>

> <n8900***@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1143131286.161884.225230@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
>>I am looking at buying a new camcorder. My digital camera has recently
>> packed up and therefore looking for a camcorder that can double as a
>> digital camera. I would like the camcorder to have a seperate memory
>> card for photos. I am looking in the range of $400 - $800.
>>
>> Are these new DVD camcorders any good compared to the DVtape format
>> camcorders?
>
> No.
>
>>
>> JVC as the new 20gb harddrives that store the videos, are these any
>> good?
>
> Nope.
>
>>
>> I am a bit clueless and would appreciate any advise
>
> MiniDV uses the DV-25 codec, which does not compress temporally and has a 25
> mbit data rate.  DV-25 video is easily edited on a computer.
>
> DVD uses mpeg2, which does compress temporally and, in DVD-compliant
> implementation, has a maximum bit rate of 9 mbits.  The camcorders use
> single-pass hardware transcoders, which do not do the best job of compressing
> the video.  Mpeg2 is edited only with difficulty on a computer.
>
> Hard drive recorders use mpeg2 at DVD-compliant rates and have the same
> drawbacks as DVD camcorder.
>
> DVD and hard disk camcorders are consumer gadgets, marketed to people who are
> looking for something "easy and simple" and who don't care about video
> quality.  MiniDV is used in prosumer camcorders -- studio release films have
> been shot on it.
>