Camcorder Help

[Kent Shrimper]

As we all know the Pub @ SZ is somewhat awash with knowledge so here is my plea.

I am off on my Honeymoon in November and me and the good lady shall be going on Safari and then to Mauritius. We would obvioulsy like a constant reminder of our trip so have decided to stick a Camcorder on the Wedding List.

There are so many different types DVD, DV, HDD, etc and im not to sure which Camera to choose. Now when ireturn i would like to do a little editing and have the finished article on DVD etc. I have briefly read some forums which suggest DV is better for Editing etc

So which Camera should i buy and which editing software is best to use?

Cheers
Andy

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Now I'm not too sure about editing, as I've never looked into any of that but I can tell you that I've got a DVD Camcorder, which is great. Just film, and then when done put straight in your DVD player. Piece of ****.

 

[BlueJ]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 17 2006,15:34)]Now I'm not too sure about editing, as I've never looked into any of that but I can tell you that I've got a DVD Camcorder, which is great. Just film, and then when done put straight in your DVD player. Piece of ****.

Totally agree with you there. I highly recomment the Sony Handycam, which comes with all the software required for video editing if you so wish, or as TFS said you can just shove the mini DVD straight into your DVD player.

 

[Kent Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Tilly's Prodical Son @ Aug. 17 2006,15:39)]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 17 2006,15:34)]Now I'm not too sure about editing, as I've never looked into any of that but I can tell you that I've got a DVD Camcorder, which is great. Just film, and then when done put straight in your DVD player. Piece of ****.

Totally agree with you there. I highly recomment the Sony Handycam, which comes with all the software required for video editing if you so wish, or as TFS said you can just shove the mini DVD straight into your DVD player.

this is interesting as a few forums have said that for editing DVD Camcorders are really difficult

 

[Desert Shrimper]

Can I also recommend the Royal Palm hotel (Grand Baie) for dinner one night. Book early and get a table overlooking the beach - truly unforgettable with food and service to match.

 

[BlueJ]

Quote[/b] (Kent Shrimper @ Aug. 17 2006,15:52)]

Quote[/b] (Tilly's Prodical Son @ Aug. 17 2006,15:39)]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 17 2006,15:34)]Now I'm not too sure about editing, as I've never looked into any of that but I can tell you that I've got a DVD Camcorder, which is great. Just film, and then when done put straight in your DVD player. Piece of ****.

Totally agree with you there. I highly recomment the Sony Handycam, which comes with all the software required for video editing if you so wish, or as TFS said you can just shove the mini DVD straight into your DVD player.

this is interesting as a few forums have said that for editing DVD Camcorders are really difficult

It's not the editing thats the problem, it's getting the video file from the disk/camera.

 

[Kent Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Tilly's Prodical Son @ Aug. 17 2006,16:14)]

Quote[/b] (Kent Shrimper @ Aug. 17 2006,15:52)]

Quote[/b] (Tilly's Prodical Son @ Aug. 17 2006,15:39)]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 17 2006,15:34)]Now I'm not too sure about editing, as I've never looked into any of that but I can tell you that I've got a DVD Camcorder, which is great. Just film, and then when done put straight in your DVD player. Piece of ****.

Totally agree with you there. I highly recomment the Sony Handycam, which comes with all the software required for video editing if you so wish, or as TFS said you can just shove the mini DVD straight into your DVD player.

this is interesting as a few forums have said that for editing DVD Camcorders are really difficult

It's not the editing thats the problem, it's getting the video file from the disk/camera.

as in time taken? or compatability?

 

[Kent Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (The Bloke In The Pram Shop @ Aug. 17 2006,15:59)]Can I also recommend the Royal Palm hotel (Grand Baie) for dinner one night. Book early and get a table overlooking the beach - truly unforgettable with food and service to match.

Cheers The Bloke that works in the Pram shop

I shall certainley have a looksy

 

[The Artful Shrimper]

I've just bought a camcorder. Secondhand mind you from ebay. A sony mini cam thing that uses miniDV tapes and also a memory stick.
It hasn't arrived yet ~ Sony DCR-TRV16E

 

[Firestorm]

One thing I found, I bought a camcorder for Mrs FS at Xmas (from Pixmania), got all the extras , you know case , more tapes, bigger battery etc and then found after her first attempts at videoing that she could not link it to the PC for anything other than stills...........
The camera came with a USB cable as standard but only once you got to about page 10 of the manual (word of warning about Pixmania here, as they are based in France the manual was not in English so I had to download one) did we find out that to downlaod video you need a firewire cable which is an "extra".

 

[The Artful Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Kent Shrimper @ Aug. 17 2006,15:29)]and which editing software is best to use?

I was given Premieres Pro 2 by an IT bod at work
It has loads of stuff to fiddle about with.I have seen them on Ebay bootlegged and cracked for a tenner and I know someone who got one and it does exactly what mine does and works perfect, except I doubt he can get upgrades/patches/fixes/support etc...but he only paid a tenner !
Likewise I was given Adobe After FX which is good for plug ins and manipulations. Maybe they do that on Ebay too!

I make my own DVD's with Nero as it does everything I want.

NOTE: I DO NOT IN ANY WAY CONDONE THE USE OF PIRATED SOFTWARE

 

[Mad Cyril]

If I was going to Africa on Safari I would be taking a decent hunting rifle, not a camcorder.

Leave filming wildlife to the pros like David Attenborough and Terry Nutkins.

If you do see Panda or a Tiger would you rather have ten seconds of shaky amature footage or a nice new rug for your lounge?

 

[Bielzibubz]

Quote[/b] (Mad Cyril @ Aug. 18 2006,09:05)]If I was going to Africa on Safari I would be taking a decent hunting rifle, not a camcorder.

Leave filming wildlife to the pros like David Attenborough and Terry Nutkins.

If you do see Panda or a Tiger would you rather have ten seconds of shaky amature footage or a nice new rug for your lounge?

Hang on! .... Panda in Africa

Now forgive me here, I'm no Chris Packam but last time I checked the Serengeti Wildlife
Reserve was'nt exactly awash with the black and white furry things

 

[* ORM *]

Quote[/b] (Firestorm @ Aug. 18 2006,08:41)]The camera came with a USB cable as standard but only once you got to about page 10 of the manual (word of warning about Pixmania here, as they are based in France the manual was not in English so I had to download one) did we find out that to downlaod video you need a firewire cable which is an "extra".

Almost as bad as the Digital Theatre Surround TV costing £2500K I bought a couple of years back that didn't come with the digital coax. Needless to say I didn't find this out until after I started putting everything together in the evening.  

The shop refused to throw in the cable and said it wasn't their fault it wasn't supplied with the package. I finding sitting on top of the customer services counter works wonders in these instances.

 

[* ORM *]

Quote[/b] (D62SUBOY @ Aug. 18 2006,09:26)]

Quote[/b] (Mad Cyril @ Aug. 18 2006,09:05)]If I was going to Africa on Safari I would be taking a decent hunting rifle, not a camcorder.

Leave filming wildlife to the pros like David Attenborough and Terry Nutkins.

If you do see Panda or a Tiger would you rather have ten seconds of shaky amature footage or a nice new rug for your lounge?

Hang on! .... Panda in Africa  

 Now forgive me here, I'm no Chris Packam but last time I checked the Serengeti Wildlife
Reserve was'nt exactly awash with the black and white furry things
 

Not to mention the fact that Tigers can only be found in Asia (except zoos etc before any smart8rses comment).

 

[BlueJ]

Quote[/b] (Kent Shrimper @ Aug. 17 2006,16:26)]

Quote[/b] (Tilly's Prodical Son @ Aug. 17 2006,16:14)]

Quote[/b] (Kent Shrimper @ Aug. 17 2006,15:52)]

Quote[/b] (Tilly's Prodical Son @ Aug. 17 2006,15:39)]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 17 2006,15:34)]Now I'm not too sure about editing, as I've never looked into any of that but I can tell you that I've got a DVD Camcorder, which is great. Just film, and then when done put straight in your DVD player. Piece of ****.

Totally agree with you there. I highly recomment the Sony Handycam, which comes with all the software required for video editing if you so wish, or as TFS said you can just shove the mini DVD straight into your DVD player.

this is interesting as a few forums have said that for editing DVD Camcorders are really difficult

It's not the editing thats the problem, it's getting the video file from the disk/camera.

as in time taken? or compatability?

Mainly time taken, but it's probably still quicker than with a DV camera.

 

[Kent Shrimper]

so does a DV cam upload in real time and DVD as speeded time?

 

[BlueJ]

Quote[/b] (Kent Shrimper @ Aug. 19 2006,10:56)]so does a DV cam upload in real time and DVD as speeded time?

Most DV cams use firewire, so they transfer pretty fast, but most DVD cams also have firewire, so it depends on file size of the recordings to be honest.