Camcorder help

princessmoneysaver

DH has suddenly decided he wants to buy a camcorder for our holiday next week, having looked at both Argos (can collect) or Amazon (Express delivery) nothing stands out at the moment. He thinks HDD may be better, and cheaper in the longrun, than DVD but don't want to compromise on quality. Would need very quick delivery or store local to us to be able to collect (Currys Digital is local, can't think what else offhand other than Jessops maybe???) can anyone reccomend one for around the £300 mark although the cheaper the better. Having never had a camcorder before I'm not sure what to look for.

The one he's looked at on Amazon is http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-GZ-MG175EK-Hard-Disk-Camcorder/dp/B000O37WMW/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1208297048&sr=1-16 is this any good?

Marty999

My friend had a JVD HDD camcorder and he was very pleased until he got it wet in Brazil. Now it can not be repaired and he has lost all his footage from the Rio carnival.

My brother-in-law has a Sony DVD camcorder and it's easy to use but the downside is the DVDs only hold a maximum of 30 minutes. The video footage is more compressed but the quality looks fine on the TV.

I have a Samsung camcorder which uses mini DV tapes. It cost just £64 from an eBay shop and it suits me nicely. The only problem is having to wind through the tape to find the bit you want, but I can record up to 90 minutes on a tape.

If I had £300 to spend on a camcorder I would probably go HDD myself. It is always useful to handle it in store to see what suits you best. Quality wise, I don't think there is much to choose between any of them, until you go High Def.

nikzGfx

I've got the Panny NV GS90 was about £189.99 from Argos, good camera, uses Mini DV, transfer to PC via firewire, then select files that need putting on a disc and let the software's do its job. Has a great x42 Optical zoom which is great for getting closer to your image when far away.

For the most optimum quality a Mini DV cam is the way to go. There are plenty of cameras available to buy on the market many good ones upto your price range. SD ones anyway, decent High Def ones will cost alot more.

HoofeHearted

Aside from technical advice, where are you going on holiday?

If you are going abroad to somewhere outside of the EU (Canaries are not classed as EU for this), you can purchase a camcorder from one of the Duty Free shops at the airport.

I did this some years ago at Dixons Duty Free at Manchester airport. I did my homework, decided the one that I wanted and phoned the airport shop and pre-ordered the camcorder. When I went to pick it up, they had charged up the battery for me. I got it a lot cheaper than I would have done if I had bought it from the Dixons shop in the High Street.