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Thread ID: 90911	2008-06-20 00:09:00	Sony or Panasonic Video Camera?	Lizard (2409)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
680415	2008-06-21 22:14:00	I figured you would be. Your avatar is pretty cool.	vitalstatistix (9182)
680416	2008-06-22 08:57:00	The sad part of that is that Sony's software can not edit AVCHD filmed on a Panasonic camera but can edit their own cameras filming the same format. Or at least it could not about 12 months ago. That is info given to us directly by a Panasonic Rep at a AVCHD camera product evening given to the Movie Maker club at Panasonic, East Tamaki office. It is one of the most annoying aspects of the whole thing. One step forward, 2 back.	Biggles (121)
680417	2008-06-26 23:23:00	Okay, the time has come to make a decision, and I seem to have done nothing much but confuse myself. My options are to either pick one of the following cameras, or cancel the deal and try again another time (but in the next three months). The goal: adequate (i.e. home-movie quality or better) footage in indoor lighting. The contenders: Panasonic SDR-H40GNS ($899) - 40GB HDD, 1/6" CCD Sony DCR-SR85E ($999) - 60GB HDD, 1/6" CCD Panasonic NV-GS230-GNS ($789) - MiniDV, 3CCD (1/6" each) Sony HDR-HC5E ($999) - MiniDV, CMOS sensor Of the four camcorders above, which is best? Or are none of them good for adequate indoor light footage, and should I look elsewhere?	Lizard (2409)
680418	2008-06-26 23:29:00	Sony HDR-HC5E of course... MiniDv rulz Ken	kenj (9738)
680419	2008-06-26 23:57:00	Sony HDR-HC5E	Bantu (52)
680420	2008-06-27 00:38:00	Thanks guys - that's a nice clear recommendation. The HC5E is a MiniDV camera - reading through the manual, the only practicality issue I could identify is making sure you don't tape over already recorded material, an issue that doesn't exist with the HDD models. How much of an issue is this in day to day use?	Lizard (2409)
680421	2008-06-27 01:45:00	Thanks guys - that's a nice clear recommendation. The HC5E is a MiniDV camera - reading through the manual, the only practicality issue I could identify is making sure you don't tape over already recorded material, an issue that doesn't exist with the HDD models. How much of an issue is this in day to day use? Never recorded over a tape in 15 years of video work. They are so cheap, no need to use them twice. I have quite a large collection of tapes with raw footage on them. Never edit on your computer and writeback to tape. Keep you raw video unedited. I cannot stress this to much!! The only times I go back are when I preview and then when I rewind for capture on my computer. I have a friend with a HDD camcorder and he stuffs up quite frequently, deleting stuff or editing and saving under the same file name. So easy to do. After preview the Sony have a search mode that fast forwards to the first piece of unrecorded tape. Makes it pretty easy. Ken ;) PS I have a HC3E	kenj (9738)
680422	2008-06-27 01:59:00	Thanks guys - that's a nice clear recommendation. The HC5E is a MiniDV camera - reading through the manual, the only practicality issue I could identify is making sure you don't tape over already recorded material, an issue that doesn't exist with the HDD models. How much of an issue is this in day to day use? its possible to tape over previously recorded material if you have wound it back to preview it and forgotton to wind it forward to where you were if you didnt view all of it.otherwise its not an issue.	smokey (13809)
680423	2008-06-27 03:14:00	That's the kind of thing I was thinking of. I read in the user manual for the HC5E that you could search for the blank portion of the tape, but if you ejected the tape then it wouldn't work for that tape. It also wouldn't work if you had a blank space between clips. I just wondered how this kind of thing affected how you used the camera. Reading kenj's post, I would imagine you just use a lot of tapes - record until it's full, then slap in another; keep preview to a minimum. Does that sound about right?	Lizard (2409)
680424	2008-06-27 04:31:00	That's the kind of thing I was thinking of. I read in the user manual for the HC5E that you could search for the blank portion of the tape, but if you ejected the tape then it wouldn't work for that tape. It also wouldn't work if you had a blank space between clips. I just wondered how this kind of thing affected how you used the camera. Reading kenj's post, I would imagine you just use a lot of tapes - record until it's full, then slap in another; keep preview to a minimum. Does that sound about right? You got it!! Tapes are as cheap as chips on Trademe. Just make sure you keep a database on your computer with things like Tape number, Tape beginning date, Tape end date, Subject matters, keywords.....ad infinitum. Ken	kenj (9738)
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