Sony Mini DV camcorder

withabix

There is little point in buying single use camcorder miniDVDs. Re-writable ones can be had for just over £1 each if you buy from the right place.

Even on the high street they are £1.50 each if you buy a cake of ten (Argos), or £3 each if you buy 5.

Come to think of it, why buy 5 if you can get 10 for the same price in the same shop....

withabix

the_reallongshanks wrote: »

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

Go on you camcorder manufacturer's website and find the model number for the higher capacity batteries for your camcorder.

Then type that model number into the search box on eBay.

My Sony DVD205E came supplied with a 900mAh battery, which costs £49 from Sony. Sony sell a 4000mAH battery for £109. I got a 'generic' one on eBay from a UK seller for £10.50 including postage.

One thing to remember though, camcorder battery capacity is proportional to size - if you get a battery with 4 times the capacity, it will stick 4 times further out of the back of your camcorder!

Neiliboy

stay away from camcorders that record straight onto mini dvd. In a nutshell they're rubbish.

Mini DV tape is still one of the best ways to go and this represents a bargain.

Although firewire is the best way to upload to your PC - not USB as described in an earlier post.

HTH

Inactive

Ellie2758 wrote: »

I have'nt got round to trying it yet(need some mini dv tapes) but I've read good reviews about it.

You would think a company like Sony would provide one blank tape with their product, how frustrating to get home and find that you cannot actually use it.

bella4uk

A similar offer on bargaincrazy but you need to use the 25% off code on the homepage for a panasonic minidv....also a decent philips hd digital tv.
http://www.bargaincrazy.com/bcrazy/product.asp?brand=bcrazy&cat%5Fid=3013&zone%5Fid=&prod%5Fid=11207&seq=4&page=&OrderBy=&offer%5Fid=&source%5Fcode=&publication%5Fcode=&leaflet=&extra=&mscs_sid=82FUKJRHDBGW9N4GRRN6TQ0V98UJ9DC7

nobbyh_2

Here's a link for cheap mini dv tapes.
http://www.tapesuk.co.uk/acatalog/Mini_DV.html

Ordered some tapes on the sunday evening, received in the post Tuesday morning. Great turn a round.:j :j :j

withabix

Neiliboy wrote: »

stay away from camcorders that record straight onto mini dvd. In a nutshell they're rubbish.

Mini DV tape is still one of the best ways to go and this represents a bargain.

Although firewire is the best way to upload to your PC - not USB as described in an earlier post.

HTH

In a nutshell, that's your opinion.

All digital formats (miniDV, miniDVD, SD etc) have their pluses and minuses, as do all the brands as well, due to different compression methods, different CCD resolutions, sound quality, tape heads, magnetic effects etc etc etc.

rdwarr

Neiliboy wrote: »

stay away from camcorders that record straight onto mini dvd. In a nutshell they're rubbish.

Well, I've got one and I think it's great! Thanks for that well-argued hypothesis though :wall: :wall:

It's a Panasonic VDR-D150 btw. Around £199 from Hyperfi on Ebay.

laurence2163

Can anyone recommend a decent value software package (or other method) to get the camcorder footage from the pc (i have just learnt how to transfer via firewire) onto a cd/DVD that can be played in a regular DVD player (i have a dvd burner but it can with no software).

Got some lovely footage that I want to send abroad to family. Cheers

blinky

laurence2163 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a decent value software package (or other method) to get the camcorder footage from the pc (i have just learnt how to transfer via firewire) onto a cd/DVD that can be played in a regular DVD player (i have a dvd burner but it can with no software).

Got some lovely footage that I want to send abroad to family. Cheers

Try www.videohelp.com for possible packages and guides. www.doom9.org might be useful too.
Most CD / DVD recording software has some DVD authoring features in.