# need advice on buying a camcorder **URL:** \ **Category:** PittSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [October 9, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494 "2006-10-09T12:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Holty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e274bd/32.png) [@Holty](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Holty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/1 "2006-10-09T12:12:45Z")
looking to pick up a camcorder for misc stuff. don’t know if i should go with the miniDV or the HDD type? any suggestions would be great! i will probably get a setup to mount the camera to my bike so i can video while riding. also my wife needs one for some school project she has to do. other than that, just going to use it to make some vids to post up on the forums and probably some of me and the local boys street racing. i guess i don’t really understand what the advantages and disadvantages are of using the minidv tapes or going with the built in hdd my biggest concern is video quality and i can spend 1000 or less. also ease of transferring the video to the computer is important. ---
**Author:** ![fshowcars](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fshowcars/32/5937_2.png) [@fshowcars](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/fshowcars)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/2 "2006-10-09T12:31:23Z")
i went internal drive beacuse minidvd is pointless… screw having a physical medium if you intend on using it online / on a computer anyway. ccd3 and a good optical zoom is what i watched for… i have a jvc (not the best brand, but i gave them a shot) with only a 4gig internal drive and an extra 1 gig SD card for under 400 bucks. mine is a mini though… and it’s hard to hold still… it’s about the same length and width of a wallet so you can imagine trying to zoom and get steady shots… ---
**Author:** ![77rednecktruck](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/77rednecktruck/32/5966_2.png) [@77rednecktruck](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/77rednecktruck)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/3 "2006-10-09T13:02:02Z")
The wife just started looking also. fshowcars, how much time can you record on 4gb. ---
**Author:** ![fshowcars](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fshowcars/32/5937_2.png) [@fshowcars](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/fshowcars)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/4 "2006-10-09T13:03:49Z")
its’ like an hour or an hour and fifteen minutes at full native DVD quality… if you scale it back its’ like 4 hours… the video quality is great though… the big time camcorders have 20+GB drives… i knew my camera is just to have around to record a minute or two of random crap, vs. wanting to record a kids football game or something similar. keep in mind that my camera is a handheld… they scale back everything to make it small. ---
**Author:** ![77rednecktruck](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/77rednecktruck/32/5966_2.png) [@77rednecktruck](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/77rednecktruck)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/5 "2006-10-09T13:07:27Z")
> [@Club addicts...whats your all-time favorite....](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/club-addicts-whats-your-all-time-favorite/24876/22): > > its’ like an hour or an hour and fifteen minutes at full native DVD quality… if you scale it back its’ like 4 hours… the video quality is great though… > > the big time camcorders have 20+GB drives… i knew my camera is just to have around to record a minute or two of random crap, vs. wanting to record a kids football game or something similar. > > keep in mind that my camera is a handheld… they scale back everything to make it small. 🆒 I’ll relay this info to the wifey, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![whitey](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/whitey/32/5911_2.png) [@whitey](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/whitey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/6 "2006-10-09T13:27:10Z")
I have a DV camera and it works great for what I use it for. I would love to have a HD camera, but I can’t justify the cost for the camera. Also think about what you are going to be doing with the video. If you are looking to make video for the web you are going to cut the quality down to save of size. So no point going and getting a HD camera. Then editing with HD takes much more expensive software to make it look good. i would say dv to start… maybe move to HD if you really stay on the video production ---
**Author:** ![Holty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e274bd/32.png) [@Holty](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Holty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/7 "2006-10-09T17:32:13Z")
> [@whitey"](#): > > I have a DV camera and it works great for what I use it for. I would love to have a HD camera, but I can’t justify the cost for the camera. Also think about what you are going to be doing with the video. If you are looking to make video for the web you are going to cut the quality down to save of size. So no point going and getting a HD camera. Then editing with HD takes much more expensive software to make it look good. > > i would say dv to start… maybe move to HD if you really stay on the video production so just to be sure, are you suggesting a camcorder with a built in hard drive, or the kind that takes a miniDV tape? also, whats up with the ones that record direct to dvd. what format does it record in? ---
**Author:** ![German\_with\_a\_Bowtie](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/german_with_a_bowtie/32/5967_2.png) [@German\_with\_a\_Bowtie](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/German_with_a_Bowtie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/8 "2006-10-09T18:56:29Z")
> **[Consumer Electronics | Sony US](https://www.sony.com/all-electronics)** > > Learn about the latest consumer electronics Sony has to offer, discover features of our products and find the ones which would suit your needs. I had one in my hands today! It is impressive. $1150 ---
**Author:** ![flyinglow57](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/flyinglow57/32/5978_2.png) [@flyinglow57](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/flyinglow57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/9 "2006-10-09T19:11:24Z")
i have a miniDV camcorder… it was like 400 a year ago. its down to about 300 now. its an awesome camcorder and quality is way higher then anything you will ever need. hooked up to my 32" tv its perfect… so on a comp screen its way better then anything you can think of. its a sony miniDV camcorder and also takes some low res pictures. it doesnt cost alot to get a nice camcorder nowadays ---
**Author:** ![whitey](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/whitey/32/5911_2.png) [@whitey](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/whitey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/10 "2006-10-09T22:36:42Z")
> [@BLUE DEVIL: A corvette supercar?!?!?](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/blue-devil-a-corvette-supercar/19641/89): > > so just to be sure, are you suggesting a camcorder with a built in hard drive, or the kind that takes a miniDV tape? > > also, whats up with the ones that record direct to dvd. what format does it record in? i am saying mini dv ---
**Author:** ![slowcamaro](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/slowcamaro/32/5975_2.png) [@slowcamaro](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/slowcamaro)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/11 "2006-10-10T07:52:01Z")
i have a sony camcorder that records right on to mini dvds. i hate it. to hard to pull the video and put on the computer ---
**Author:** ![Holty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e274bd/32.png) [@Holty](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Holty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:14am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/12 "2006-10-10T08:14:43Z")
> [@How to steal the soul of an FD - SOLD](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-steal-the-soul-of-an-fd-sold/24871/41): > > i have a sony camcorder that records right on to mini dvds. i hate it. to hard to pull the video and put on the computer thanks, that is good to know. ---
**Author:** ![77rednecktruck](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/77rednecktruck/32/5966_2.png) [@77rednecktruck](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/77rednecktruck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/13 "2006-10-10T09:14:25Z")
not swapping media seems like it would be a better way to go. :dunno: ---
**Author:** ![Whats\_Missing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a183cd/32.png) [@Whats\_Missing](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Whats_Missing)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 9:38am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/14 "2006-10-10T09:38:49Z")
> [@How to steal the soul of an FD - SOLD](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-steal-the-soul-of-an-fd-sold/24871/41): > > i have a sony camcorder that records right on to mini dvds. i hate it. to hard to pull the video and put on the computer I have a Hitachi camcorder that records right on to mini dvds. i hate it. I cannot get anything off of the dvd onto the computer. I will probably just end up buying en external dvd drive to do this. ---
**Author:** ![fshowcars](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fshowcars/32/5937_2.png) [@fshowcars](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/fshowcars)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 9:58am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/15 "2006-10-10T09:58:43Z")
> [@name some high reving v6's](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/name-some-high-reving-v6s/24920/34): > > not swapping media seems like it would be a better way to go. :dunno: you mean what i suggested in the first post??? imagine that 🙂 and to the guys with teh minidv crap… you can use a USB device called a dazzler that they sell at best lie and stores like that to play the movie on the camera and to rip into windows… it sucks, but that’s the ‘easiest’ method for the average person ---
**Author:** ![77rednecktruck](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/77rednecktruck/32/5966_2.png) [@77rednecktruck](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/77rednecktruck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 10:01am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/16 "2006-10-10T10:01:24Z")
> [@5 great ways to leave a TIP](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/5-great-ways-to-leave-a-tip/24954/8): > > you mean what i suggested in the first post??? imagine that 🙂 > > and to the guys with teh minidv crap… you can use a USB device called a dazzler that they sell at best lie and stores like that to play the movie on the camera and to rip into windows… it sucks, but that’s the ‘easiest’ method for the average person I agreed with you and am only looking at HD camcorders because of your post. ---
**Author:** ![vtecsol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@vtecsol](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/vtecsol)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 7:31am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/17 "2006-10-11T07:31:02Z")
did not read this whole thread so if nobody posted it check out [http://www.camcorderinfo.com/](http://www.camcorderinfo.com/) you can reveiw all makes and models ---
**Author:** ![Holty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e274bd/32.png) [@Holty](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Holty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 12:11pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/need-advice-on-buying-a-camcorder/185494/18 "2006-10-13T12:11:46Z")
i finally decided on a camcorder. I bought a Sony DCR-SR100. [http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4078177](http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4078177)