i am thinking of investing in a camcorder of around £180-300 (to take some footage of my up and coming ring trip)

can anyone advise me of the pros and cons are of a mini dv or dvd media camcorder

i have asked in the usual superstores but they try to push me into buying whatever is on special at the time.

thanks for any info.

mini-dv is a long-established format, tapes are plentiful and cheap, dvd based camcorders record on small 8cm dvds

in my (limited) experience i find transferring the tapes from mini-dv camcorder to pc for editing much much easier than being handed a small dvd which then has to be ripped and converted down

quality between the two formats is not noticeable to my eye

i'd stick to mini-dv

these sites may prove more useful than my opinions....

http://www.simplydv.co.uk/infobase/about_formats.html - http://www.simplydv.co.uk/infobase/about_formats.html

http://www.cnet.com.au/camcorders/camcorders/0,239035915,240061716,00.htm - http://www.cnet.com.au/camcorders/camcorders/0,239035915,240 061716,00.htm

thanks for that. ill take a look

is the editing software normaly supplied with the camcorder?

can the mini dv media produce a digital video which could be hosted on you tube?

thanks again for any info.

generally not or if there is it's usually very basic

nearly all camcorders can be used to produce videos for youtube and suchlike - if its analogue you'd need a capture device to transfer the data to the computer, if its mini-dv then you'll need a cheap firewire card (usually less than a tenner) (although most relatively modern computers have firewire already, also known as ieee 1394 and i.link)

at the most basic level windows movie maker will suffice for editing your video, then you'll need to encode it to a format suitable for youtube - my commentary videos were encoded with apple quicktime pro and they came out in surprisingly good quality considering the compression involved....

http://www.perry1976.demon.co.uk/commentaryvideo.htm - http://www.perry1976.demon.co.uk/commentaryvideo.htm

be aware that video editing takes up a monstrous amount of hard disk space and that a powerful computer is a must for the more advanced video editing programs - personally i use adobe premiere pro 2 but pinnacle studio is a cheaper and easier alternative

feel free with any other questions

if i was to go with mini dv, could i edit out a section from a full tape and then host that section of footage on you tube using windows movie maker?

(is windows movie maker a free download?)

i will require a firewire card as my dell pc doesnt have one!

thanks again - better information that any of the stores can provide

TRACKPIG wrote: if i was to go with mini dv, could i edit out a section from a full tape and then host that section of footage on you tube using windows movie maker?

yes, more information here:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=windows+movie+maker+youtube&meta - http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=windows+movie+mak er+youtube&meta =

TRACKPIG wrote: (is windows movie maker a free download?)

it's supplied as part of windows xp and vista already (depending on the version).... check your start menu, there is an update available for it via Windows Updates.... again check your start menu

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviema ker2.mspx

TRACKPIG wrote: i will require a firewire card as my dell pc doesnt have one!

any computer shop or pc world/currys/comet should be able to oblige - you're looking for a PCI Firewire Card.... this fits inside the machine in a white plastic PCI slot - you should have at least one free, but Dell being Dell.... you can get external firewire capture devices that work through USB 2 though if you don't feel confident with opening the machine

which model of Dell do you have?

i have a dell dimmension 5000

ive checked and i do have windows movie maker!

great stuff.

what are the thoughts on something like this

  http://www.jessops.com/Store/s48696/0/Camcorders/Canon/MD101-Mini-DV-Camcorder/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageindex=1&CatId=171&comp=y - http://www.jessops.com/Store/s48696/0/Camcorders/Canon/MD101 -Mini-DV-Camcorder/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageinde x=1&CatId=171&comp=y

are you sure it doesn't have firewire?  some of the dimension 5000s do - have you got your service tag handy so i can check on dells site?  (should be a sticker with a serial number/service tag)

you're looking for a socket like this (this is 6-pin firewire)...

or this... (4-pin firewire - but more commonly found on the camcorder)

the camcorder looks good for the price, you don't need anything really fancy because the quality is going to suffer on youtube anyway.

handy that it has an external microphone input - you'll be able to hook up a microphone in the engine bay then

just be careful to hide the camcorder when you take to the track - i was under the impression that filming was banned on the ring

another thing you might consider is a camcorder mount so you can mount it on or in the car - i have one from http://www.fastfilms.co.uk - www.fastfilms.co.uk

i dont see any ports like that on the pc. i do have a free white plastic pci slot (i think its a pci slot).

my service tag :  j7wnm1j

just been to look at the camcorder but the equivilent sony wasnt there and i wanted to compare.

http://www.fastfilms.co.uk/ - http://www.fastfilms.co.uk/

ive just been looking at the suction cup mounts- they look really good, i want one of them aswell!

decisions, decisions.

is the cannon a better camcorder than the sony?

http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=48065 - http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=480 65

just downloaded the specs for your system from the dell site, you're right it definately doesn't have on-board firewire

i have one of these fastfilms camera mounts:

https://sslrelay.com/s139675512.oneandoneshop.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessionid=154654820280307/shopdata/0002_Mounts+for+camcorders=2C+cameras+and+bullet+cameras/0010_Suction+mounts/product_details.shopscript?article=0190_Pump%2Bcup%2Bwith%2Bswivel%2Band%2Bdouble%2Bball%2Btilt%2Btop%2Bhead%2B%3D28MN241155%3D29 - https://sslrelay.com/s139675512.oneandoneshop.co.uk/sess/utn ;jsessionid=154654820280307/shopdata/0002_Mounts+for+camcord ers=2C+cameras+and+bullet+cameras/0010_Suction+mounts/produc t_details.shopscript?article=0190_Pump%2Bcup%2Bwith%2Bswivel %2Band%2Bdouble%2Bball%2Btilt%2Btop%2Bhead%2B%3D28MN241155%3 D29

TRACKPIG wrote: is the cannon a better camcorder than the sony? http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=48065 - http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=480 65

the sony doesn't have as strong an optical zoom (20x instead of 30x - forget digital zoom rating - thats a cheat and just blows up the image digitally, it will look pixellated)

it doesn't have external mic input either

ok, its the cannon camcorder, a external mic and a suction pad !

(are the mounts on cameras all the same thread size?)

i reckon i need one of these too

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=500-10056 - http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk &l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=500-10056

that a nice mount but i think i need to be a little more inconspicuous at the nurburgring - ialso like the look of the ones which can be mounted to a bike tank!

is this the card i need?

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=500-10056 - http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk &l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=500-10056

yeah, that should do nicely but you'll get one much cheaper elsewhere, they're all standard fit

try http://www.dabs.com - www.dabs.com or http://www.maplin.co.uk - www.maplin.co.uk for starters, even ebay

here's one for less than a fiver!

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=44DT&CategorySelectedId=11139&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11139,4294960247,4294960509,48720000,50010 - http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=44DT&Cate gorySelectedId=11139&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11139, 4294960247,4294960509,48720000,50010

what about this one?

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=366D&SearchType=2&SearchTerms=firewire+pci&PageMode=2&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All - http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=366D&Sear chType=2&SearchTerms=firewire+pci&PageMode=2&Sea rchKey=All&SearchMode=All

i take it you just power down pc. fit the card and power up?

thanks for the help!

you got it... (and load the cd if it requests you to do so)

you'll need a firewire cable too - usually 4 to 6 pin (6 pin side plugs into the card and 4 pin to the camcorder, but double check the specification of the camcorder, or check against the photos above when you get it)