Digital Video Forum

Digital Video Forum Discuss camcorders, HD video, HD DSLRs, video editing, DV software, and video techniques. Your DV forum moderator is Skyman.
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  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    3

    which one should I keep?

    I recently did some digital camcorder purchasing and narrowed my choices down to two that I could afford and had features that I like.

    But since I can't find any professional reviews on the web, I thought I'd just post for any advice here of which one I should keep. I have about a week to return one of the two cameras.

    The cameras in question are:

    SONY HANDYCAM DCR-HC46

    and

    PANASONIC PV-GS300



    Both cameras seems to be pretty decent with good video, in my opinion. But I haven't been able to take any digital stills yet or play with the video editing programs. The Sony has the touch screen and Night Mode, but the Panasonic has more megapixels and the 3 CCD. The Sony has a lot of cool features while the Panasonic does not.

    Anybody have some advice on their experiences with either of these cameras? Or maybe you can point me to some professional reviews on these? I didn't find any but perhaps I just missed them.

    I appreciate any help you can provide.

  2. #2
    Moderator Skyman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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    1,507

    Re: which one should I keep?

    i recently read an interesting insight into the sony touch screens. given that the design of the cameras means it is unlikely you would use the viewfinder, then you are putting finger marks on your viewfinder and degrading your image. it really comes down to what you want to do with it though. i rarely use the special features such as night mode or any of the video effects found on most camcorders but then if you are only doing home movies so what. having more megapixels on your still image will help if you plan to not use a still camera. and 3ccd does in theory give you more consistently better video. as for software i have no idea what is bundled these days but i reckon given a firewire card and something like windows movie maker as a starting point it wont kill you whatever is bundled.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    3

    Re: which one should I keep?

    Thank you for the advice. Alot of it will also come down to which one my wife finds more user friendly, too. She's going to play around with them both tomorrow.

    Anybody else?

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3

    Re: which one should I keep?

    just to close the story,

    I decided to keep the Panasonic camcorder. the 3CCD's were the main reason, but the ease of use and quality of the recordings that I got were the key factor. Better still pictures was a bonus.

    My wife liked the Sony a bit better because it was a tad smaller and fit her hand better, but she decided quality was a must, also.

    Thanks to everyone for your help!

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