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[duggs]

Well I've finally got myself a Hi-Def Camcorder and from a few tests, I'm very happy. On a HD TV the picture looks amazing...

BUT....It sure is a game to decide on what type is best...especially regarding Storage space. Mine, the JVC GZ-HM330 came with 8gb on board. Sounds a lot but at Full HD thats only about 40 mins recording time. The largest memory card for mine is a 32gb which will hit around the 3-4 hr recording time, if I'm lucky, but cost around £100.00 plus for a decent make. Baring in mind that the cards also have a "Speed Class" rating and for HD they say we need at least a 4 but ideally a Class 6 or 10. Bump goes the price.

I think to have some "on board" memory is critical BUT now I've found out how expensive memory cards are for Hi Def recording, I'd suggest the more on board the better. They are more expensive short term BUT will save a fortune long term regarding memory cards. Love my JVC, especially given that she has a 30 x optical zoom which is rare for a Full HD camera BUT had I known, I think I would have paid that little more and got one with a LARGE hard drive, at least 160Gb me thinks.

And batteries !!!! Don't even go there !  A high capacity battery, giving about 2 hours record time, £100.00....I don't think so.

Camera is SO new not even our Oriental friends have been able to manufacture a "clone" yet !

[Martin_1962]

I want one but they seem to have stopped making the sort I want

I want tape

[duggs]

I have a digital "tape" camcorder also but I have this "thing" about Hi Def. The quality difference between the two is staggering.

Planning to "do" California/Nevada in August and really wanted to capture the trip in HD. 

By the time you take footage from a "tape" camcorder and burn it to DVD I've found I loose quite a bit of clarity. I've found some software that burns HD content to regular DVD's and the picture still looks amazing, far better than tape.

[Chris_H]

Well I've finally got myself a Hi-Def Camcorder and from a few tests, I'm very happy. On a HD TV the picture looks amazing...

BUT....It sure is a game to decide on what type is best...especially regarding Storage space. Mine, the JVC GZ-HM330 came with 8gb on board. Sounds a lot but at Full HD thats only about 40 mins recording time. The largest memory card for mine is a 32gb which will hit around the 3-4 hr recording time, if I'm lucky, but cost around £100.00 plus for a decent make. Baring in mind that the cards also have a "Speed Class" rating and for HD they say we need at least a 4 but ideally a Class 6 or 10. Bump goes the price.

I think to have some "on board" memory is critical BUT now I've found out how expensive memory cards are for Hi Def recording, I'd suggest the more on board the better. They are more expensive short term BUT will save a fortune long term regarding memory cards. Love my JVC, especially given that she has a 30 x optical zoom which is rare for a Full HD camera BUT had I known, I think I would have paid that little more and got one with a LARGE hard drive, at least 160Gb me thinks.

And batteries !!!! Don't even go there !  A high capacity battery, giving about 2 hours record time, £100.00....I don't think so.

Camera is SO new not even our Oriental friends have been able to manufacture a "clone" yet !

Looks pretty good for the money IMO.  The zoom range is good (can you hold it steady on full telephoto?).  HDD certainly gives more capacity but is more vulnerable shock-wise.  Either way you may need some backup facility on a journey to dump off to.  Screen size is a bit of a let-down even for SD.

[Martin_1962]

I have a digital "tape" camcorder also but I have this "thing" about Hi Def. The quality difference between the two is staggering.

Planning to "do" California/Nevada in August and really wanted to capture the trip in HD. 

By the time you take footage from a "tape" camcorder and burn it to DVD I've found I loose quite a bit of clarity. I've found some software that burns HD content to regular DVD's and the picture still looks amazing, far better than tape.

I am using MiniDV and I encode using TMPGENC XP

I want to get HDV and a BluRay burner

[duggs]

Agreed Martin.  Bluray burners are still a tad on the expensive side at the moment huh..

In HD the JVC records as a MTS file, each press of the button to record produces a separate MTS file. Windows 7 opens and plays them perfectly and on my 1920 x 1200 PC monitor they look great.

Found a great program, which eventually I'll need to pay for, which converts MTS files and/or merges several MTS files as one large movie file. AND the important think is that it converts the HD content into literally tons of options ie:  AVI standard, AVI HD, IpodMP4, you name it it does it.

Once its in AVI HD format I can burn the movie to DVD although with the high quality of the AVI HD mode I think I can only get about 1 hour on a DVD.

Until I get a BluRay burner I have no other option, other than to leave the footage on the PC's hard drive or on the incredibly over priced memory cards.

What a wangle !

[Xplicit 2.0]

Well I've finally got myself a Hi-Def Camcorder and from a few tests, I'm very happy. On a HD TV the picture looks amazing...

BUT....It sure is a game to decide on what type is best...especially regarding Storage space. Mine, the JVC GZ-HM330 came with 8gb on board. Sounds a lot but at Full HD thats only about 40 mins recording time. The largest memory card for mine is a 32gb which will hit around the 3-4 hr recording time, if I'm lucky, but cost around £100.00 plus for a decent make. Baring in mind that the cards also have a "Speed Class" rating and for HD they say we need at least a 4 but ideally a Class 6 or 10. Bump goes the price.

I think to have some "on board" memory is critical BUT now I've found out how expensive memory cards are for Hi Def recording, I'd suggest the more on board the better. They are more expensive short term BUT will save a fortune long term regarding memory cards. Love my JVC, especially given that she has a 30 x optical zoom which is rare for a Full HD camera BUT had I known, I think I would have paid that little more and got one with a LARGE hard drive, at least 160Gb me thinks.

And batteries !!!! Don't even go there !  A high capacity battery, giving about 2 hours record time, £100.00....I don't think so.

Camera is SO new not even our Oriental friends have been able to manufacture a "clone" yet !

buy that do u mean a clone of the JVC or in general HD cams?

[Mr Skrunts]

Like the sound of that, I was waiting for the new canon range to come out. but from what I see the max optical zoom is only 18x and 30x would suitme better, down side is the nighvision side of it.  But as an everyday HD camcorder to take out in the car etc it sounds a cracking camera.

Do they do them with higher internal storage capacity do you know?

[duggs]

He he he he....No ! A clone of the battery.

I got a couple of clone batteries for my old Panasonic digital "tape" camcorder from Ebay. They came from the far east, were cheap as chips and each last ages once charged up.

Sadly the orientals have been a bit slow off the mark to make one for the new Camcorders...Darn !

[duggs]

Yes !   They do up to at least 160GB but the optical zoom isn't so great. Got mine in Comet. £349.99 seems a good price PLUS its extremely comfortable to hold, some are not in my opinion. Menu is a doddle also. Its quite small, what I wanted, to go inside pockets and small camcorder pouches and such.
Its 1080p as well, NOT the lesser grade 1080i.

Fed up going on holiday looking like a Japanese tourist all the time. This little baby is small, comfortable and easy/quick to use without the need of a whole load of camera bags hanging from my shoulders.

It has a "hand shake" stabiliser which helps to a point but nothing will aid long distance unless you lean against a wall, on something solid or use a tripod of course.

[Mr Skrunts]

Just compared all of themon the JVC site.

GZ-HM330BEK  30x  3.32MP
GZ-MG630AEK  35x  800k
GZ-MG645BEK  35x  800k
GZ-MG750BEK  39x  800k

These were the bast 4 on Optical zoom but when you look closer they talk of Ratio Optical Zoom, lens/pixel wise your comes out the highest so am considering getting one of these instead of the canon.

Also keep an eye open for batteries on your holiday, should be a lot cheaper in the states, just do your homework before you get there.   

[KW]

Camera is SO new not even our Oriental friends have been able to manufacture a "clone" yet !

More than likely because the battery is Li-ion.

[Mr Skrunts]

Worth looking at as well.

http://www.jvc.co.uk/product-list.php?id=100021

[KW]

Bluray burners are still a tad on the expensive side at the moment huh..

£130 brand new, which is pretty good when you think back to how much a DVD-RW drive was when first released and how long the price took to drop.

[duggs]

Skruntie !

I thought about the Canon's also but they tended to be quite a bit more, and for me, were a little to big.

Also noticed the "Ratio Optical Zoom" thing..didn't like the sound of that, sounded like marketing talk to get over something it technically didn't do. !!!

Have a few months to go before the trip, IF THE SODDIN' FLIGHT PRICES WILL DROP, so there is a bit of time for the orientals to get "battery cloneing" yet.

I have seen the upgraded battery (BN VG-121) from Holland for around the £70.00 but as the camera is new I thought I'd wait a bit....Ebay NEVER lets me down ?

KW !  Agreed. Am sure I'll get one eventually but there isn't a huge need for me just yet. Not least the fact that most homes don't have a Blu Ray player yet so I can't show my holiday vids to my folks in any event.