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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
680395	2008-06-20 00:09:00	I went out last weekend, resolved to buy a digital video camera. After doing a bit of digging around, and much umming and ahhing in the store, I settled on a Panasonic SDR-H40 - a 40G HDD camera. Getting it back home, though, the quality of the footage isn't as good as it seemed in the store (most likely down to light levels). I haven't had a chance to test it in daylight, but even if it is better, I'm still disappointed with the quality of normal indoors footage. I'm thinking about taking it back and trying to exchange it for a different one. Because it's on a finance deal, I'm pretty much limited to what's in store (Harvey Normans), but I'm hoping to get some advice about which type of camera is likely to be better, in terms of image quality. So my questions are: 1. In terms of image quality, which is the better media: MiniDV, HDD, or DVD? 2. In terms of image quality, which is the better brand: JVC, Sony, or Panasonic? Cheers	Lizard (2409)
680396	2008-06-20 01:11:00	The cam I've got is MinDV. By Panasonic. Its pretty old now, and small, but still in good working condition. Its good, since its got firewire. When I brought it that was the first thing I asked (has it got firewire). It makes it a lot easier to transfer video to the PC. Never tried a hdd or DVD based cam. Or a JVC/Sony cam.	Speedy Gonzales (78)
680397	2008-06-20 01:14:00	The cam I've got is MinDV. By Panasonic. Its pretty old now, and small, but still in good working condition. Its good, since its got firewire. When I brought it that was the first thing I asked (has it got firewire). It makes it a lot easier to transfer video to the PC. Never tried a hdd or DVD based cam. Or a JVC/Sony cam. Thanks Speedy, How old is "old"? And what is the image quality like? Do you know if MiniDV offers better quality than HDD in a video camera?	Lizard (2409)
680398	2008-06-20 01:26:00	Well 8-9 yrs old. Think I got it in 98/99. Image quality is excellent. I recorded my sisters wedding with it in 2004, and burned it to DVD and transferred to my video Ipod as well. Dont know about hdd based ones never used one	Speedy Gonzales (78)
680399	2008-06-20 01:32:00	Well 8-9 yrs old. Think I got it in 98/99. Image quality is excellent. I recorded my sisters wedding with it in 2004, and burned it to DVD and transferred to my video Ipod as well. Dont know about hdd based ones never used one Thanks Speedy, As I've never owned (or really used) a camcorder before, I don't know whether the quality of this HDD-based camcorder is as good as or worse than a MiniDV camcorder. I'd really like to hear from someone who has used both, as to whether one is better than the other.	Lizard (2409)
680400	2008-06-20 01:33:00	Purists swear that MiniDV offers better quality, because the of the compression format/data bit rate used is better than that used in hard drive, DVD and SD-card based cameras. The downside is less in-camera convenience (you don't get thumbnails of recordings etc), and you need Firewire port to record transfer the movies of to the PC, but in all the cameras I tested while working at PC World, I usually personally preferred the MiniDV ones. With the other types, you were often dependent on the software the vendor provided to transfer the video files cleanly (they all seemed to use different formats), where as with MiniDV and Fireweire, any piece of video software that was able to connect to a camera via Firewire would work, so you were free to use your preferred application. And yes, the quality of the video was usually better, although this was often most noticeable only if you were going to do a bit of editing to the video (which I always did) rather than just transfer it as is to DVD.	Biggles (121)
680401	2008-06-20 01:43:00	MiniDV FTW111.	Metla (12)
680402	2008-06-20 01:45:00	Purists swear that MiniDV offers better quality, because the of the compression format/data bit rate used is better than that used in hard drive, DVD and SD-card based cameras. The downside is less in-camera convenience (you don't get thumbnails of recordings etc), and you need Firewire port to record transfer the movies of to the PC, but in all the cameras I tested while working at PC World, I usually personally preferred the MiniDV ones. With the other types, you were often dependent on the software the vendor provided to transfer the video files cleanly (they all seemed to use different formats), where as with MiniDV and Fireweire, any piece of video software that was able to connect to a camera via Firewire would work, so you were free to use your preferred application. And yes, the quality of the video was usually better, although this was often most noticeable only if you were going to do a bit of editing to the video (which I always did) rather than just transfer it as is to DVD. Thanks Bruce, Now for the brand question - Panasonic, Sony, or JVC?	Lizard (2409)
680403	2008-06-20 02:08:00	I tested quite few over the years and brand is tricky because, like everything, it is not just brand, but model that counts. Sometimes a good brand produces a bad model. Sometimes a brand comes up with the odd brilliant model. That said, I most often found myself liking Panasonic models. Often Sony, or Canon. If I was going out shopping myself, I'd look at Panasonic models first.	Biggles (121)
680404	2008-06-20 03:35:00	I tested quite few over the years and brand is tricky because, like everything, it is not just brand, but model that counts. Sometimes a good brand produces a bad model. Sometimes a brand comes up with the odd brilliant model. That said, I most often found myself liking Panasonic models. Often Sony, or Canon. If I was going out shopping myself, I'd look at Panasonic models first. I've been googling for reviews of particular models, but this hasn't turned up much. Maybe someone here has something good or bad to say about the following models: Sony DCRHC52E Panasonic NV-GS90 JVC GR-D850AA	Lizard (2409)
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