digital video cameras

[Jez]

Anyone know about digital video cameras? Im thinking of buying one - want to be able to transfer video to my pc as .mpg files etc etc.

What do I need? I've been offered a Panasonic NV-DS27B with firewire card and software for £380 - is this a good deal??

Cheers
Jez

[Phil L]

Don't know about that model but firewire cards are dirt cheap, the software comes with it so the £380 is mainly for the unit. Try searching for that model and see if there's any reviews.

I've got a sony one so I can only tell about that. One major plus is being able to store photos directly onto a memory stick and not only onto the DV tape. This is because its an arse to wind through the tape looking for your photos...especially if you've taken them mixed in with video footage. On memory stick its like a floppy disk, you just copy files from the stick to PC.

In either case, its definitely worth while being able to take photos as well as video. Resolution isn't as hot as a dedicated digital camera but then its not the primary function.

Getting video from DV tape onto PC with the firewire and software is pretty easy. However, the video will be downloaded in raw format which is massive so you needs lots of hard disk space. 90mins takes up around 20Gb ! Once onto PC you use video editing software to create your mpg, avi or whatever depending on the software. When created these are much smaller than raw format...the 20Gb reduces to around 400Mb mpg. Newer editing software will makes use of better compression formats like MPEG4.

A fast PC is useful for video editing...speeds up the process. Using a P3 866, 256Mb RAM, the 400Mb mpg takes about 2.5 hours to create :eek:

[dave_s13]

What software do you use to create the mpeg files???

and will it create Mpegs from AVI files??

I've got a load of films in AVI format that I want to convert to mpeg then burn as VCDs but I'm having trouble getting the knocked off progs I've downloaded to work.

If it does can a blag a copy off you??? I'll give you a fiver and some free porn on VCD. Only if the software works though :)

[Phil L]

The sony came with MGI VideoWave 3, so I just use that. Its probably not the best out there but its fine for a beginner (/me). I hear Adobe Premiere is one of the top apps.

It will take a video in common formats (ie avi, mpg, mpeg, even mov if you have the codec installed) and when you create a video, you then choose the format again. So if you wanted to join say an avi with an mpg and create a mpeg, you can. The only thing is I don't know the compression ratios and if you make changes to the original, like brighten, it will cause the file to be larger.

PM me if you want to try it.

[SteveCarter200]

Originally posted by Jez
Anyone know about digital video cameras? Im thinking of buying one - want to be able to transfer video to my pc as .mpg files etc etc.

What do I need? I've been offered a Panasonic NV-DS27B with firewire card and software for £380 - is this a good deal??

Cheers
Jez

Ive got the same vid cam. Got it with a case and some software for downloading stills for................ £460...................2 months ago. ARSE!!!!!!!!:mad: :(

So yes, that seems quite a good deal.:(

The camera is really good. I dont really know feck all about them but it does me fine, takes video, takes stills, night sight infra-red thingy, piece of piss to use. Loads of outputs. It got a top rating from What Camcorder.

:)