Anyone use a MiniDV camcorder?

[neuroracer]

Thought about getting one for Xmas for my husband, but I don't have a whole lot of info on them. Has anyone had any good/bad/whatever experiences with them?

And yes, I have already seen that lame Paris Hilton video.:lol: :rolleye1: :rollface: :rolleyes: :D

[shelley&john]

Hi,
We have a JVC minidv and we love it. It is very lightweight, and it takes great movies and pretty decent still photos too. I would definitely buy an extende life battery for whichever camera you choose. The one that comes with the camera runs down REALLY fast.

[neuroracer]

What made you choose that model, anything in particular? I have been trying to narrow it down, but it's a lot to think about...

[shelley&john]

John looked and looked at them before we decided to buy. I think the biggest reason he chose this one was price. It had all of the options we were looking for at a very reasonable price. I think we paid about $350 all together. The picture quality is great, and the camera is easy to use. We have an old video camera, so I was amazed at how small this was.(I know there are some that are even smaller.lol) The only small draw back is that the still photos that it takes are only ok quality. We had a digital camera that we sold when we bought this thinking that we could use it for that too, but the quality isn't as good. The model # of ours is GR-DVL220U.
Oh, a word of caution, buying this camera will lead to other expenses. John had to have a dvd burner, and a $100 software program to make movies with! LOL

Hope this helps.
Shelley

[jimroth]

I love my Sony MiniDV camera. You're gonna need a bigger hard drive on your PC, and the DVD burner mentioned before. My kids love to (easily) watch the movies of theme parks, outings, etc. now. The movies get watched more now!

[shelley&john]

Oh, right I forgot to include the 120 gig hard drive that he had to have too!

[rhwimmers]

I had a JVC and loved it (I got it like 3 years ago) I had the extended warrenty and my son dropped it and it didnt work very well after that...It was past the 3 year agreement that I bought and was told it would cost more to repair then to replace..All and all, very happy with it though.
I just bought a Samsung SCD-5000 (bestbuy and circuitcity have them) its a Mini-dv camcorder AND a digital camera, some CLAIM they take stills (but the quality outright sucks) but this one truely has a digital camera lens, and a camcorder lense, its a 4.1MP camera which is awesome, I just got it about 2 weeks ago, but pictures are awesome, along with the quality.

Bottom line is what you pay big bucks for is features that youll never use (night shot sucks-as you already say with the Hilton video lol) and the size, the smaller the more money, thats up to you.. Also, OPTICAL zoom...dont worry about digital zoom, its quality is always garbage, but the optical zoom is nice (20 or so is average I think)
If you look at circuit citys webpage, they have a neat 3d picture of the samsung 5000 and youll see what I mean.
Hope that helps
Ross

[neuroracer]

You're right, buying all the extra stuff is a hassle for most. I just know that he would enjoy buying all the extras, it's like letting him add his own 'icing to the cake.'

Honestly, I am not concerned with whether the camera takes digital photos. We usually take those freeze-frame stills in videos, but for photos, we already have a very nice digital camera that is used solely for that. Night vision, it's great and all, but just an additional accessory. Mostly I am concerned with cross-hatching and color and whatnot. I've narrowed it down to the Samsung scd23, and the panasonic and the JVC. They are all within the same price area. It's amazing the price ranges too, the ones I am looking at are in the lower $300 range, while there are some out now that are over $1000. :eek1: :eek2: :eek: :rolleyes:

[posjr]

Originally posted by neuroracer
Thought about getting one for Xmas for my husband, but I don't have a whole lot of info on them. Has anyone had any good/bad/whatever experiences with them?

And yes, I have already seen that lame Paris Hilton video.:lol: :rolleye1: :rollface: :rolleyes: :D

Is the video shot in night vesion? I downloaded it and not sure if it was the right one?

[rhwimmers]

yes...its in night vision...very lame
simple life shows more action lol