Camcorders - DVD or Digital?

[TonFirst]

We've decided to take the plunge and buy a camcorder. Question is, should we buy the kind that records on a memory stick, or the kind that records onto a DVD? I think my computer could handle the editing - we just upgraded to 1G RAM - I just can't find anything that discusses the memory stick-type camcorders versus the direct-to-DVD ones.

Also, what are some good shopping sources? I've priced some at Costco, but I haven't looked online yet.

Thanks for your insight!

[BillK]

DVD pluses are ease of use and you can pop it out and watch it. The minuses are what you see is what you get - unless they've changed a LOT lately - they're tough to edit once you record a dvd. They also are more limited time-wise than mini-dv (tape) digital camcorders.

I think you must be referring to mini-dv when you say "memory stick" - if you're not - then you need to know any camcorder that records to a flash memory device will be very very limiting. Flash memory only will hold a few minutes of video and it will be extrememly low resolution. I'm assuming you mean Mini-DV when you refer to memory stick. Mini-DV are actual tapes - but they're digital.

Mini-DV pluses are that you can edit to your hearts content once you record your video - you can add in soundtracks, transitions, fades, menus, titles etc. Mini-DV also will record for a much longer time than a DVD will. The minuses are that editing is time consuming and requires a pretty beefy computer - most editing software packages are HUGE computer resource hogs (you really shouldn't use your computer for anything else while editing - even surfing) - and your computer pretty much HAS to support Firewire connections to pull the video off your camcorder and on to your hard drive for editing.

Again - I don't know much about "memory stick" camcorders so I was assuming you mean Mini-DV. What little I know about any camcorder that records to a memory chip is that the video is low quality and very very brief. btw..."most" camcorders now will have a slot for a memory card - to use the camcorder as a digital camera also - OR - to record brief low quality video for things like emailing to friends and family. I believe there are still only the 2 primary camcorder formats of DVD and Mini-DV - and a new 3rd format of a built-in hard drive that's just now getting popular (I know nothing about that kind).

As far as online places to buy - my suggestion is to look locally - find a camcorder you like the feel of and layout of (I like Canon Opturas and the Panasonic PV-GS150/250/400 series) - decide what you want - and then hit www.bhphoto.com to order.

[kozachka]

We bought a new camcorder last October. I've literally spent months researching various camcorders, not the least trying to decide between DVD or MiniDV. We ended up with a MiniDV Sony camcorder DCR-HC90. There was a nice article comparing the standards on www.Cnet.com

To me it was important to have an option of editing the footage on computer without jumping through too many hoops and based on what I've read MiniDV is better for that. MiniDV supposedly gives you better raw footage because of the type of compression used. And the tapes are pretty inexpensive to store the original footage on.

I am not going to go into too much detail on why I picked this particular camcorder model. The three most important factors for me were portability, ease of use and low-light (which is inside a house) performance. So far I am very happy with my choice.

[BeachBum]

I have this one, but I must admit I can't figure out how to use it. I can't get the video from the camcorder to my computer. I installed the software that came with it, but I guess I'm too inept to figure it out. Any tips?