Hard Disk Drive Camcorder Suggestions (1 Viewer)

[Marty]

We are going to Disney World next month and I want to get a hard disk drive camcorder so I don't have to worry about having enough tapes etc. I have been searching and reading reviews. A lot of the ones I have looked at have complaints about being able to record in low light.

I would like to spend up to $500 but would be willing to go a little higher. Any suggestions and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[NCSaint]

Good thread. I am interested as well. I went with miniDVD and that has proved to be a big Pain in the neck.

 

[BIG E]

I have a Sony with the 80 gig hard drive. It is very nice and takes great video. I don't remember the model number. It was around $800, but I'm sure the price has drop now. I think a hard drive is the only way to go.

 

[BIG E]

I looked them up on Dell where i bought mine and the high def's are going for 600 and the regular def's are going 300 to 400. They are very easy to use. You can put it on its docking station and burn direct to your DVD on your computer.

 

[Marty]

How does it record in low light situations? Can you dowload the movies to your computer and edit them. Will the movies play on on Sony's software or can you play on Windows Media Player and RealPlayer?

 

[BIG E]

I haven't had a problem with low light situations, but I don't know if I been in that situation. Mine has the night vision. Every thing is green, but still neat. You can download to the computer and edit it. I'm not a tech head I don't know a lot about editing. I wish I did. I'm sure you can play it on windows media player. I know it came with a file converter which allowed you to convert to other formats. I always just burned mine to a DVD and play it on my DVD attached to my TV or you can hook the camcorder directly to the TV and play it.

 

[Marty]

Have you had any problem filming outside at dusk?

 

[Snakehead]

I bought a JVC Ericho and used it for a couple HS football games and after deciding that the still images it took were total garbage I returned it. I noticed on the return rack that there was about 4 others so I guess people don't like that one.

 

[uproar90]

If you're not truly set on the HDD camera, check out Aiptek's Action-HD GVS

Takes up to a 32gb SD Media, true HD recording, and gyroscopic stabilization. My bro-in-law bought one model down from this one and has no issues with it. I bought this one for my trip to Disney next month...

Plenty of reviews and video examples can be found via Google (night shots, low light, etc.)


Oh, and it's on sale now for $179.95 @ Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Aiptek-Action...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256775887&sr=8-1

 

[mikaloyd]

I like the solid state memory cameras too. But mostly because I film from vibrating motorcycles and tape or HD cams mess up under heavy vibration.