special, additional encoding/decoding.

Thanks for the tips, all.

I'll keep checking here for a bit.

I have the Canon HV30, and I've been really happy with it.

I'm detecting a pattern here ....

I guess we're all kind of partial to 'what works'. LOL Editing AVCHD is still difficult regardless of what brand of software and it needs a more powerful CPU because of the compression technique it uses. It would be interesting to see if the camcorder industry has done any studies. Seems like they just come out with something new and shove it at the public.

If I was looking non-tape camcorder only, I'd go for JVC high-end versions. Older model Gz-HD7 or GZ-HD6 could probably be found at reduced price. Both record in HDV MPEG 2 transport stream although JVC opted to use a strange extension again (.TOD). The latest version of this tech is the GZ-HD40 which records in AVCHD & HDV formats.

Hmmm.

I had just tentatively selected this Canon model because it has both hd and memory card ability, plus its not the newest in their line, so discounts are available, at least at Best Buy.

So now you throw JVC at me!

So I guess I'll keep comparing!

Here's a related dumb question -- if you record in HD on a camcorder, does that mean you need a blueray player to play it back on your computer or TV?

To play HD back on a TV, you would need Bluray player and HDTV. You can playback any video file on a computer. To playback a disc, Vista/Win7 can playback the AVCHD on DVD created by C2009 or C2010. Bluray discs, of course, need a Bluray player/burner.

That Canon would be fine if your computer can handle the AVCHD processing.

Gary thanks so much.

Well I think after looking around some more and talking to a neighbor that also has a Canon, the model I referenced above -- which dropped $50.00 this week at Best Buy -- will likely be the route I take.

So Vista pcs can play back those non-BlueRay dvds in HD if I (finally) upgrade to Creator 2010 and burn them with a non-BlueRay DVD burner? Good to know.

Thanks again all, I'll keep you posted....

It is best to refer to those as AVCHD discs. You, of course need a Blu-ray player that will play AVCHD discs. Look for that terminology for the one you have or for the one you are looking to buy. A couple of people have Sony blu-ray players and are happy with them (under $200). Also remember that about 40 minutes is all you can put on a single sided disc.