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SeSawaya · Jun 16, 2005, 12:09 AM

As I always try to seek the wisdom of the forum before I make a major purchase, I ask you now,

What video camera should I get?

I currently have a Canon ZR80 miniDV thats pretty good, but I HATE the noise of the mechanism running as I'm recording. I dont remember it being even 1/2 this loud on my old ZR20 back in the day.

So should I stick with Canon like the new ZR100 or 90? Or are there better fish in the sea? Just has to be miniDV with firewire of course and be under $450 if possible.

Might be a good time to get a iSight too

thanks!

iMOTOR · Jun 16, 2005, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by SeSawayaI

I always try to seek the wisdom of the forum before I make a major purchase

JoshuaZ · Jun 16, 2005, 02:05 AM

Actually I'm in the same boat. I'm wanting to buy a little video camera for myself. I was looking into Sony on advice from a friend. Though I'm only looking to spend between $300-400 on it.

michaeljohn63 · Jun 16, 2005, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by SeSawaya

What video camera should I get?

I currently have a Canon ZR80 miniDV thats pretty good, but I HATE the noise of the mechanism running as I'm recording. I dont remember it being even 1/2 this loud on my old ZR20 back in the day.

So should I stick with Canon like the new ZR100 or 90? Or are there better fish in the sea? Just has to be miniDV with firewire of course and be under $450 if possible.

thanks!

I had Canon ZR (I think the model number was ZR45) for exactly one day, before returning it and buying a Sony. I've never regretted my decision. My decision was not about the noise, though, it was about the lousy low light images. No miniDV is going to be great at low-light situations, but the Sony was waaayyyy better than the Canon. In fact, the Canon was so bad, I thought they should have been slapped with a class action suit for putting out a product that simply did not do what it was supposed to do: take decent home videos. When I say low-light, I am talking about a 15x9 foot living room, at night, with three lamps, burning a total of over 200 watts. My video was very grainy and looked like slow motion, with ghosting, etc. I thought it might just be my camera, so I went online, to find out that review sites had the same comment: don't buy the Canon ZR. I took it back, bought a Sony low end miniDV and am very pleased--much much better. About a year later, at Christmas, I was videotaping our family get together with my Sony. My sister brought her new Canon ZR (80?). We showed both videos of the same time, same people, etc. No comparison. She was embarassed, and had to agree that her video camera was just not very good at indoor night time video (when I take most of my video).

So, Sony. They've got it figured out. You pay a little more, but imho its worth every penny.

Big Mac · Jun 16, 2005, 10:24 AM

One of the best camcorder review sites I've found so far is camcorderinfo.com. Their reviews on consumer camcorders indicate the JVC GR-D250 is a great choice, and it's only around $250 at most etailers.

jamil5454 · Jun 16, 2005, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by SeSawaya

As I always try to seek the wisdom of the forum before I make a major purchase, I ask you now,

What video camera should I get?

I currently have a Canon ZR80 miniDV thats pretty good, but I HATE the noise of the mechanism running as I'm recording. I dont remember it being even 1/2 this loud on my old ZR20 back in the day.

So should I stick with Canon like the new ZR100 or 90? Or are there better fish in the sea? Just has to be miniDV with firewire of course and be under $450 if possible.

Might be a good time to get a iSight too

thanks!

SeSawaya, are you by any chance Middle Eastern? (or Lebanese perhaps?)

SeSawaya · Jun 16, 2005, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by jamil5454

SeSawaya, are you by any chance Middle Eastern? (or Lebanese perhaps?)

heh, well my wife is Lebanese & I had to use her account way back in the day when my simply didnt work. So, yah, good call. Her maiden name is Sawaya

thanks guys for the coments. I will check out the sonys and others but think I'll steer clear for the canons for now.

SeSawaya · Jun 16, 2005, 04:45 PM

So I'm looking at the Sony DCR-HC32. Anyone use one of these. It has Firewire right? They really talk up the USB crap. Cant imagine it dosent have it.

mojo2 · Jun 16, 2005, 10:49 PM

Just a word of caution...make sure you cross check your choice against the Apple compatibility list. Believe it or not there are some very decent MiniDV format cameras made by reputable names which ARE NOT supported by certain Mac iterations and/or iMovie and/or FCe/p versions.

You would want to scream bloody murder if you spent the time and money to find just the right camera but then found you couldn't use it on your computer's NLE system.

It happens EVERY day to many of those who are unwary or unaware.

michaeljohn63 · Jun 16, 2005, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by SeSawaya

So I'm looking at the Sony DCR-HC32. Anyone use one of these. It has Firewire right? They really talk up the USB crap. Cant imagine it dosent have it.

You should be able to check the specs at Sony's website. Look for "iLink." I think that's what Sony calls FireWire.

MaxPower2k3 · Jun 16, 2005, 11:54 PM

Yeah, the DCR-HC32 has iLink (iLink is sony's version of Apple's FireWire trademark; both are the IEEE1394 connection)

SeSawaya · Jun 16, 2005, 11:57 PM

ok so how do I found out it compatibility with iMovie and such?

Other than that, I think I have a winner

JoshuaZ · Jun 17, 2005, 12:22 AM

If it has Firewire it should work. Any major brand should be fine.

CaseCom · Jun 17, 2005, 03:18 AM

http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/camcorders.html

It hasn't been updated with this year's models though.