digital camcorder question

[LucyMeg]

I read a previous post on this topic in the archives, but wanted to ask a little more about digital camcorders. We want a digital video camera for the purpose of taking videos (of course), as well as being able to email still shots to relatives. We hear that the digital still shots are not as good with a camcorder as they are with a regular digital camera, but that this only applies if you plan to print the stills. Since we don't plan to print many, if any, still shots, we'd rather save the money we'd spend on getting two cameras (video and digital), and just get a good digital video camera. With that said, has anyone had experience with the following cameras?

Sony DCR-TRV 25
JVC GRDVL520U
JVC GRDVL720U
JVC GRDVL820U

Can you suggest others that are good? We are not big technology people, so don't need anything complicated. Still, we want features that will allow us to take good footage and preserve it, transfer it to VHS, etc.

If you take still shots with your digital camcorder, are you pleased with the quality of these pictures for email purposes?

Thanks in advance!

[egoldber]

We have an earlier model of the Sony camera and really like it. Itis very simple to operate (good for me!), but still has excellent quality. Ours also has the ability to print photo "stills", but we have never done that. We have a regular digital camera for that. and it is MUCH easier to deal with.

My DH is something of an electronics "snob" and while we can't afford what he would REALLY like to buy, we usually end up with things that are top of the line consumer or low end professional camera equipment. I don't know anything about the JVC models, but I am pretty sure you would be very happy with the Sony.

HTH,

[bnme]

I am not the video camera-user (yet)in the house, so my answer may not be that helpful. We have the Sony Digital HandyCam and my husband LOVES it. You can take still shots and they come out wonderfully. They even print up nice (maybe not as nice as a good still digital camera -we also have a Nikon CoolPix885 which is great). We also have a good photo printer, so I think that makes a world of difference (my husband is a technology nut) compared to printing on a regular color printer.

The editing software that comes with the camera is easy to use, per DH, and he has made mini videos and cut various stills. I think he has only done so on the computer for e-miling or burned to cd-rom (although I THINK the camera can burn to DVD as well, not sure about VHS).

If you have any more questions, I'll ask him. I'm not even sure if the camera model you mentioned is similar so this info may really be useless!

[etwahl]

We have the Sony TRV27 and love it. It is very similar to the TRV25, but the lcd screen is much bigger (which is very nice). It has rave reviews on www.cnet.com. You can get a lot of information there.

As far as pricing, you have a lot of options, but I would say buy online (shop around and check out cnet's prices as well). Also, do you have an American Express card? They have a price match program. If you buy the camera, and within 60 days of buying it, the prices goes down, you can get up to $250 back from them. In our case, we bought it from www.nycv.com (which is known for excellent customer service) and then used the price match system with www.cameratopia.com because they have much lower prices, and the prices KEEP going down. That way you're buying from someone completely reputable, but you still get the lower price.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[jaime_n_jay]

DH and I both have degrees in computer-related fields and he is very techno-savvy. So when we went to buy a camcorder (which, incindentally, was about 5 hours after we found out we were expecting....ha!), he actually understood all of the fine print. He chose the SONY DCR-TRV 240 knowing it would be the absolute best buy for our $$$ and our needs.

That said, it is VERY easy to use and has worked great for us! The software is very user-friendly so that makes downloading the images and capturing stills, etc. a breeze. The stills are just fine for emailing and we have found that burning the mpeg's onto a CD and mailing the CD to grandparent's, etc. is an easy way for them to have some 'footage' of the kids (assumming that they have a PC to view it on). As a note, our little bundle hasn't arrived yet...we have all of this fun with just our nieces and nephew! hehehe!

The flip out display on the camera can be turned outward so that it faces whoever is being recorded and we have gotten some great footage of our nieces talking to themselves and making faces at the screen! :)

Good luck on your search!
HTH,
Jaime
edd 3-19-03

[etwahl]

No matter what you decide to do, go to www.cnet.com and click on the link for camcorders. They actually have a section where you can learn about camcorders if you know nothing about them. That will help a lot. Then you can go and look at the currently most popular cameras, etc. AND what I found most helpful were the customer comments. Under each camera, they have editor reviews, but they also have all the comments from customers who give their opinion. It breaks it down by say 90% positive and 10% negative with say 200 user opinions. Then you can read each one individually. I think cnet is a must visit site if you are buying any sort of camera. Good luck.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[spu]

I have the Canon ZR10 mini-DV and I love it. My dad has the same one and he loves his too. I use it for videos and stills. This model is about 3 years old now, and has been upgraded, so check for the newest models. It's really small and lightweight and fits in my purse or coat pocket which was really impt. to me. The quality is really really good. For stills, you can push a button to take a still, but I have video editing software on my mac, so I just do regular video and extract a still frame from the video clip. It's great that way because I can select just the right smile or pose.

I agree on the .cnet visit. They're pretty reliable for reviews. Also check consumer reports.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[LucyMeg]

The tips have all been GREAT! Thank you so much! I have been advised by several people to look and buy online, but I'm wondering about repairs and returns with this type of purchase. The prices are MUCH better online, but can you still have your camcorder serviced at places local to you? How long does it take to get a camera ordered online? We want time to learn to use it before the baby comes!

[LucyMeg]

Tammy,

I went to cameratopia.com and looked at their prices. You're right; they are much lower. How did you negotiate price matching with other websites and stores? If you don't mind my asking, why did you decide not to purchase directly from cameratopia.com?

Thanks!

[etwahl]

To be honest, I didn't purchase directly from cameratopia because I have read bad things about them. Check out this site, where you can get information from lots of online retailers: http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2359.html
After you read this, you will understand why I firmly state -- DO NOT BUY FROM CAMERATOPIA!!!

However, because I had the best price match on my american express, I didn't much care. I wanted to buy from a reputable dealer and then I knew I could get the difference of the lower price just by making my claim through amex (something I've never done until now).

When buying a camera, you definitely want to make sure you're dealing with someone reputable. A lot of these online retailers will try to sell you their warranty, and if you don't buy it, then they say it's out of stock, even if they already told you it's in stock. I really advise reading a lot of the reviews under cnet for the trv27. That's where I found out a lot of this information.

By the way, New York Camera and Video (www.nycv.com) is awesome. My camera arrived within a week with the cheapest delivery possible, and they have excellent service over the phone.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[egoldber]

I can wholeheartedly recommend B&H Photo Video in NYC. We have ordered thousands of dollars of camera equipment for them over the years and have always been 100% satisfied. They may not have the "lowest" on-line prices, but they are very competitively priced. They are "known" as being one of the most reputable on-line camera places. They also have a very large store in NYC near 34th and 8th (near Penn Station). http://www.bhphotovideo.com

And FYI, your warranty is through the manufacturer, not the retailer. So if you have an issue with the camera, you contact the manufacturer and they will refer you to the closest warranty repair center.

HTH,

[LucyMeg]

Tammy,

Thank you! I went to nycv.com and found prices for both the TRV25 and 27. The main difference seems to be in the size of the LCD. Is that what you found in your research? How do your digital still shots look on the computer? We mainly want stills to email to the grandparents.

Also, nycv.com lists the TRV 25 and TRV 27 both with $100 rebates right now. I have not called them to check this out, but would you say the prices listed ($689 for the TRV25 and $761 for the TRV27) are before the rebate, or with it?

[etwahl]

You should call them about the $100 rebate. I thought it expired Jan 18, and they may not have had a chance to update their site yet. OR Sony may have extended it, who knows. We did get the rebate. That price they show is the price you pay, then they send you the camera and you would get a rebate coupon to mail to Sony who would then send you $100. In other words, after you got a rebate, you'd have ended up paying only $661. With us, Amex matches the $761 (not the price after rebate) so we found it from cameratopia for $638 and are awaiting the difference between those two...so all in all, we will have saved about $220 off the price of the $761. Not a bad deal, especially considering if you go into almost any store, the trv25 costs much more than that. I'm a HUGE bargain hunter.

Yes, the biggest difference, from what I understand is the size of the LCD screen. There may be other differences, but because of the rave reviews of the 27 on cnet, we didn't even consider the 25. And personally, now that we have it, we LOVE the bigger screen. It makes a huge difference. This camera is also tiny. Everyone who sees it loves it. If you can, I'd go to a local store that carries it so you can try it out in your hand.

As far as the stills, I'm not sure. We haven't used it for that (and don't plan to) because we have a great digital still camera. Actually we've had this camera forever -- Kodak DC280 Zoom and it's still amazing. The price was high when we bought it, but if you can find one of these now, I bet they're cheap and take incredible pictures. That is if you decide you want to eventually have both.

From what I've read, you will be hard pressed to find a digital camcorder that also has excellent stills, unless of course you spend a ton more money. In which case, you're better off buying one camcorder and one digital camera just for stills, as you'd still end up paying less. But on the other hand, you may find the stills from the camcorder sufficient. I don't know since I haven't looked, but we really love our digital camera and wouldn't part with it for anything.

One more thing to consider -- Sears will price match. But call them, because they'll usually only price match when you have a price from a local retailer e.g. if you live in New York City and you are trying to price match an online retailer from California, they won't take it. But otherwise they will.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[LucyMeg]

Well, I called New York Camera and Video, but, unfortunately, they are no longer carrying either the TRV 25 or 27. Apparently, Sony is about to come out with new models, and they did not restock either camera. The very nice man I spoke with did offer me a TRV 50 for $1000, but that is out of our price range. So . . . I am disappointed! The TRV 25 is $900 at our local Best Buy, which is also more than we want to pay.

Does anyone else know of other reputable dealers that sell over the internet? Dbuys.com and centraldigital.com got good reviews on dealtime.com. If I know I can get the camera I want for less online, I just don't want to pay retail at a local store. Other than resellerratings.com, are there other good places to check the reputation of online sellers?

Thank you!

[etwahl]

Wow, I didn't know that. I'm surprised, because the TRV27 is SUCH a popular model...but also a perfect time to get a good price. Check out this link of the cheapest from cnet.com

http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/resellers/0-6342639-311-8866754-3.html?fl=0&tag=st.ce.6342639-311-8866754.sort.price

But make sure you then compare any of those online retailers on the resellerratings.com to make sure they've got a good reputation (although usually cnet does monitor that pretty closely as well and you can see by the stars what their ratings are).

Sorry about NYCV. That's too bad. I guess I'm glad we ordered our camera when we did. Good luck and I hope you get a good deal.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[egoldber]

I checked B&H (which I recommended above) and they have the Sony for $780 (in stock). Here's the link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh2.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist _html___246977___SODCRTRV25___REG___CatID=1871___S ID=F3151D31010

HTH,

[etwahl]

Incidentally, I've also heard good things about B&H and they have an excellent rating on resellerratings.com. Good luck.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[LucyMeg]

Thanks to everyone for the help! I will do more searching today, and let you know what I find out. This is going to drive me crazy until I find a camera and get it ordered!

[LucyMeg]

OK. One more question. I found the camera and have chosen a place from which to purchase it. It comes with a battery, lens cap, memory stick, basic software, etc. that you need to use it. Oh, and a 1-year Sony warranty is included in the base price. How important is the "4-Year Mack Warranty" that is offered? I don't want to get talked into accessories I don't really need, but I also don't want to miss a chance to get something important.

Tammy, did you buy an additional battery charger with your Sony TRV27, or do you just recharge the battery in the camera?

Thank you!!!!

[etwahl]

We also bought a UV lens cover, which was highly recommended to us by everyone we talked to. It was $15.

We haven't bought any other accessories yet. So far we have just rechargedt he battery in the camera, but I think if/when we do, we'll consider another memory stick, a battery charger, and that's probably about it. But those are things you can also shop around for. Prices for those probably vary as well.

Did you decide on the TRV27?

We didn't get the extended warranty. Just stuck with the 1 year it comes with.

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[LucyMeg]

We decided to stick with the TRV25. Though the larger LCD on the 27 would be nice, we decided to save the extra $100 at this point. Too many other baby purchases in the near future to justify that in our camera budget! With the only difference in the 25 and 27 being the LCD size, I think the 25 will serve our needs, and probably exceed them.

Thanks for the accessory advice. I think we'll just get the basic camera right now, and shop for accessories locally, where we can view them and try them out (once we figure out the camera!). Ditto on the warranty.

I'm going to order it tonight . . .