HD Camcorders

[DasTex]

Anyone out there have any opinions on them? I'm looking at buying one, but still have some reserves about it.

1.) Price is okay ($600-$900)
2.) Memory cards are high, and a you only get 1 hour of HD recording on a 8GB card.
3.) Burning to a DVD, would it still be HD?


Would it be better to just get one that burns onto DVD, without the HD format?

Just looking for some ideas on this.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Kilyin]

I have the Canon HG10, I haven't bothered to burn any movies to DVD yet, I just have my PC connected to the 50 inch DLP and watch them straight off the hard drive, but if you have a conversion program that can convert or burn Canon AVCHD it shouldn't be a problem. The software that comes with the HG10 is garbage is my only gripe.

 

[Kevinicus]

3.) Burning to a DVD, would it still be HD?

It should still be HD. DVDs are just a storage medium. They can store all types of files, data, music, movies, non-HD, and HD. HD just takes up more space, thus the reason Blu-ray etc were created. DVDs can't hold a full length movie in HD (good quality HD anyway).

All the HD camera's I'd be interested in are $3,000+.

 

[theebs]

I am not sure with those lines of cameras, but I cant imagine anyway in which you could burn anything remotely close to HD on a standard dvd.

I imagine they come with some kind of all in one software that compresses them down to a standard format with a good quality look to them.

I mean you can not burn a 720p or 1080i file onto a standard dvd. You have to compress it. that is what HD dvd and blue ray are. High Def mpeg 4 files.

anyway I have no experience using those so I really cant say. the quality must still be better than a 200 dollar mini dv or hi-8 camera though.

unless you want to buy a panasonic dvx 100. then you can get broadcast quality mini dv footage. Run about 1000 bucks used.

 

[theogt]

Buddy of mine has one. Not sure of the model, but it's one of the mid-range ones in your price range. Looks absolutely fantastic. I'm getting one shortly. Well worth it in my opinion.

You can get 8 GB cards online for like $60.

 

[Kevinicus]

I am not sure with those lines of cameras, but I cant imagine anyway in which you could burn anything remotely close to HD on a standard dvd.

I imagine they come with some kind of all in one software that compresses them down to a standard format with a good quality look to them.

I mean you can not burn a 720p or 1080i file onto a standard dvd. You have to compress it. that is what HD dvd and blue ray are. High Def mpeg 4 files.

anyway I have no experience using those so I really cant say. the quality must still be better than a 200 dollar mini dv or hi-8 camera though.

unless you want to buy a panasonic dvx 100. then you can get broadcast quality mini dv footage. Run about 1000 bucks used.

You most certainly can put 720p and 1080i files on regular DVDs. Maybe not in a normal DVD video format, but you can definitely put the files on there and run them on a computer and some DVD players. DVDs just have limited space so you can only put so much on them. Blu-ray and HD-DVD hold a lot more space which allows them to put full length HD movies on them. You can even fit a full length HD movie on a DVD, but it would be significantly lower quality than HD-DVD and Blu-ray, while technically still HD.

 

[theebs]

You most certainly can put 720p and 1080i files on regular DVDs. Maybe not in a normal DVD video format, but you can definitely put the files on there and run them on a computer and some DVD players. DVDs just have limited space so you can only put so much on them. Blu-ray and HD-DVD hold a lot more space which allows them to put full length HD movies on them. You can even fit a full length HD movie on a DVD, but it would be significantly lower quality than HD-DVD and Blu-ray, while technically still HD.

Yeah Like I said in my post. It would be super compressed. I have never actually used any of these HD camcorders so I am not even sure in what format or codec they are using.

I am assuming it is a compresssed format to begin with.

But again yea I can take an HD file and compress it and burn it, but then its not really HD anymore. I am curious of the ins and outs of these though. I am assuming it is a avc or h.264 mpeg4 file.

 

[Kevinicus]

Yeah Like I said in my post. It would be super compressed. I have never actually used any of these HD camcorders so I am not even sure in what format or codec they are using.

I am assuming it is a compresssed format to begin with.

But again yea I can take an HD file and compress it and burn it, but then its not really HD anymore. I am curious of the ins and outs of these though. I am assuming it is a avc or h.264 mpeg4 file.

Well if it's only 20-30 minutes long, then you would be able to maintain the quality without all the compression.