My brother asked me to help him pick the best camcorder for under $400. After doing extensive research and seeing how time-consuming it is (not to mention the hassle it can be) I decided to post part of my "research" in hopes of avoiding others the trouble.About DVD-based camcorders:
-Tend to be the most expensive.
-Most use small 8cm DVDs that record 30 minutes only. Mini-DVs can record 60 and even 90.
-DVDs are not re-recordable, Mini-DVs are.
-DVDs are cheaper than Mini-DV tapes though.
-Can get DVD-Ram which are re-recordable but these are not common, so many players and computer drives are incompatible.
-Can get DVD-RW which are also re-recordable but the cameras that support those are the most expensive. A DVD-RW is more expensive than a normal DVD (but it is totally worth it). Some incompatibility issues exist but to a much lesser degree.
-DVD cameras record using video compression therefore the quality is not necessarily good, results vary according to the camera you choose but in general video compression causes decrease of image quality. Mini-DV is arguably better.
A DVD-based camera allows you to view your DVD directly on a player, whereas with Mini-DV you have to connect the camera to a TV or through something else like a VCR and use IT for playback which causes wear on the mechanism.
Editing is a hassle with both formats and unless you are still using VCRs, you are gonna have to use your computer, special software, Firewire cables, etc.
As far as features goes, you gotta look for what you will be needing, many cameras come with a lot of stuff that one ends up never using, so don't get suckered by does. But what I will provide here is some general info about the main brands that you are probably gonna be looking at:
Canon: tend to have noisy playback because the microphone picks up the sound made by the camera's mechanism as it records. Otherwise they have very good reviews.
Sony: this is overpriced crap. Look around at Sony product reviews and for most you'll find at least one person saying something like "I am surprised at how bad Sony's quality has gotten..." then look at the dates on those reviews and you'll see that this is not a random occurrence, it has been going on for years and yet people still believe that this is a good brand.
Negatives: a) Quality-wise, all but one of the current Mini-DV models have terrible reviews.
b) They use touch-screen technology for the controls which might sound cool to have and even might be cool to use, BUT fingers on an LCD screen are NOT a good idea.
Positives: a) Have the Night-Shot technology which basically is infrared technology which allows you to record with absolutely no light.
JVC: some models have had problems where the camera will show error messages and stop working for no apparent reasons. Do a basic google search for "JVC lens cap error" to find out more. Same noise problem as the Canon brand. Otherwise very good reviews all over.
Hitachi: it's the only brand with DVD-based technology that's any good that's under $400. In fact I don't think there's any other DVD-based camera under $400 period.
No other brands are worth it. Sharp made good cameras, but are not making any right now. Panasonics surprisingly suck.
Here's what I lookd at specifically:
DVD:
Hitachi: DZ-BX35A: The previous model has good reviews, but only supports DVD-Ram. This newer model will have the same price, has way better specs and will support DVD-RW.
Mini-DV:
Sony DCR-HC36: just two reviews for this one, but they are both good. Has nightshot (the infrared thing), has a very good stabilization system. It's too expensive (not a very good value). All in all, the only reason why I would consider this is for the nightshot thing, the rest of the specs are on par with other less expensive cameras. It you do consider this one, then may I humbly suggest getting the Sony DCR-TRV280 which is a Digital8 format (whose main problem is that only Sony supports that format).
Canon:
The ZR line is very good. The older models are the ZR100, ZR200, ZR300 and ZR400. Out of those the best value would be the ZR400. The battery is long lasting, they have a good stabilization system, but the specs are a bit dated by now.
Then there are the new models that just came out/will be coming out soon: ZR500, ZR600, ZR700. They are cheaper than the older models and the specs are much better, the problem with this ones is that there are no reviews yet.
JVC:
Same deal as with the Canons: there are two older models with good reviews: JVC GRD230 (very hard to find it nowadays) and JVC GRD270. Both however have very dated specs.
Then there are the new models: JVC GRD350, JVC GRD370, JVC GRD395. Again, there is no info about the quality yet, and considering how JVC has had some serious quality issues in the past, it is wise to wait (or get an extended service plan).
So why, you must wonder, did I write this review under this Hitachi product: simple, because this camera has to be the best value I've seen in a long while. If I had to buy a camera today, this is the one I would pick, as it has amazing features and specs at a tremendously accesible price. Many people are probably gonna end up in this page looking at it, so again I wanna save you the trouble I had to go through to make a choice. However, as good as it looks on paper, the real test comes from actual usage, so hopefully in a short amount of time we are gonna start looking at some actual working reviews for it (at which time I'll probably delete this one). My rating BTW is based on price\features (value).
It is very handy and its compact size makes it easy to haul around. Using the smaller discs has not been a problem so far. In fact, I haven't had any problems with playback, recording, editing, or picture quality. The only problem that I've noticed is that the mic works almost too good, catching the rustling of the wind in many of the videos I've shot. However, my old VHS camcorder did the same thing, even with a sound buffer attached to it.
The only times that I've run into problems have been due to operator error. My wife forgot to finalize one of the discs and it did not work properly. However, after we talked about it and read through the manual, we pinpointed the problem and she hasn't had any trouble since. Operator error seems to be the primary culprit in most of the negative reviews that I've read here. I've been guilty of doing the same thing that many other people have done with this product. We toss the instructions to the wayside and decide that we can figure out how to operate the device on our own. This can sometimes be a costly mistake. Luckily, I haven't had to pay too much for what I've done with any of my toys....yet.
This is a great camera for beginners to learn the ins-and-outs of DVD camcorders. Granted, it isn't very forgiving when you make a mistake, but more expensive (and more complicated) models are just as ruthless. Just read the manual and you shouldn't have any problems.
Buy Hitachi DZ-BX35A DVD Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom Now
We love this camcorder! For us, convenience is absolutely key, as our goal is simply to record family memories (mostly of our children); not to edit or make feature films or even to have need to transfer from tape to DVD. Accordingly, we have no desire for anything particularly complicated, cumbersome, or expensive, and this low-end DVD model does the trick.First, it is the lowest price (by far) of all the DVD models we reviewed.
Second, it is extremely small for maximum portability (very nearly as small as my 35mm camera). It is easy to use, and rather self-explanatory. In fact, we took it straight out of the box, and filmed our youngest son's first birthday party, and our girls' gymnastics recitals without so much as a glance to the manual. Then, of course, we inserted the mini-DVD into our DVD-player. Again, very easy to use. Quality of video was more than sufficient.
For us, battery life was fine, as we had lot of start and stop filming. The battery lasted us through the birthday party and a 3-hour Gymfest (although, again, we stopped and started a lot). WE understand that the battery is supposed to last an hour or so on a constant run.
A few words of note: If you want to put the DVD into your PC, make sure you have a DVD drive. In addition, the still picture function is not particularly good; of course, we bought this to record video. We have cameras for still pictures. Finally, there is no light on the camcorder; however, we tend not to video in the dark.
If you are looking for high quality video and photo stills, this is likely not your camcorder. However, if you are looking for a relatively inexpensive; hassle-free; family moment camcorder, we can't recommend this model enough. And yes, for our purposes, we give it five stars.
Read Best Reviews of Hitachi DZ-BX35A DVD Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom Here
This is a great begginer camcorder. I have tried most of the features and everything works as it was described.The only thing I didn't realize is that this doesn't connect to your computer via USB (or any connection). It is the lowest model so it doesn't have that option.
Want Hitachi DZ-BX35A DVD Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom Discount?
I've had this camcorder for about 5 years now. I rarely use it. The upside is beautiful clear video reproduction with an extremely powerful zoom.If the read error sign flashes in the viewfinder during recording, you have lost whatever you are trying to do. Its either a bad mini disc or something wrong with this particular unit. Its intermittent but happens every time I am doing something important.
A friend was recording a concert for me. Our performance last 30 minutes which is perfect for the 30 min. mini disc and battery life. 3 1/2 songs into our 5 song set a "READ ERROR" message came up. He could not get the thing to shut off. When I went home I was able to finalize the disc and play it, however I was not able to copy it to my computers hard drive. I had the read error message once before, but I changed from a Maxell to a Sony disc and it worked OK. Unfortunately I did this concert on a Maxell disc again, the brand Hitachi suggests. The recorder also gets very warm when running and I wonder if it has a problem.
Built in mics are sub par for music.
I had no experience with these digital camcorders and I did not want to buy a high end model. I purchased one that had good reviews but I will now upgrade to a hard disc camcorder after doing a lot more research. For $400 I expected more than this piece of junk.
I have not yet transferred files to my computer as I do not have a mini USB cable. It does not come with the camera. You are supplied with the camera and strap, cleaning cloth, NTSC cable to play the videos over TV, a charger and DC connector, and a battery which last about a half an hour. They do not even give you a blank disc. You need to buy another $100 worth of stuff to really get going. THe camera is 399, but that is only where the cost starts. I bought a Hitachi case and 2 hour battery, and about 12 DVD-R discs now.
Bottom line is I dont use it because of the read error. I think maybe its too sensitive, if you move a camcorder or touch it the wrong way while its recording it may affect the disc balance or speed. At any rate they should build one more and quit. A waste of money on junk.
saxman
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