DVD Camcorders

Not Mini DVs but actual DVD camcorders. I looked at the Cannon DC100. Can't find any real reviews on it since it just came out. Anyone have any knowledge of the pros and cons?

 

I used one last week for the first time. They are terrible I veto your purchase.

The DVDs are not viewable in all DVD players. They dont take standard sized DVDs they take the small expensive ones. If you ever want to put the video on your computer you can only bring it in with a proprietary MPEG2 codec. They are WAY too proprietary. I really can't find one good thing about them.

 

oh yea and since the video image is already compressed it is inferior quality.

 

I thought the one I saw was a full size DVD. Did it look like this?

Canon DC100 camcorder - Recording
The DC100 DVD model records directly to a DVD, allowing consumers to easily put a disc into their home DVD player and watch home movies, from the comfort of their living rooms. The Canon DC100 camcorder accepts the three-inch DVD-R/-RW discs, which can store up to 60 minutes of video (120 minutes on a double sided disc) and are compatible with many home DVD players, both old and new. Canon chose the DVD-R/-RW format to ensure high compatibility with a range of DVD players and drives. Because it is a digital format, consumers can easily locate scenes without having to rewind or fast forward, create play lists of favorite scenes and are even able to do some quick editing.

 

yep. it says in the description it takes a 3inch DVD. they are no good man. really. Plus they arent upgradeable. They dont support HD DVDs which is what everything is moving to. Even the guy at Circuit City said that DVDCamcorders are jun that has no business being sold in Turkey much less America. If you dont want a miniDV i would go for HDD but it too is inferior video quality.

 

I just looked at some hard drive cameras. Although you can get like 20 hours of video they look awkward and the review on what is need to transfer the data seems complicated.

Look at straight digital camera with memory cards and you only get like 20 minutes of video which sucks.

 

yup. personally i would go with miniDV

 

yeah, minidv is better. i like the idea of hdd, but i don't think they're there yet. minidv is a MUCH better format for importing and editing on a computer. mpeg2 is a pain in the ass and is not easy to do frame accurate edits.

we bought a panasonic pv-gs250 that is pretty sweet. read a lot of reviews and liked the size (small, but not uncomfortably so).

 

So a mini DV is just a tape in the camera. Do you just plug it into you computer and download the images? Do you have to change tapes often? Can you use it to capture images directly on your PC?

 

minidv is a tape. they're typically 60-90 minutes, i believe. to get movies to your computer, you connect the camera and have the computer pull the movies into whatever editing system you're using. capturing still is generally done on a suplemental memory card in the camera itself.