Camcorder Suggestion

[Guest hstnasia]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of getting a camcorder but undecided with the media. I'm very new to this thing, so can anyone advice me pros and cons of each medium?

1. MiniDV

2. DVD

3. Hard disk

Let's say if I want to do a little bit of editting, which medium would be best? I heard the DVD format is not really suitable for editting, is it true?

I'm actually interested in Harddisk type and there's a few of them from JVC (Everio) but not sure if JVC lenses is ok. When it comes to the brand, I was having Sony or Canon in mind but tried out the Sony with the Hard disk, I don't really like the layout esp. the Zoom lever.

So, any expert could advice me on this. Thanks and appreciate.

[GachiMuchi]

I would recommend Hard disk recording. I felt that Hard disk recording would be a good technology, provided it is in uncompressed format. If is it is going to be in compressed format it would be no difference with DVD disk format.

Yes. .DVD is already a compress format so it not good quality, but then again, what kind of standard are you looking at?

Sony's HD video is better of course, there are a few software like Pinnacle Studio 10 is good for simple video editing.

With good quality video (uncompressed) you would be able to convert to good video output (avi, VCD, DVD, mov, etc.)

It would be good to search the Internet with the comments and recommendations of other users, or product comparison from CNet or some specialist board on the net.

[oralb]

adding to that, based on the 3 types of recording format, HDD recording indeed is the easiest to edit, as for DVD and miniDV you would need to convert back to digital format to edit.

one possible drawback on HDD recording is the memory space, unlike miniDV and DVD where you can easily get the recording media anyway, HDD recording would mean you are more or less stuck with the given memory space.

[Guest hstnasia]

thanks guys. I read up the HDD type, it file format is MPEG2 which I believe that's the compressed one. I'm using Mac so basically the s/w I will be using would be iMovie HD. The biggest HDD size around would be Sony which is 60GB. For JVC the biggest they have is 30 GB. Do you think 30GB is enough? I like the layout of the JVC, the buttons and the levers are quite easy to reach.

I will make a trip down to some electronic stores today to try a few of them out.