Re: A digital video Camera for my needs?
Brett Bottomley wrote:
Hi Everyone
I need a video camera to record performances and do sound syncing with my recording gear.
So what do I need? I want the least expensive solution which will give me pro results and is user friendly. Any suggestions on features I will need and models that will do the trick. I know I need a good zoom for my sons baseball games.
It's time I get into the video age. Also Do I need special editing software for my Mac?
Thanks
Brett
Hi Brett,
For editing on the Mac I bought Final Cut Express, it's pretty inexpensive with an educator discount, and quite versatile.
I currently have a Canon Elura 100 camera. It uses MINI DV tapes, which are not the latest generation of media technology, and have heads that will eventually wear out, but the video quality is better than with DVD and cards in the same price range because it's less compressed.
It takes longer to capture the video to you computer, however.
I'm about to buy a second camera, and I think I will get am HD mini DV camera. Canon and Sony both make cameras in this format, but they are almost $1000....
If you're going to get a cheaper single chip camera, it should have at least a 1 megapixel CCD. Most of the cheaper cameras have stripped away convenient features like external mic in (really nice to have) AV in (also really nice to have for putting all those old video tapes you have lying around onto your computer).
hope that helps.