Another Request for a VideoCam Recommendation

[TriciaWD]

I just registered with this forum on the suggestion of PhotoJohn. (Thanks John!). I will read the other posts on recommendations and gleen the relevant information. Also, I would like to have advice on my situation.

We are a family with 2 school-age kids who have several performances scheduled as part of their school activities. The video camera is basically for recording family events and kids events. Some outdoors, but probably mostly indoors.

We are a novice to video recording. Here is what is important to us in a camera:
1) We like things that are simple and of good quality.
2) Tend to keep our purchases for a long time. We don't just change for the latest gadget.
3) No need for alot of fancy editing ( no time!).
3) Price - around $500 or less.
4) Batteries - prefer to use standard, non-proprietary batteries (if that exists).
5) Camera needs to capture good quality video in different levels of light (from a dark room blowing out birthday candles to capturing a soccer game on a sunny day.)

What would you recommend?

Also:
What are the options for playing the videos? Our preference is the TV, but it is fine to use the computer (Windows XP). Right now we have a very old TV (14 years old). How difficult would it be to hook up the video to that?

Finally:
What kind of zoom would you recommend.

Thanks so much for your help! (And if you have answered a similar question in a different posting, just direct me to the specific post. )

Tricia

[Skyman]

I just registered with this forum on the suggestion of PhotoJohn. (Thanks John!). I will read the other posts on recommendations and gleen the relevant information. Also, I would like to have advice on my situation.

We are a family with 2 school-age kids who have several performances scheduled as part of their school activities. The video camera is basically for recording family events and kids events. Some outdoors, but probably mostly indoors.

We are a novice to video recording. Here is what is important to us in a camera:
1) We like things that are simple and of good quality.
2) Tend to keep our purchases for a long time. We don't just change for the latest gadget.
3) No need for alot of fancy editing ( no time!).
3) Price - around $500 or less.
4) Batteries - prefer to use standard, non-proprietary batteries (if that exists).
5) Camera needs to capture good quality video in different levels of light (from a dark room blowing out birthday candles to capturing a soccer game on a sunny day.)

What would you recommend?

Also:
What are the options for playing the videos? Our preference is the TV, but it is fine to use the computer (Windows XP). Right now we have a very old TV (14 years old). How difficult would it be to hook up the video to that?

Finally:
What kind of zoom would you recommend.

Thanks so much for your help! (And if you have answered a similar question in a different posting, just direct me to the specific post. )

Tricia

First off, go to your local shop and play with every camera they have. in terms of ease of use most cameras are pretty good these days, however having the main buttons in the correct positions is going to be very important for ease of use and everyone's hands are different. so make sure the on of switch is easy to operate without being in the way, the zoom control lever is not cramped to reach and the record/pause button is conveniently located.
unfortunately the camera manufacturers play the proprietry game in terms of batteries although there are generic suppliers but you still need to get the style battery to suit your brand of camera.
In terms of zoom 10x is a good starting point, and beyond 20x starts to get shaky. optical zoom is what you want, ignore the digital zoom (all cameras have it) but you sacrifice to much image quality.
Connecting to your tv should be ok if it has an RCA connection on it, if not through the VCR would also work. if you have a playstation or nintendo etc the video camera would be connected the same way. if you have a dvd player the mini dvd cameras will let you play the disc in the dvd player, although a mini DV camera will often be cheaper and higher quality.

I hope that helps

[MJS]

Skyman nailed it right on the head. It's hard to go wrong with one of the majors, Sony, Panasonic, JVC or Canon. I'm kind of partial to the Mini DV format. The DVD cams are nicem but sacrifice quality.

Good luck.

[TriciaWD]

Thanks for the detailed info! You guys are awesome. Between your responses and the other listings, I have a wealth of knowledge to leverage!!

Merci!

Tricia

[Photo-John]

Tricia-
Told you these guys could help! I'm just not knowledgable enough or confident enough to give video advice. But Skyman and MJS really know their stuff. They make this forum a good one.

Thanks for your help, guys!

[TriciaWD]

Now with a little bit of knowledge... watch out! .....

Do y'all have any thoughts about the pros and cons of miniDV format versus the formats that allow downloads directly to DVD? Seems that the direct to DVD is more recent so maybe it will last longer. What do you think?

Secondly, in the MiniDV format, 2 different cameras have been suggested: Sony's DCR TRV 350 and Canon's ZR60. Any thoughts or opinions?

Third, to John: Thanks so much for what you do. Your web site and community is the BEST!


Tricia

[Skyman]

Mini DV is a higher quality format than MiniDVD (so easy to confuse those 2 names!) it will be around for a long time becauese A there are lots of mini DV cameras around and B it is based on the pro dv and dvc video formats (also a good number of pro cameras use this format) it also records longer than a mini DVD, the advantage to the mini dvd format is as i said above, convenience in that it will go straight from the camera to your dvd player. if you think you might like edit your video the mini dv format will be better. honestly in terms of consumer cameras tapes based formats are going to dissapear as we see an increase in the capacity and speed of solid state memory. If i could tell you when though i would be worth more money. however both mini dv and mini dvd formats will be supported for many many years to come.

[MJS]

The DCR TRV350 is no longer listed in the Sony literature. The good thing is that it will play back the old 8 MM tapes if you still have them. I don't believe that the D8 format is as good as the MiniDV format. One of my students currently has the Canon ZR60 and has had no problems with it, although there are some folks who have had trouble with the canon cameras being recognized on Windows XP SP2. There are a few posts on this board to help get around that problem. My beginning classes are using the Sony DCR TRV 19/22's and have never had a problem with them. The chip is slightly bigger than the Canon ZR series with a smaller overall camera package. I own the 22 and love it. The TRV MiniDV series have now been replaced by the DCR HC series.

Good luck with your choice.

[mjs1973]

Welcome to the forum Tricia.

I had many of the same questions that you are facing with this purchase about a year ago. We were looking for a video camera to do about the same things that you are looking to get out of it. I was checking out the Canon ZR's when someone mentioned Panasoninc to me. I did some research on the Panasonic's and ended up going with the PV-GS15. It has a longer zoom than the Canons (24x optical) and I think it might be a little smaller, but I'm not sure about that. I don't remember off the top of my head, but I think the reviews that I read rated it a little higher than the ZR's. It's been a year or so since I did all my research so don't quote me on that. I'm coming from this from a differant point of view than MJS and Skyman because I don't have any background in these. I'm just your average consumer looking for about the same thing that your looking for. I have to say that we are very happy with the Panasonic so don't be afraid to check them out. One other thing to consider is image stabilization. I think just about all of them have it now, but I would make sure anything you buy does. Unless you plan on using a tripod all the time then maybe it wont be needed, but I know I wouldn't buy one without it. Just the thoughts of an average consumer.

[TriciaWD]

Thanks Michael

I really appreciate your thoughts!


Cheers!


Tricia