"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.

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.

The biggest issue I had to deal with was the native recording format, and it
was a bit of a surprise.
The Samsung records in MP4 video which not all editing or display programs
will work with. (Windows Media Player can't play it)

It came with a program from CyberLink which was horrible to work with. I
even emailed CyberLink with some simple questions, but it was like talking
to a cable TV tech center who read from a script. Worthless.

I ended up buying a program from Roxio Creator which is much, much better.
It will convert the MP4 video into .avi, .wmv and other formats and is more
flexible for editing and creating movies. I also found a decent video
conversion program on the 'net that was freeware and works well, but has no
editing capabilities.

As far as the camera is concerned, the high definition format is impressive,
especially when displayed on a large screen, HD TV monitor. On small
screens, I am not sure the extra size of the HD format is worth it.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"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.

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.

The biggest issue I had to deal with was the native recording format, and
it was a bit of a surprise.
The Samsung records in MP4 video which not all editing or display programs
will work with. (Windows Media Player can't play it)

It came with a program from CyberLink which was horrible to work with. I
even emailed CyberLink with some simple questions, but it was like talking
to a cable TV tech center who read from a script. Worthless.

I ended up buying a program from Roxio Creator which is much, much better.
It will convert the MP4 video into .avi, .wmv and other formats and is
more flexible for editing and creating movies. I also found a decent
video conversion program on the 'net that was freeware and works well, but
has no editing capabilities.

As far as the camera is concerned, the high definition format is
impressive, especially when displayed on a large screen, HD TV monitor.
On small screens, I am not sure the extra size of the HD format is worth
it.

Eisboch




Forgot to mention. Look for an HDMI output directly from the camera. Mine
is built into a docking/recharging station that you place the camera onto.
The HDMI can then be outputted to any HD monitoring screen or monitor.

Eisboch

Another "forgot"...

The storage capacity obviously depends on the disk drive or in my case the
size of the memory cards used.
The Samsung can record in either 1080p (HD) or 480p (SD) modes.

In HD mode, you can select "normal, fine, or superfine". 8GB storage media
capacity is approximately 112 min., 96 min. and 71 min. respectively for
these modes. You can use up to a 32GB removeable card in addition to the
built-in 8GB card.

In SD mode, (480p) it's 239 min, 139 and 112 min. respectively.

There's also a slow motion mode.

You can also take high resolution photos ranging from 640x480 to 3664x2448
resolution.

Eisboch

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

"Marc Heusser" d wrote in
message ...

In article ,
"Eisboch" wrote:


"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)


I screwed up with the 1028. Meant to say 1080. The Samsung is 1080/30p.
I am still messing around and learning how to use it.

Eisboch

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:34:17 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

I'm thinking about buying a HiDef video camera, primarily for use on
the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or cautionary advice?

Don't drop it in the water!

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:34:17 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

I'm thinking about buying a HiDef video camera, primarily for use on
the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or cautionary advice?


Lot's of good advice, thanks everyone.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:34:17 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

I'm thinking about buying a HiDef video camera, primarily for use on
the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or cautionary advice?


Lot's of good advice, thanks everyone.


I just saw the thread, and I bought a Vado HD a couple of weeks ago via
eBay,

http://tinyurl.com/be3m8u

2 hours of HD+ or 4 hours of HD or 8 hours of VHS quality. Smaller than
a pack of cigs, 2x digital zoom, it's point and shoot.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

I'm thinking about buying a HiDef video camera, primarily for use on
the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or cautionary advice?

Before you jump into the HD realm of video, please look at the demands that
it places on the system that you're going to use to edit it. HD requires a
huge amount of processing power (and memory) to do it well. The vast
majority of Windows based applications/systems can't do real-time editing
of HD video. You almost always have to generate a "proxy" version (low
res) version of the video to do the editing and then generate the HD output
based upon edits to the proxy version.

Then, if you're going to view the HD output on anything other than your
computer, you'll have to get a BluRay burner, which is expensive and the
media is very expensive relative to DVDs.

All in all, if you've never edited HD video before, I'd be very careful in
wishing for a HD video camera and associated systems to process it. The
camera will just be a small portion of what you'll have to spend to process
and view the output in HD.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

"Geoff Schultz" wrote in message
.. .
Wayne.B wrote in
:

I'm thinking about buying a HiDef video camera, primarily for use on
the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or cautionary advice?

Before you jump into the HD realm of video, please look at the demands
that
it places on the system that you're going to use to edit it. HD requires
a
huge amount of processing power (and memory) to do it well. The vast
majority of Windows based applications/systems can't do real-time editing
of HD video. You almost always have to generate a "proxy" version (low
res) version of the video to do the editing and then generate the HD
output
based upon edits to the proxy version.

Then, if you're going to view the HD output on anything other than your
computer, you'll have to get a BluRay burner, which is expensive and the
media is very expensive relative to DVDs.

All in all, if you've never edited HD video before, I'd be very careful in
wishing for a HD video camera and associated systems to process it. The
camera will just be a small portion of what you'll have to spend to
process
and view the output in HD.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org


Actually, the part about requiring a BluRay isn't quite accurate. I
regularly transfer HD files from my computer to my PS3 via the internal
network. Works great!


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com