In article ,
"Eisboch" wrote:

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking about buying a HiDef video camera, primarily for use on
the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or cautionary advice?



I recently bought a Samsung SC-HMX20C. There are many types being marketed
and here's what I learned during the research process:

"HD" doesn't mean High Definition. "HD" means hybrid drive or something
like that, meaning it has both disk drive and a memory card type memory.
Look closely at the specs and make sure the camera is a "full high
definition with 1028i or p resolution.$

HD *does* mean High Definition. It just seems some manufacturers cheat
on this.
If you want a good picture, you need
1080/30P (1920 x 1080 at 30 progressive frames per second) (or 24)
progressive means pictures at full resolution, i means interlaced ie
only half a picture.
What also matters is how much the picture is compressed, this can be
seen at the frame rate: FXP is 17 mbit/s and the highest quality you'll
get in a consumer recorder (ie at an affordable price). Way better than
any TV.
Optical stabilization is important as it is better for the picture than
any purely electronic one unless you have a tripod on a stable ground,
ie always.
Low light performance is very different among models, check the review
site I had indicated (http://www.camcorderinfo.com)

I was told to avoid the disk drive models because camcorder cameras tend to
get banged around a bit and their primary failure mode is the disk drive.
One of the reasons I went with the Samsung was because it has a built in 8GB
memory card (not removable) and an additional slot for another 8GB removable
SD type memory card.

Yes, flash memory is much more robust.

If you want flash memory and HD, you will have to deal with AHVCD, ie an
advanced compression scheme for the movies to fit in a smaller space.

The Canon camera I recommended, the HF100, comes with software to load
the movies on a Windows computers. Working on Mac OS X, I have not
tested the software. (I am not connected to Cannon except having used a
few of their recorders over the past few years as a happy user.)
If buying a new recorder I'd recommend to look at the HF100, and start
from there. Feel free to compare, the site I had given has much
information. It is the cheapest actually good HD recorder.
I had a friend buy one at a good price, and do very good recordings in a
difficult setting (low light and against bright window, fast moving
children) without reading the manual, just pointing the camera.
What more can you ask for, especially knowing that all the manual
control and connections you would possibly need are there if necessary.

Such a recorder is easily good enough for any news gathering of a
commercial TV station - or a good low budget film.


HTH

Marc

--
remove bye and from mercial to get valid e-mail
http://www.heusser.com