Wife Wants A Video Camera?

[peterbj7]

HD broadcast takes over in February 2009. I just read Best Buy just removed all analog (DV) TV's from their shelves. So if you don't have an HDTV, you soon will

I'm not an expert on this stuff but I do know a bit about it.

I don't think your statement above follows. We've had digital TV transmission in the UK for several years but it's not yet HD - that is starting to come but will take a while. The TVs that are disappearing are those with an analogue tuner, whereas HD also refers to the way the picture is displayed.

DV is not analogue - it's short for Digital Video.

For a first video camera I certainly wouldn't go to HD, though there's no reason you shouldn't if you want to spend the money. They tend to be bigger and heavier and much more battery-hungry, as well as being much more expensive.

AFAIK, the cameras with the best IQ (short of DV) are all miniDV. I know people with hard disk recorders and they're very easy to use, but the pictures are certainly lower quality. I don't know that there's any intrinsic reason for this, so maybe current model hard disk recorders are better.

When buying, remember that a video recorder is unbelievably complicated inside. I've never had one last more than two-three years of moderate use. It's the one item I would ALWAYS buy an extended warranty for.

As to makes, I've never liked JVC as a brand, just because their controls to me don't seem logical. I've never had a Sony that hasn't failed, and in every case Sony were unable/unwilling to repair it (and that's not just camcorders). The brand I would head for, based on the quality of all their products that I own, is Canon.

I use a video recorder (miniDV) here in Belize down to around 60'-70' with natural light, using a red filter. I don't bother to take it out if light or visibility is less than excellent - the results won't be worth it.

Lastly, as someone said above be prepared to lose this camera to flooding. If the housing is electronic be prepared to lose the electronics in that as well. Flooding happens, no matter how careful you are and how good the housing. Electronics flooded with sea water are instantly destroyed, with no possible hope of repair.

 

[Footslogger]

I think your wife has been talking to my wife.

===========================

...or mine.

After many years of watching me taking underwater pictures she finally put her foot down and said that she wanted to try u/w video. So ...on this years liveaboard she'll be sporting her new Sony digicam and the Ikelite housing I bought her. Starting off with the basics -- no light or special features. Just a magenta filter and diving in really clear water with plenty of daylight.


MJ

 

[diversteve]

I'm not an expert on this stuff but I do know a bit about it.

I don't think your statement above follows. We've had digital TV transmission in the UK for several years but it's not yet HD - that is starting to come but will take a while. The TVs that are disappearing are those with an analogue tuner, whereas HD also refers to the way the picture is displayed.

DV is not analogue - it's short for Digital Video.

You're right of course, since I shoot HDV and have an HDTV, I was thinking in those terms when I posted that.

Should've been:

Digital broadcast takes over in February 2009. I just read Best Buy just removed all analog TV's from their shelves. So if you don't have an HDTV, you soon will

DTV or Digital TV is what the U.S. is changing over to in Feb. 2009.

ALL-DIGITAL TELEVISION IS COMING (AND SOONER THAN YOU THINK!)

Don't think I'm far off about HDTV though, at least here. Prices are falling and most people I know have at least one HDTV already. Even friends who are late adopters have recently purchased one.

In my area, a $15 UHF antenna gets you all local broadcast channels in HD. And I regularlarly get HD upgrade offers from both satellite and cable operators. (I have both for different reasons)

 

[peterbj7]

I suspect the US is ahead of the UK again. For years the British system has produced markedly better pictures than the US system, simply because the US system came first and the later UK system leapfrogged it. I'm not sure whether there's one international standard of HDTV or not, but at least the US will now get images the same quality as we do in the UK.

In the UK the authorities are concerned that take-up of digital services has been relatively poor. It's forecast that by the time of the great switch-off (of analogue signals) many people will have no means of watching digital, and of those who can most will be by means of external digital tuners bolted onto older analogue TVs. It'll take many years before most people own any form of digital TV, let alone HD.

Is the market battle for recorded media between HD and BluRay in any way relevant to the TVs we buy? Because if so we have a lot of confusion ahead of us.

One point of detail - your corrected statement
"Digital broadcast takes over in February 2009. I just read Best Buy just removed all analog TV's from their shelves. So if you don't have an HDTV, you soon will"
is IMHO still wrong - it should have read
"Digital broadcast takes over in February 2009. I just read Best Buy just removed all analog TV's from their shelves. So if you don't have a DTV, you soon will".

 

[diversteve]

So if you don't have a DTV, you soon will".

Incorrect, I meant HDTV when I posted the correction.

Best Buy lists 220 TV's on their website currently. 205 of them are at least 720P HDTV sets. 15 of them in the sub-500 price range are SD Digital sets (480I - 12 tube - 3 LCD). You can buy an 720P off-brand HDTV for $269 (on sale - reg. $329) from them.

Not sure if you've read about it recently, but it appears that Blu-Ray has basically won the format war - at least here. Warner Bros. recently announced that they're only going to release in Blu-Ray so 70% of the studio releases will be Blu-Ray.

 

[peterbj7]

Yes, Blu-Ray certainly seems to be in the lead, but from what I've read the race isn't over yet. I think Blu-Ray probably deserves to win as it seems to be technically superior. Not that that determines anything - look at Betamax and VHS.

As to HDTVs, I'm out of touch with what's going on in Britain, but when I was there last year I didn't see any high profile for HDTV sales.

 

[skdvr]

Well I would go with a HD camcorder as well. Even if you cannot burn to a Blu-Ray or HD DVD yet and want to down convert to SD it will look beter than SD recorded on a SD camera. Then down the line when you do have your Blu-Ray player you can create adn play your Blu-Ray Disks. Notice I keep saying Blu-Ray. I really think it is going to be the victor. I work for a video production company and that is the direction that we have gone.

As to cameras I would seriously look at the Panasonic AG-HSC1U. It records in AVCHD which is a highly compressed format but still looks great (from what I have seen), and it is recorded to a SD-card (No tape) The only concern I would have with that is for fast motion sports video. I am not sure how the compression will do with that. I asked the question to the Panasonic rep a few weeks back and he did not know. Or he knew and did not want me to know. HDV recorded to a Mini-DV tape is also a good format to use, and has the benifit of being on a tape that you can archive. I guess you can archive the SD cards too but they will be a little harded to keep track of. I know that panasonic and sony have Blu-Ray players that will play videos off of the SD cards, so you can then play your videos in HD without actually burning a disk.

Now the downside to HD is that it will require more light to look good than SD does. Espically when you are watching it on a 52" HD TV.

If you decide to go with SD, I would definately go with Mini-DV. The little mini DVD's do not hold enough info, and if you get a scratch in the disk then you loose everythin on it. The little hard drive cameras are nice but if you do not have a computer that you can dump all of the info off of the camera and onto the computer while you are on vacation it does you no good, and as someone has mentioned the picture is not nearly as good as Mini-DV and that is because it uses a MPEG2 compression.

Phil

 

[Marinevisions]

Just FYI,
We just received confirmation that the Gates HC7 housing is compatible with the newer Sony HDR-HC9 also.
This also means that just about any other housing out there for the HC7 should work. Light and Motion, Ikelite, Amphibico and a few others all have housings for the HC7.

 

[kroorda]

I completely agree with Robin about getting an HD camera. If you get an HD camera, you MUST have a high-end computer to edit the video with, the latest in editing software, a Blu-ray burner, and an HDTV. If any of the pieces in this equation are missing, your final output won't be HD! Furthermore, if (with any of the software that is available) you download your HD video into your software and then burn your project to a Standard DVD, you will be VERY disappointed. Believe me, I have a lot of experience in this. If you go HD, go all the way. Otherwise, stay with some of the very good DV cameras that are available. The Sony PC-1000 and the Light & Motion Mako housing is probably one of the lightest and best camera setups I've ever seen or used. The results are phenomenal, and the package is relatively small and easy to travel with. At this point, you'd have to get the Sony PC-1000 on Ebay, which you should be able to do at a very good price.

 

[ronscuba]

You don't have to get a blu-ray burner. You can record your final HD output back to the camcorder, connect to an HDTV and watch full resolution 1080i HD in all it's glory.

You can also put it online at Vimeo and Stage6 at HD resolutions that blow away standard definition videos. Friends and family all over the world will be able to see it.

You can create a standard definition DVD that will look just as good as video that was shot with a standard definition camcorder like the PC1000.

Only problem with Light & Motion Mako housings is they are expensive, even on the used market.