Topic: recommend my first mini dv

[Gordon]

for the most part to be used at shows (open).  good in low light a plus for sure.  less than $500

[stantheman1976]

You're not going to get anything that's amazing in low light for that price range.  You're going to have to spend a couple grand and get something like the Sony prosumer models which have a reputation for the low light capabilities. 

For your price range the Panasonic PV-GS320 or a used GS300 will be a good choice.  The 300 has a mic input and the 320 doesn't.  You can get the GS320 for under $400 online and get some accessories like tapes and batteries.

[t34mbtp]

sony dcr pc 100 ebay has em well under 500.00 and does very well in low light and has a karl zeiss lens great for stealth as well... my .02 enjoy and good luck

[halleyscomet8]

i was wondering if dv tapes are better than the hdd based cameras?

[hummat]

i was wondering if dv tapes are better than the hdd based cameras?

Yes.  With tape you have a physical backup.  Also, depending on the model, going direct to HDD may use a compression method that is less than optimal for dumping back into a NLE to edit.

-jay

[stantheman1976]

The hard drive camcorders record in MPEG-2 format which is meant to be the final format you convert to for DVD, not the format you begin your recordings with.

MiniDV requires real time transfer of the footage but it offers the advantage of having a physical copy of your footage that will last for a long time.  MiniDV offers a relatively low level of compression and the footage is extremely easy to edit and manipulate with little or no quality loss.  Right now the advantages of sticking with MiniDV still outweigh the disadvantages in my mind and many others.

That Sony camera listed above is a nice camera but is not available new anymore.  The PV-GS320 is still in production and can be found new anywhere.  Go to camcorderinfo.com and search for PV-GS320.  The review page will have links to the best prices from legitimate dealers.  Don't trust any resutls you find with Google.

[beatkilla]

The Sony DCR HC96 is just under $500 at bhphotovideo.It has the best low light performance of any Consumer mini dv camera.It has a 1/3" CCD while most others have a 1/6".It also has analog pass thru to digitize your analog footage.I just picked one up myself and compare it to my Sony dcr hc21 and in low light it is a huge improvement and the color is great.The panasonics are nice but in low light can't touch the Sony DCR HC 96.The panasonics have 3ccds yes but only one is used to gather the light information(1/6") and than spread across the RGB ccds(1/6")with a prism to process the red green and blue seperately which does not help with low light.My vote is for the Sony DCR HC96.