Topic: What camcorder?

[guitard]

I'll tell ya little story.  We bought a Sony hi-8 digital camera in '99.  Cost about $1000.  Well, we made lots of  family movies and now the kids are having a ball looking at this old footage of them when they were little. 

Keep rolling tape on the kids!

I bought my first videocam in 1988 - the shoulder mount VHS variety.  It cost $1600 ~ which was a huge sum of money to me at the time.

A few years ago I started converting all my family vids to DVD.  I did a lot of editing to keep them interesting.  I sent copies to each of the kids and they really enjoy them.

I will say this ~ you can't shoot too much video of your family growing up!  Tapes only cost a couple of bucks.  Shoot hours and hours of footage.  Years later you will really be happy you were a videocam Dad/Mom.

Think long term ~ this is stuff several generations on down the line will watch someday.  Someday you'll be gone and the kids will be showing this stuff to their grandkids and great-grandkids.  Videos shot today will become Thanksgiving and Christmas family gathering classics several years from now.

[stantheman1976]

I'll tell ya little story.  We bought a Sony hi-8 digital camera in '99.  Cost about $1000.  Well, we made lots of  family movies and now the kids are having a ball looking at this old footage of them when they were little. 

Keep rolling tape on the kids!

I bought my first videocam in 1988 - the shoulder mount VHS variety.  It cost $1600 ~ which was a huge sum of money to me at the time.

A few years ago I started converting all my family vids to DVD.  I did a lot of editing to keep them interesting.  I sent copies to each of the kids and they really enjoy them.

I will say this ~ you can't shoot too much video of your family growing up!  Tapes only cost a couple of bucks.  Shoot hours and hours of footage.  Years later you will really be happy you were a videocam Dad/Mom.

Think long term ~ this is stuff several generations on down the line will watch someday.  Someday you'll be gone and the kids will be showing this stuff to their grandkids and great-grandkids.  Videos shot today will become Thanksgiving and Christmas family gathering classics several years from now.

Amen!  This is why I preach to people about avoiding MiniDVD and tapeless camcorders.  I have little doubt that my MiniDV tapes and VHS-C tapes will still exist and work when my now 20 month old son is 15 years old.  I'm sure they'll degrade a bit and maybe have some dropouts but the majority of what I shot today will still be there.  I tell anyone who asks me about camcorders if they want their footage to still exist in 10 years then stick to tape and avoid the other formats like the plague.

[gewwang]

Here's a good blog about HD vs. miniDV for archival: http://www.overclockingwiki.org/joomla/blogs/hot_new_products/archiving_digital_video_on_minidv_vs_hard_drive.html

I still maintain it will be cheaper and take up less physical space over the long run to archive audio and video using multiple HD's. As someone noted in the comments, tapes go bad too. If dat tapes go bad after 5-10 years, wouldn't the same "shelf life" apply to miniDVs?

Either way, the key is to keep multiple copies and I have boxes full of cassette tapes and dat tapes already, I don't want to go thru that again with miniDVs.

[greatape]

Just some personal experience to add.
I have a Panasonic GS300 and I borrowed a sony hc30 for a couple shows this week.  The HC30 was much better than a Canon Elura 100 that I've used.  However, my Pana GS300 is much better than the HC30. 

[mizary]

Here's a good blog about HD vs. miniDV for archival: http://www.overclockingwiki.org/joomla/blogs/hot_new_products/archiving_digital_video_on_minidv_vs_hard_drive.html

dang...  I was gonna say that. more or less.

I still archive video on minidv tapes...  but HD prices make it a tougher decision...

one thing I disagree with is "MiniDV tapes can be stored in a fireproof safe."  most fireproof safes only keep temps low enough to keep paper from bursting into flames.  lots of heat cause 1/0's to go bye bye...  so your tapes will be safe - but you data will be corrupt.

I say once HD prices are about 50% of minidv prices (per GB of storage) I will stop buying new minidv tapes and reuse my old ones and use HD for archival purposes.

--mizary

[tfs8271]

Quick question.

When recording live music, do most people use the mic in for say the Pan. GS300 patch to their rig or do it post production. Might be a dumb question, so sorry if it is.

[Wiesel]

Quick question.

When recording live music, do most people use the mic in for say the Pan. GS300 patch to their rig or do it post production. Might be a dumb question, so sorry if it is.

Since almost all consumer cams use AGC you record the audio separately and mux it in the post production.

[612]

I'm partial to the Panasonic PV-GS series.  You can get the GS320 for $400 shipped.  It gives you 3 imaging chips or a sharper picture and provides the most bang for the buck in my opinion.   

With a budget < $500 I've seriously been looking at the GS320 for shooting live shows and perhaps in 5 years a family.

[stantheman1976]

It does suffer in low light like every consumer camera but it's still a good picture.  In good lighting conditions like an outside wedding or concert it absolutely cannot be beat.  Mix it in post with a separate audio source and you can make some great videos to share.

I shot an outside wedding in November with two GS320's and one GS300 and everyone who saw it was blown away by the outside shots.  Even the extremely low light shots under a tent looked nice but you could tell the camera was using electronic gain.

[tfs8271]

It does suffer in low light like every consumer camera but it's still a good picture.  In good lighting conditions like an outside wedding or concert it absolutely cannot be beat.  Mix it in post with a separate audio source and you can make some great videos to share.

I shot an outside wedding in November with two GS320's and one GS300 and everyone who saw it was blown away by the outside shots.  Even the extremely low light shots under a tent looked nice but you could tell the camera was using electronic gain.

How is the GS300 under low light? How would you rate for low light (brand and model).

[stantheman1976]

IT suffers under extremely lowlight.  There's no doubt about that.  The picture is still fairly clear though.  It also depends on what you're viewing the finished video on.  On my PC monitor it looks really dark but on my laptop and TV it looks a lot better.

[greatape]

Quick question.

When recording live music, do most people use the mic in for say the Pan. GS300 patch to their rig or do it post production. Might be a dumb question, so sorry if it is.

I paid more money to get a used GS300 instead of a new GS320 because I thought I would use the mic input (320 doesn't have it).  After I bought it I was told about the issues with AGC and haven't even attempted to use the mic input. 

Also, regarding the question about low-light.  Almost all concert lighting has been sufficient so far.  Yes, there will be some noise if the lighting is really low, but overall it still looks good. 

[firmdragon]

Quick question.

When recording live music, do most people use the mic in for say the Pan. GS300 patch to their rig or do it post production. Might be a dumb question, so sorry if it is.

usually I'll do both.  it makes synching up a lot easier when you have audio that isn't distorted.