Feb 2, 2010
I’m looking to purchase a good HD Hard Disk Drive camcorder. I’m a Sony fan, but there are several options out there. Should I instead look into purchasing a Canon (Flash Memory) camcorder? What’s better, Hard Disk Drive –or– Flash Memory?
| SanDisk 8GB microSDHC Card CLASS 2 (SDSDQ-8192, Bulk Package) |
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| List Price: $99.99 |
| Amazon Price: $15.34 |
| Spy Nanny Pen Cam (8GB USB Drive + Pinhole Camera + Voice Recorder) - Black |
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| List Price: Varies based on product options |
| Amazon Price: $39.50 |
| Sandisk 4GB MicroSDHC Memory Card with SD Adapter (BULK Packaging) |
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| List Price: $69.99 |
| Amazon Price: $8.70 |
| Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 Minutes (Black) |
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| List Price: $199.99 |
| Amazon Price: Too low to display |
| Canon FS300 Flash Memory Camcorder (Silver) |
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| List Price: $399.00 |
| Amazon Price: $299.00 |
| Flip Ultra Camcorder 2nd Generation, 120 Minutes (Black) |
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| List Price: $149.00 |
| Amazon Price: $104.76 |
| Canon VIXIA HF R100 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder |
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| List Price: $599.00 |
| Amazon Price: $499.97 |
| Canon VIXIA HF200 HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 15x Optical Zoom |
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| List Price: $749.99 |
| Amazon Price: $449.00 |
Short answer: Flash Memory.
Long answer:
With the known limitations consumer hard disc drive camcorders have with vibration/shock and altitude, challenges archiving the video and huge expense recovering data from crashed hard drives, I no longer recommend hard disc drive camcorders.
Flash memory camcorders use the same highly compressed file types so if you must, then flash memory is better between the two. Check the Sony HDR-CX500 series or Canon HF or HF S series camcorders.
Please keep in mind that video compression = discarded video data = reduced video quality. Also, if you are expecting to edit that video, you will need an editor that can deal with AVCHD/MTS files. There is nothing useful in the box with the camcorder and if you are running Windows/Vista, MovieMaker cannot deal with MTS files (Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere float to the top. Macs have iMovie ‘08 or newer that can deal with AVCHD/MTS files (or FinalCut).
If you want best available video quality, then you need least compression applied to the video data stream. That continues to be DV and HDV format – and for consumer camcorders, that means miniDV tape. Canon HV40. It also happens to be the least expensive camcorder available with a mic jack and manual audio control. Since we are here… Check what the bigger dogs use…
Sony HDR-FX7, HDR-FX1000, HVR-Z1, HVR-Z5, HVR-Z7
Canon XH series, XLH series
Panasonic AG-HVX200
JVC GY-HM series
Most are miniDV tape. Those which are flash memory save to DV/HDV format – not anemic AVCHD (except the Panny – it saves to DVCPRO HD onto P2 cards). There are no prosumer or pro-grade camcorders with internal hard drives. The external hard drives (Sony and Focus Enhancements FireStore) save to DV/HDV.
Sony HDR-XR520V 240GB HDD High Definition Camcorder w/12x Optical Zoom is s good camcorders
Great image quality as expected on a 1920×1080 pixels.
Better low light sensitivity so better shots on it.
And as I can say the most important improvement it is the Image
stabilizer (Steady Shot), it is optical and has a remarkable better and with smoother results on the image stabilization, this is a very important issue for me. specialy for pans and zooms without tripode. So the “Active Mode” it is a true improvement, congratulations to sony engineers.
Good menu navigation. It has more and needed choices than a tape recorder.
Great HDD capacity, just for any one and I set the best Quality Picture.
Very Good photo pictures