Sony Mini DV camcorder

ckerrd

Ellie2758 wrote: »

But does it record straight to disk?

No - it records to tape

the_reallongshanks

bought it yesterday, a good price i think,, they are becoming cheaper as high def models start to take over ( as well as dvd and ones with built-in hard drives and ones that record onto memory cards). this uses tapes not dvds. the carl zeis is good ive been told

burratha

Get yourself a stock of tapes, and a couple of batteries, then you don't need anything else. Cheap and cheerful - dump everything onto computer disk via the USB connection when you get home

davilown

Buy some sony mini dv tapes from amazon (about £11 inc)http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/202-8785686-9503012?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=SONY+MINIDV , plug straight into recordable dvd player or firewire to pc and you will be able to record from tape to dvd/cd/harddrive. I have a JVC and that also takes an sd card son I can record video and photos straight to that.

Hope this is not too confusing!

Poppycat

I would stay clear of the hard disc one as highlighted on gadget last week, minDV seems to be the best for quality for home consumers

withabix

Twin packs of TDK 60min miniDV tapes currently £3.92 at Tesco if you don't want to wait for delivery.


I find my Sony DVD camcorder much better quality than the previous miniDV one I had. Much, much quicker download to computer as well (obviously!!) and no need for head cleaner tapes, which you WILL need to use regularly with a miniDV camcorder.

Dreamcoat

Ellie,

Looks like a bargain to me, and you can't go far wrong with a Sony, especially at £150. I'm still not convinced about the mini DVD route for saving your footage as it is not as easy as some manufacturers would like you to think (You have to finalise the discs before they will play on a DVD player and then you can't add more footage to the same disc without erasing what you've already filmed). (Happy to be corrected by Withabix if this is not the case).

Tape may be old technology, but it has lasted this long because it is simple, easy and reliable. I think it will be around for a few more years yet as there is nothing better on the market without serious disadvantages:-

Mini DVD's as above;
Hard Disc Drive - you can't swap it when it's full (which may be a problem if you go on holiday for a couple of weeks and you can't download your footage)
Memory Cards don't have the capacity just yet.

So all in all, a bargain. Go for it!

My two cents anyway!:rolleyes:

withabix

Dreamcoat wrote: »

and then you can't add more footage to the same disc without erasing what you've already filmed).
:

Not true.

You just select UNFINALISE (well, you do on a Sony anyway!)

Finalising is quick anyway. 3-5 minutes for a 30 minute video, compared to 30 minutes to transfer your miniDV video to your computer and then a similar amount of time to render it.

Put a miniDVD straight into your DVD player and watch the recording on your TV or PC without any messing about first.

Re-formatting a miniDVD takes approx 20 seconds. Erasing a miniDV tape takes 60 minutes.

MiniDV camcorders eat batteries - the one you get with the camcorder probably won't last the length of one tape. MiniDVD camcorder batteries last upto 4 DVDs on the one supplied with mine. I bought a high capacity battery on eBay for mine for £10 (Sony price £100 !!) and that lasted a 2 week holiday without a recharge!

Poppycat

If you can unfinalise a mindvd surely you will still loose space on the disc because once written it cant be unwritten unless its a dvdrw or similar

the_reallongshanks

ike the sound of a high capacity battery, more onfo pls