bargain digital camera

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Nor

Thanks fellas... just to get back to a few things you asked. Its for my folks to take on holiday. But they love their holiday memories so although it'd only be used 3 or 4 times a year I'd want high quality. It also needs to be small. We've currently got a Sony Handycam (hi8) and I'd want something alot smaller than that.

The plan is for me to record their holidays onto DVD in my computer. Probably just straight copies for starters and look at editing them up at some point. Finally convinced them (after years trying) to get a dvd player Would also be keen to copy the old VHS tapes of their holidays through the camera and onto DVD again. 16:9 is a must I'd say with the new camera. They'd be annoyed if it wasn't 16:9 after all my nagging for them to get a widescreen tv THe budget it probably around £500-£600 but I'd be needing a couple of batteries, a case and some tapes/sticks (not actually sure what the new dv camcorders use)

Not expecting anyone to do all the donkey work for me. I'm reading all the reviews and visiting all the sites to see which one to get myself. But its really good when folk in the know can give advice.

Thanks in advance.

Some of the sony range, though I think they are all last years could playback Hi8 on their DV8 machines, useful if your Hi8 is on its way out to pasture.

If its not a feature you feel you need then the Cannon 630 I mentioned does all you need, true widescreen, analogue to DV conversion, DVin/out, certainly portable enough for my needs.

http://www.nomatica.com/index.asp?de...gue=EN&pays=UK

www.Nomatica.co.uk £555 (allow for â‚ ¬ conversion fluctuation) with spare battery (the big one), case, 3 tapes and 3 year wwty. £377 without the extras.

[Nor]

The Canon does indeed look good. Has everything I need in a camcorder really. Would you happen to know the difference between DV and mini DV and whether one format is superior ?

With regards to that camera, can get it for £315 at Dixons believe it or not, which is fecking good. The Dixons web offer is £350 but if you use the voucher code from shop4camcorders.co.uk you get an extra 10% off

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Nor

The Canon does indeed look good. Has everything I need in a camcorder really. Would you happen to know the difference between DV and mini DV and whether one format is superior ?

With regards to that camera, can get it for £315 at Dixons believe it or not, which is fecking good. The Dixons web offer is £350 but if you use the voucher code from shop4camcorders.co.uk you get an extra 10% off

DV/MiniDv - AFAIK its the same, just the tape is smaller, possibly shorter record time, and no extended record time options (availible on the 650). Mini DV is used more in the next range up, the MVX10 shaped ones, but I think the MVX10 is still DV. It allows a smaller form factor for the camera. If you have not seen one you'll be amazed at the size of a DV tape though. About 40x smaller than VHS and stores more lines of image.

The only thing I would warn about on the 6n0 range is that some motor noise can be picked up by the onboard microphone, can be fixed by buying an add on one from jessops for about £25. Probably cheaper ones elsewhere. I think this is a problem with many small form camcorders anyway.

[vaiolator]

Just a couple of links that may be helpful for camcorders.
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/reviews.html

http://www.reviewcentre.com/products58.html

I bought a JVC GRD25 at Xmas from Jessops. I had seen the same cam online at a couple of place for about £130 cheaper. I knew that Jessops would try to match the price and they managed to get within £15, but also threw in a 5 pack of DV tapes which made up for it.
For spare batteries, I bought a generic double capacity one on Ebay from a UK supplier with about 100% positive feedback. I paid about £18 "buy it now" inc p+p. I saw the same on Saturday in Dixons for £69.99! Not a bad saving. I will find the name of the seller if anyone wants it.
Oh I nearly forgot, whilst looking into the one I bought I too found many people mentioning motor noise on Canons. My analogue Canon, only about 18 months old has the same.

[Nor]

Thanks SMHarman. Wish I'd got the canon yesterday. Dixons put the price back upto £400 today Can still get it for £360 but £45 more then yesterday. My main concern with the Canon as you say was the tape transport noise, I had wondered if it was possible to fit an external mic and solve it. Does it extend out far out of interest ? I think my folks want it to be kinda small, not sure they want this massive boom extending out the front

[Nor]

Great link that vaiolator (the reviewcentre one). Thanks.

[altis]

Just an update on the original topic:

Amazon seem to have exhausted their supply of the A60. They do occasionally list a few second hand items but it looks like this model has more-or-less gone for good.

Keen viewers will have noticed that there is a new model in the range - the 3.2 megapixel A75. This is very similar to the A70 which, I guess, is soon for the chop. So eyes peeled for some more bargain prices on this one!

At the moment Argos has the A70 for £179.99 and, according to our latest freebie flop-out, it should be on offer from 27th to 31st May for £149.99 .

### cut 'n paste from another post ###

For a rediculously large amount of information on CF cards look here:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/mul...e.asp?cid=6007

For a good charger you could try one of these:
http://www.gpbatteries.com.hk/html/p...k_premium.html
At only 36 minutes for up to four 2100mAh NiMh AAs, the U-Smart claims to be the worlds fastest charger. It's available (inc 4 x 2100mAh) for £35.42 + vat from CPC.

For some non-rechargables you could try these:
http://www.energizer-eu.com/en/e2_lithium/default.htm
At 2900mAh, they claim to be the worlds longest lasting AAs. They work well in the cold - ideal for trips to the Himalayas - and they have a very long shelf life so they're ideal as a backup set. Expensive mind, at about £5 a pair!

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Bifta

<snip>It's an absolutely excellent camera, very weighty, helps me take half decent photo's as I seem to develop the shakes when holding a camera. I'd recommend this to everyone, alternatively you can buy my Sony off Ebay in the next couple of days

Missed this when i read the thread back then...

When taking a photo. take a deep breath, hold, press the shutter, then exhale.

Removes the shakes no end. I can hand hold a 30th (obviously not on full zoom) like this.

On the subject of Cannon cameras, I was getting upset at my EOS10 last week as the LCD screen is starting to delaminate and black bits are appearing on it. Still works fine and is readable though. Then I realised that the camera is 15 years old. Cannons are built to last.

[altis]

Or p'raps Bifta should have gone for the PowerShot S1is instead - 3 megapix, 10x optical zoom with optical image stabilization.

My photos suffer from this quite often. I try to stay steady but sometimes it's not convenient to hang around! I'm sure I used to be better at this in my youth when I wielded a trusty Zenith-B. I think that the shutter delay of digitals doesn't help. I often seem to take the camera away from my eye too quickly - I'll try to remember that big breath trick.