markys

Whats the best camcorder I can buy for around £600'ish. Would manly be used to film the sprogs and some motorsports events. Prefer Sony.

Scooby Roo

I've got a Sony IP5 handycam, think it's superb with great picture quality, handy features and very simple to use (including linking to the computer and making videos etc). Also has a Carl Zeis lens which isn't bad either. Took it to the England match last night and I'm very impressed with the footage.

I got mine for £700 but that was tax free. You do best looking on the internet cos deals are good.

MarkO

The Sony IP5 cams are very limited in features, and don't have as good picture quality as, for example, the DCR-PC101. I was initially tempted to go for the IP5 - thinking the tiny size and MicroDV tape format sounded cool. However, when I saw one next to a DCR-PC101, I realised that actually they're not significantly smaller - certainly not enough to justify the price and reduced quality/feature-set.

In the end I plumped for the PC101, which I got from Cameras Direct, and couldn't be more pleased with it. However, it's still going to cost £840 including VAT, which is £250 more than markys wants to pay.

If you search Scoobynet for posts with "digital" or "camcorder" in the title in the last 3-4 months, there's about 20-30 similar threads which give loads of good suggestions.

marty_t3

I got the entry level JVC (GR DVL160) digital camcorder for around 400 quid. Has more than enough features for just filming my sprog and takes some reasonable enough stills. Has a decent optical(x10)/digital(x500) zoom (though autofocus can be a bit out at times in low light). Can be plugged into your pc with a firewire cable for editing of straight to your tv. I have no complaints with it and would recommend it to anyone as a decent entry level camera.

My dad has a similar entry level Sony digital camcorder (not sure of model type though but it's still the current model). His seems to have the same features and IIRC costs about 500. Seemed very similar to my JVC but didn't get to play with it for long so cant really pass any judgements on it. At a glance it looks ok.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Sony TRV16E
Small enough, light weight, DEAD easy to use, and everyone who has seen the results I got last summer, remarks on the picture quality.
Colour viewfinder, and LCD screen, and the whole lot works on mini DV.
The only thing I bought, (apart from tapes, of course, and I got a 5 pack of Maxell ones from Dixons for £9.99), was an extra Sony , slightly larger, battery, as charging takes place on the camera, so if your battery runs out, you can't charge and use.
My spare was dirt cheap from www.digitalfirst.co.uk., the camera is about the £500 mark now.
Alcazar
Edited to say: I am not Marty_T3's dad, by the way! :

[Edited by alcazar - 10/17/2002 11:29:50 AM]