Which brand of camcorder should I buy?

I want to buy a dvd camcorder - what is a good brand?

• hi -- I want to buy a camcorder that records onto some type of digital media -- i don't even have a VCR anymore -- I would like something on DVD - or some digital format that i can upload to my PC and burn a DVD from that -- I don't have much money -- I just want to know what brands and models are good - i have heard that some digital camcorders only records for about 1 min -- i don't want that kind! thanks so much everyone!

• Answer:

  Hello. I too am looking to get a camcorder and have been doing a LOT of research lately. Panasonic is coming out with a really good 3CCD dvd cam next month (VDR-D310) which records to dual layer discs. This means you can put 30 or so minutes of best quality video on one dual layer mini dvd. If you bought a normal dvd camcorder that records on normal mini dvd's, you'll only get about 18 minutes of high quality video. It doesn't quite double, but 30-35 minutes are better than 18! I shoule mention though that mini dvd's are more expensive than the mini dv tapes. There's also the hard drive cams which can hold around 7 hours of best quality video; depending on the size of the hard drive. Some say the quality is not as good as mini dv, but others are saying that to regular folks like you and me, we won't notice the difference. You can record your footage right to a dvd when it's connected to a dvd burner. However, if you plan on doing any editing of your video, because of the compression needed to go back and forth from camcorder to computer to dvd, you will lose some quality in the video so it's best you go with a Mini DV. They too can record right to a dvd burner. As far as cost, there are so many different web stores out there, not including ebay, so just I would just search around. If you decide on a specific model, I'd be happy to help you find the best price. Just email me. I've included a couple of links for you. Hope this helps!