digital camcorder

[mcd1]

what the difference between a mini dvd and a normal dvd camcorder

[Ralph]

I think you might be getting slightly confused with the different camcorder formats.

Mini DV uses a tape and records each frame (25 per second in these parts) digitally onto that tape.

DVD camcorders use a small (8cm diameter) DVD disc and record compressed MPEG digital video directly onto the discs.

Both formats have their minor advantages & disadvantages, but give roughly the same quality at the end of the day.

[nactel]

What format would you recommend? Im thinking of getting the dvd format

[mcd1]

Thanks Ralph . Can you play the small dvd from the dvd camcorder directly into a normal dvd player ?.

[Ralph]

Hi. If you get one of the DVD types, you can pull the disc out of the recorder and play it in a normal DVD player after you "finalise" it. If you use a DVD R disc, then after you finalise it, you can't use it to record anymore. If you use a DVD RW, you can "un-finalise" it and continue recording.

I personally bought a Mini DV tape camcorder, mainly because I got it about 2 years ago when the DVD camcorders were still a newish idea. The DVD type have matured and are better these days.

I like the fact that the Mini DV camcorders record every frame uncompressed onto the tape so that you only lose data through compression when you edit it on the computer and burn it to disc. The DVD type record in MPEG format, which records one frame (a key frame), then only records the difference between the current frame and the key frame. It will record a new full keyframe every 1 to 10 seconds. It saves quite a lot of space.

Mini DV tapes are just that, tapes. You have to rewind and fast forward to find what you want, all the time wearing out the tape and the heads and the mechanism itself. You'll probably never actually wear it out, but you never know.

If I were buying a new one, I'd be slightly swayed towards Mini DV still, but the most important buying influences should be optical zoom and price, and if a DVD one came along that was better than my chosen mini DV model, I'd get it!

[oakleydoaky]

having only just left working for jessops after 16 years i can tell you that as near as september 05 you could spot the lower quality of mini dvd (the nearest you could get to mini dv tape was setting a sony on the 20mins per disc setting). mini dv tape was at that point far better (and they last an hour).

if i remember right (check me out) you cannot edit dvd discs with the likes of pinnacle editing software. that could be an issue.

it's still tape for me (there are hard disc camcorder around as well, thay may be worth a look).

[sezovhull]

One of them is smaller and the other one is larger