Looking to buy Videocamera

[BusyB]

Any recommendations for small reasonably priced videocam to use with a Mac appreciated.

Wondering about Panasonic SDR SW20 which is waterproof/shockproof.

[jimgriff]

Go for one with 3 CCD's and possibly hi def!

I just bought a Panasonic HDC-SD5. Very happy with it.

[green granite]

Buy the most expensive one that you can afford, that way you won't be disappointed.

[Tosh McCaber]

The problem with Hi Def is that you need a Blu-Ray burner to turn it onto a Hi Def DVD, then you need a Hi Def DVD player to show it, on your Hi Def TV.

Verrrry expensive. Especially since most home movies are verrrry amateurish anyway!!

I would suggest that cheap and cheerful is definitely best, in this case. In fact, despite the slightly below-average quality, the short videos that I take with my Kodak digital camera, which is always with me, give me and the relatives the most fun! (Not that I would knock a good reasonably costed camcorder.)

[Background Noise]

Or you can just play it in HD direct from the camera to the TV.

[planecrazy.eu]

You can play it from the Camcorder as said, and to my knowledge, every HD Set has some way to hook a computer up to it.

I have noticed, that when you burn B-Ray, the sound goes slightly out of sync unless recorded at 1x. PC ( 2GB RAM, 256 GFORCE, D-CORE )

Technology is getting so confusing, as its not good enough to say, get 3CCD and HD, as there is a load of difference between the two. I have seen a HD/3CCD camera record a poorer picture than an SD Camera. The resolution was better (Obvious) but colour, etc, was poor.

Cant really go wrong with Panasonic anyway, and like both Camcorders said. Remember, recording at HD quality 1080i or worse P will eat memory like no tomorrow, and remember, SolidState cards / Flash Cards are still not that cheap when compared to the video's.

Good storage solution is to get 1 large flash, and then a portable HardDrive with a memory cardinput on it so you can copy one to the other, makes it more affordable.

General convention is that the larger the CCD the better, more pixels the better, but the most important is the ration between the two.

[BusyB]

Thanks for the feedback.

I've had a good look around bearing in mind what's been said and was very tempted by models with a light for indoors. However as I do a bit of sailing I think I'm going to go for the SDR SW20.

[poss]

I'd go Canon as their cameras/camcorders have the best lens'. I have an XL2 and before that an MV960, both great camcorders.

[Tosh McCaber]

As I said, at present, keep it cheap and cheerful. As Background Noise correctly said, you CAN play clips directly from the HD camera, BUT, you can't send on (cheap) DVDs to your relatives and friends, and you'll end up with a large pile of unedited HD tapes , and having to wind and rewind to find that elusive clip that your looking for.

With a regular camcorder, it's a doddle to record onto DVD. (I use a domestic DVD hard disc recorder, which is brilliant.)