Proby521

iTrader: (1)

Hi people,

Im looking to buy a cheap (£300-£400) camcorder, got my first little one on the way, and thought it may be a good idea to get something to record it growing up! In the past Ive borrowed my old mans camera, but noticed there is a huge selection of camcorders in the cheaper range available. Im tempted by the Panasonic MiniDV NV-GS75, looks good for the money, but have also noticed JVC have released a range of HD camcorders, which seems a great idea, but reviews don't rate the quality MPEG2 rather than DV??? Any advice would be gratefully recieved, I will try and get one ordered before Christmas is here.

Regards
Proby

mad_dr

I know that your budget is from £300-£400 but I also noticed your comment on the HD DV Camcorders. I currently have a brand new, never used, fully boxed etc Sony HDR-HC1E for sale with some accessories (sales prize from work - so not nicked! ) - I've been told that the retail price is around £2k for all the stuff it comes with (2 high capactiy 6hour Sony batteries, loads of DV tapes, HDV tapes, cables etc) but I'm after £1k if it means I don't need to go through the eBay hassle...

If you or anyone else is interested, drop me a PM and I'll send you some pics etc.

Oh - and this is DEFINTELY HD quality - my company made a corporate video with one of these cameras and showed it on a 65" screen and it looked STUNNING...

If you're not interested - all the best with your search for your cam and all the best for the forthcoming arrival to the family!

Smiler

I'm just about to order a Sony DCR-HC42E.

DV in and records in 16:9. About £360

Brendan Hughes

mad_dr - I think he means HD= Hard Drive, rather than HD= High Definition

I was also looking at the HD(D) ones from JVC, wondering how good they were.

HDH

Proby521

iTrader: (1)

Yes Brendan, hit the nail bang on the head, I meant HardDrive and not HighDefinition!!! If I had a spare grand under the matress, I'd be interested mad_dr, but getting kitted out for our first sprog has cost a small fortune. Smiler, I've read reviews about the Sony, the 16:9 is pretty good on those, I think the panny just adds black borders!! Will keep reading the reviews then, the JVC HD sounds great with no tapes/DVDs to chew up/lose but still not sure.......

Proby

GaryCat

Ebuyer have the JVC GZ-MC100 HD camcorder for £300. Looks to be about £500 everywhere else.

Brendan Hughes

Personally I think 16:9 is just a gimmick. 95% of users will have sprog crying, sprog gurgling, sprog crawling. You don't need 16:9 for that.

Proby the hard-drive ones seem to come in two flavours - a hard drive (20-50GB) and a microdrive (4GB) with the latter being more expensive, and with less zoom?? Think it got damn good reviews though.

Proby521

iTrader: (1)

Yep I looked at both the 4gb (CF) microdrive, and the 20 & 30gb models. The 4gb microdrive looks sweet, its very compact & light, but 4gb means only 1 hour recording, and 1 hour batt life, I'm not sure if this is enough. Would have thought it is. The quality of the recording is my only concern though.

Proby

Brendan Hughes

Wow, I see the 4GB is the old version.

these guys seem to think the film quality of the new one is OK. But 8-sec startup time!

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/art...&page_number=2

Proby521

iTrader: (1)

8-sec start up time is from powering up, I wonder what its like when on standby? This model is available for £399 from various high street shops now, comet, currys & dixons. Think I will go have a look at one, try one out in the flesh.

Proby

TopBanana

I was looking into this for a xmas present for the missus. Apparently Panasonic do 3ccd cameras for quite low prices. Check out the PV-GS75 for example

Proby521

iTrader: (1)

Yeah Topbanana,

That was one of the original short list items the GS75, I've been to have a look in comet at the JVC Hard Drives jobbies, I cant belive how small/light they are. No need to carry extra tapes either! The bloke in comet reckons the quality of the JVC is fine for normal usage. Very tempted by one of these now.
Proby