Stick with MiniDV, use iphone, or upgrade

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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I have an old MiniDv video camera, I have had this for years, and I have lots of little clips saved on the tapes. The video that I shoot is just family friends and other memorable stuff. The LCD screen no longers works, and the video is a pain to load onto pc.

I do have an iphone 4, and I have done a few little clips using this. I know the iPhone records in HD, but surely this can't be any good for making family clips with can it, or can it ?

Plus I dislike the .Mov files the iphone records to...

Also I was thinking of getting a little compact, maybe something like the Canon Powershot, as some models record video in full HD. I don't know what the video quality is like though, and I do keep meaning to take a trip to my local cammera shop, and I can try it out there.
 
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Dear Jon, I will answer you instead...Just stick with what you have at the moment, if something comes up at the right price. Oh and if you have earned yourself a treat, then why not.
 
Janitor. said:
Why do you dislike .mov?
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The reason I don't like .mov files is because they don't play, without having to install quicktime or other players. Plus can't edit them in windows movie maker !
 
I would say try and source another second hand MiniDV. A few months ago I bought a Panasonic NVGS60 for £60, just as a back up to view all the tapes I have accumulated.

If you have converted all the Mini DV's you have and not worried about keeping the original ones you could go for the new HD ones that record to a SD card or to a hard drive.
 
My Canon DSLR produces mov files and I was able to edit them in WMMV, you will need the codec to be installed, which installing quicktime does if I recall.
 
sep9001 said:
I would say try and source another second hand MiniDV. A few months ago I bought a Panasonic NVGS60 for £60, just as a back up to view all the tapes I have accumulated.

If you have converted all the Mini DV's you have and not worried about keeping the original ones you could go for the new HD ones that record to a SD card or to a hard drive.
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WOW is that what they go for second hand ! I bought the Pan NV-GS 120 a few years ago, and it cost me £700 brand new, bad investment !

I have not got round to converting them all, it takes blooming ages using firewire :'(
 
artyman said:
My Canon DSLR produces mov files and I was able to edit them in WMMV, you will need the codec to be installed, which installing quicktime does if I recall.
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Hi Ken, message error says can't open file, and yes something about a missing codec. But I never ventured further, other than trying to find a file converter :)
 
jonbeeza said:
WOW is that what they go for second hand ! I bought the Pan NV-GS 120 a few years ago, and it cost me £700 brand new, bad investment !

I have not got round to converting them all, it takes blooming ages using firewire :'(
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i feel your pain. the number of times i've said to myself... right, this sunday i'm going to copy all my minidv tapes onto my external hard drive. Flippin nora, i'm fed up after 2 hours and i've still not done the first tape :bang:

i had a JVC which cost £1,200 in 1998, that got nicked in a burglary and the insurance replaced with the latest JVC (at the time) in about 2001 and that was £1,700 from Jessops. Mental innit :cuckoo:

i'm going to look into sending the tapes off or taking into a video specialist to just copy them all onto DVD's for me... it'll never get done otherwise.
 
leftcurl said:
i feel your pain. the number of times i've said to myself... right, this sunday i'm going to copy all my minidv tapes onto my external hard drive. Flippin nora, i'm fed up after 2 hours and i've still not done the first tape :bang:

i had a JVC which cost £1,200 in 1998, that got nicked in a burglary and the insurance replaced with the latest JVC (at the time) in about 2001 and that was £1,700 from Jessops. Mental innit :cuckoo:

i'm going to look into sending the tapes off or taking into a video specialist to just copy them all onto DVD's for me... it'll never get done otherwise.
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I may give it another go trying to get content off tapes and onto my external drive, but as we know it takes an age. Or I may just scan through them and just grab the best bits. I did think of getting a company to do it for me, but I don't like the idea as some tapes are family stuff, and I don't want just anyone viewing them and being able to keep content!

I will never pay silly prices for any camera / video gear ever again, you just lose so much money if you do. It's not like the old days, when stuff kept it's value, sometimes even going up !!
 
Yip. I have an old Canon Mini DV camcorder that worked very well, until the tape transport mechanism developed a glitch and started jamming about a month after the warranty ran out. This was in another country where there wasn't any consumer protection legislation worth a damn, and the repair quote was absurd. I eventually replaced it with a new SD card camcorder, but I still have a lot of tapes that haven't been transferred to the computer, so I'll probably have to get this done for me.

Pity, I actually preferred my basic little Canon camcorder to the new one. At least it had a - sort of - viewfinder!
 
MartynK said:
Yip. I have an old Canon Mini DV camcorder that worked very well, until the tape transport mechanism developed a glitch .....
I actually preferred my basic little Canon camcorder to the new one. At least it had a - sort of - viewfinder!
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yes but that's technology for you ! My old 3 chip panasonic looked great on my telly that was new a few years ago. Now on my new HD tv it does not look so good.

Just wondering, if we all rush out and buy a HD video camera now, will HD video look rubbish on tellys of the future ?
 
jonbeeza said:
yes but that's technology for you ! My old 3 chip panasonic looked great on my telly that was new a few years ago. Now on my new HD tv it does not look so good.

Just wondering, if we all rush out and buy a HD video camera now, will HD video look rubbish on tellys of the future ?
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I daresay you're right, but the old camcorder did everything I wanted it for, and was far more comfortable to hold than the 'bullet' shaped new one! It didn't keep telling me I am 'panning too fast' - when I'm not - either.

I don't know about television. We don't have one, and don't plan to buy one.
 
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