Canon Puts Efficiency On Press-
"only 20 minutes of unspectacular HQ video per disk" on by johnshakespeare
Pros: low-light performance, LCD, battery life
Cons: only 20 minutes of HQ per disk, mediocre HQ quality
Summary: Test drove one of these while deciding which camcorder to get. Video quality is acceptable, but not outstanding even in HQ mode. The camera is quite easy to use, and has a very good battery life.
A recurring irritation is the disk full condition. The 20 minute limit on HQ video is OK for short events or a series of brief clips. However, it means that longer sessions are awkward, and I found I was defensively swapping disks at the start of each multi-minute clip, just to ensure that recording was not cut off prematurely.
The miniDVD issues persuaded me to get a DV camcorder. The one I got was the Panasonic GS250, which is not as good as the Sony in low light, but is equal or slightly better in just about everything else (especially video sharpness and color). It can also record 60 minutes of HQ on a tape, from a single battery charge. -
"Good video quality, excellent steady-shot" on by Tubester
Pros: Great little size with excellent macro focus ability. Nice user controls including white balance
Cons: Color saturation not as good as my more expensive 3-chip camera.
Summary: I bought this little camera to take to Italy. It is nice and small and the video quality is pretty good. The ability to zoom in tight and focus on just about anything is a plus. I like the touch screen to access features. You can even zoom and record from little buttons on the touch screeen. The steady-shot is the best I've see, no shaking even when zoomed in close. When using the wide format the image isn't that sharp, however, so I'll be using the standard 4 by 3 setting. My other camera, which is too big to take on the road, is the Panasonic AG-DVC30, which is quite nice, too.
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"You don't have to be a professional photographer to take professional quality videos with this cam" on by bart-simpson_
Pros: Very good video quality
Cons: No video lighting
Summary: No worrying about the video quality on this one, that's for sure
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"All that I had hoped a DVD camcorder will be and more." on by appaji
Pros: 16:9 LCD, awesome audio (indoors). Finally, where i can start about the direct DVD convenience
Cons: Decent, but not great still quality. Non-tiltable (and hence nearly useless) view finder.
Summary: When it was time for me to part with my MiniDV Panasonic PVDV400, I wasn't sure about
#1 Moving away from Panasonic which has been fantastic
#2 making the Call on DVD vs MiniDV.
Now that I have had the Sony for over 3 months, I have no dounts in my mind that I made the right call. The Direct to DVD convienience comes in more than handy when you record (no rev. or ffwd finding where is your current record position). Once completed, I finalize the disc and thro it into my DVD player or import it directly into my movie editing software for NO-COMPROSISE video transfer to my DVD. This was a problem with my previous MiniDV as I used RCA video capture which lost a bit during transfer.
The built in 5.1 audio recording works great as well.
I wish the camera did better on two fronts
1. The mic is awful during outdoor shooting, as it picks up even a modest breeze and makes it sound like a typhoon. (Beach recordning is out of question, with so much wind noise). But well, for me as most of my recording has been indoors this hasn't been such a big deal.
2. Sony should upgrade their software package to include at least the most basic of video editing and dvd creation functions. Unless you are planning to use your recording as-is, a DVD editing software purchase is nearly mandatory. After trying a few (pinnacle.. phew!), I settled with ULead Movie Factory and it has been great.
Overall its been a awesome camera and if not for the minor quirks above, this would have received my perfect 10. -
"Amazing Camera" on by xyzman99
Pros: Versitile with great video and still features
Cons: Menu structure could be better but it's still great
Summary: Finally a great little digital camera that combines the best of video and still image capabilities in one great package. I really liked the cool night vision capabilities but I'm not sure that I would ever use that feature very much. The video composition software that comes with it makes it so easy to combine images and video in a few easy steps. They could have made it easier to add a utility to burn full size DVDs. Over all..... I love it.
DCRDVD403 DIGTL VIDCAM user reviews
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