I'm sure an idiot for asking this but.. (camcorder question)

[Riley]

Okay I'm thinking about purchasing the Hitachi DZ-BD70A Blu-ray Camcorder
(http://www.crn.com/hardware/20680171...UNN2JVN?pgno=2) but..Why would I? I mean there are a lot of HD camcorders out there, what makes this one different? I’m sure you can burn the other HD camcorders to Blu-ray discs and all of that, so why would I buy this? Please help is GREATLY appreciated.

[kpkelley]

From what I understand it actually is not a particularly good camcorder. Search for online reviews of this one they are not particularly positive.

[Riley]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

From what I understand it actually is not a particularly good camcorder. Search for online reviews of this one they are not particularly positive.

Oh damn. lol ya I just did that and wow....lol alright then

[Chevypower]

Riley, give the Sony HDR-SR11 a serious look. Avoid the SR10, only cos the CMOS sensor is half the size. SR12 steps up from 60GB to 120GB, all else is the same. These cams also have a Memory Stick slot for video capturing the same quality as the Hard Drive.

[Bobby Henderson]

Generally speaking, I don't like optical disc based camcorders. They all tend to use much more severe levels of compression when recording video. The optical discs merely provide a greater level of convenience at the cost of image quality.

For better quality video, go with a tape-based camcorder. Sure, it may seem old hat. But MiniDV records the video at greater bit rates and lower levels of compression. Most newer computers shouldn't have much of a problem "capturing" the video from tape to hard disc for editing.

If you can afford the extra $$$, try to get a camera with 3 CCDs instead of just 1 CCD or CMOS imager. It makes a big difference in color quality and accuracy.

As technology improves for portable hard discs and flash memory we may see better alternatives to tape. Current products in affordable price brackets just aren't all the way there yet.

[syncguy]

I expect blu-ray camcorders to record on blu-ray writable disks. If that is the case, it should be able to record at least few hours of video at HD or blu-ray bit rates. This could be in the range from 20 to about 40 Mbit/s.

The HDV tapes run at 25 Mbit/s. Therefore, blu-ray disk recording appears to be a good alternative. Any comments?

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

Generally speaking, I don't like optical disc based camcorders. They all tend to use much more severe levels of compression when recording video. The optical discs merely provide a greater level of convenience at the cost of image quality.

For better quality video, go with a tape-based camcorder. Sure, it may seem old hat. But MiniDV records the video at greater bit rates and lower levels of compression. Most newer computers shouldn't have much of a problem "capturing" the video from tape to hard disc for editing.

If you can afford the extra $$$, try to get a camera with 3 CCDs instead of just 1 CCD or CMOS imager. It makes a big difference in color quality and accuracy.

As technology improves for portable hard discs and flash memory we may see better alternatives to tape. Current products in affordable price brackets just aren't all the way there yet.

Do the MiniDV cameras record in HD?
Does the format handle HD?

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Do the MiniDV cameras record in HD?
Does the format handle HD?

Yes. There are miniDV cameras that record HD on HDV format. Quality of these can be as good as HD recordings. The miniDV tape records at 25 Mbit/s. This is sufficient for HD when compressed with mpeg2.