Page 1 of Hard Drive Camcorders!!

I see there are now Hard Drive camcorders!!

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/181_274232.html

I wish I had had one on my tour of OZ a few years back! Took 26 tapes but only used 9!!

This item was edited on Saturday, 20th August 2005, 10:37

cool :D i wonder what the image quality`s like :)

Basic model specs below. Different recording qualities like a DVD recorder but I think at same quality as a DV camcorder - 7 hours on this model.

http://www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id=GZ-MG20EK&catid=100094&lid=

• 3-Dimension Noise Reduction
• User-Friendly GUI for Easy Operation and Setting
• Thumbnail Picture for Easy & Quick Viewing
• Programme AE with Special Effects
• Multi-Language On-Screen Menu
• Data Battery
• USB2.0 High-Speed Transfer
• Easy Printing with PictBridge and DPOF Support
• High-Value Software for Windows® and Macintosh (Data Management, Editing [Win/Mac],and DVD Creation [Win])
• Up to 25 Hours of Recording with 20GB Internal Hard Disk Drive
• 4.5 Hours of High-Quality MPEG-2 Video Recording (Constant 8.5Mbps, 720 x 576/50i in ULTRA mode) with Dolby Digital Audio (MOD file)
• 25x Optical Zoom/800x Digital Zoom
• INFO button for one-touch confirmation of hard disk free space and remaining battery
• Auto Illumi. Light
• 2.5" Clear LCD Monitor
• Power-Linked Operation
• SD Memory Card Slot for Extra Data Storage
• 16:9 Wide Mode
• Remote Control provided
• Weight 380 grams*, volume under 512 cubic centimetres
*Including battery and lens cap

Nice idea, but I prefer knowing I have a hard copy on tape should the stuff on my computer hard drive become corrupt or something.

Shall stick with my Digital 8 for now. :D

Quote:
Nice idea, but I prefer knowing I have a hard copy on tape should the stuff on my computer hard drive become corrupt or something.

Shall stick with my Digital 8 for now.

that disne make sense :) tapes (even D8) are still very perishable, & it`s much easier to make a backup "hard" copy via the pc (i would assume one a hard disc based camcorder is plugged into the pc it will be seen as an external drive)

this way you could make vcd/dvd`s of you`re stuff in minutes rather than hours as would be necessary in realtime tape transfer ;)

My brother bought one of the earlier versins of these a few months ago. The unit is very compact and the idea is great but the results are not quite as good as using DV tapes largely because the real time MPEG encoding required is not as good as many software encoders, the results on fast moving scenes can look very jerky. If you place high emphasis on on a very compact unit coupled with high resolution still pictures above moving picture quality then this is definately the way to go.

Hmm...

If kept in bad conditions perhaps, but mine are still holding out even though they were used in a Video 8 handycam since 1994 before getting the digital 8 one last christmas

My Hi8 tapes from 96 have a lot off drop outs on most of them :( Good quality Fuji tapes as well :(

Hmmm - I doubt it is anything to do with the make of tape, although I do use sony casettes with my video equipment.

Maybe i`m just lucky. :)

I have V8 tapes from the 80`s and all still work fine.
I have have had a DVD-RAM Camcorder for the last three years
and would not go back to tape.
HD camcorders seem to be the way forward.
Most people put there footage straight onto DVD anyway.
Make two copies and you have a back-up.
A blank DVD-R cost pence .
I have been transfering my old V8 (63) tapes via my Tosh HD DVD Recorder and the
quality is great, and you can put chapter points in at the press of a button
(after transfer).