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The best digital video cameras
The latest digital video cameras have revolutionised home movies. Jonathan Margolis looks at what's available
What's the latest big thing in video cameras?They are smaller, cheaper and much better than they were. If you have an old analogue model, such as a Video 8 or an Hi8, sell it on eBay. You may get a fiver for it. Then buy a digital. Even the cheapest, at not much more than £100, knocks the socks off an analogue.
Digital video is superior in several ways. The pictures and sound are better. You can download your footage on to a PC or Mac and store it or burn it onto DVDs to show on a widescreen TV, or turn it into low-resolution MPEG and email it to other people. Digital video cameras also take pretty decent still photos.
There are three types of camera. MiniDV is the most common. It uses little tapes that allow an hour's recording at top quality. The second type records directly onto a DVD. Their recording quality is excellent but they are large and you may feel life is too short to get involved with the complexities of recordable DVD formats.
The third and most promising type is the newest: cameras that record straight onto a mini hard disk of 30Gb capacity or more. These tapeless cameras are extremely small and can record for seven hours or more at a stretch.
Should I keep my cine camera?Not really, no. You have to go to specialist dealers just to get the film, and the processing, never cheap, is now prohibitive. Anyway, video is streets ahead unless you are after a rather arty Super8 look to your home movies. Any MiniDV is sharper and clearer than film; High Definition Mini DV is better still. And video costs anywhere between very little (for tape models and DVD) and nothing at all (for hard disk types).
What features are worth going for?Digital video is all about features. Some are silly, like night vision, special effects and 400x zooms. Others really do improve your filming. An image stabiliser to artificially steady the camera and eliminate most shake is handy. Manual focus, for shooting when the auto focus can't cope, is useful. Also worth having if you have a lot of film on old analogue tapes is an Analogue Line-in feature to help digitise the tapes.
Is High Definition video worth the expense?Possibly. There aren't many cameras yet for it and they're pretty pricey. But the quality is startlingly sharp.
How do you edit?With reasonable ease, although video editing is harder than editing film with a razor blade. You can do some rough editing in the camera, though the process is irritating. All cameras come with basic PC editing software to cut and rearrange, add a music track and so on. But if you splash out (anywhere between £50 and £800) on better editing software, it gets very complicated.
What models are recommended?
Anything from a big manufacturer is good, but for a regular, top-class MiniDV, go for the Canon MV930X Digital MiniDV Camcorder at around £300.
For a top-price High Definition model, there's the Sony HDR-HC3 HDV MiniDV Handycam at £800. For hard disk recorders, try JVC's GZ-MG36 Everio G Hard Disc Camcorder at around £450 or the more expensive GZ-MG77 at £650.
And for an excellent budget Mini DV model, go for Samsung's VP-D361 Camcorder, at around £150. Shop around online for the best prices.
This article was created: 27 March 2007.
This article was last edited: 23 April 2007.
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