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Dave Blackhurst · January 12th, 2009, 03:27 PM

He DID mention DVD camcorders, and those use a mini DVD... I'll just say Yuck as well, and leave it there...

I'm going to guess that the church budget is NOT over $1K? And that's why they are only finding DVD and HDD cams... and rules out a $3K+ budget for a "pro" camera. The FX7 at $2K is about the only "semi-pro"/tape camera out there in the marketplace, until you go over $3K. IF budget is a consideration, one of the High Def "pocket rockets" with a HDD or flash may do surprisingly well. You lose some low light capability, but in decent lighting, they are fine, and not everyone should have manual controls (church volunteers who may "run camera" once there's one available).

SOME of the small cameras have the ability to record to either the HDD or to memory stick/card. The SR11/12 can record to either, AND offload video from the HDD to the memory stick after it's been recorded to the HDD. I think that's what the OP wanted to ask, which I'm guessing was "how do I avoid taking the chuch camera home with me to download"?

You can download/transfer video from a HDD camcorder with ANY USB equipped computer, meaning transfer to a USB jump drive is simple as well, as long as you have a computer available. You MAY need the program that came with the camera if you are using long clips (I'm presuming a 1 hour + service), as there's a file size limit "in cam", and they stitch the shorter files into one long one on transfer, which requires the cam, although some possible workarounds were discussed in the AVCHD section of DVinfo.

Also the transfer time for files via USB is about 1/3 real time, so that's an advantage - 1 hour transfers in around 20 minutes plus or minus.

For a church I could see some advantages to HDD or flash - if you archive the tapes (I've had lousy luck "re-using" tapes), 50-60 services a year plus events are going to start to pile up, maybe that's an advantage, maybe not? If you're editing down and the final DVD becomes your archive, not sure the advantage of tape.

Budget considerations also apply. Spend the money once for a memory stick or cards, or spend for tapes for 2-3 years +, that might impact the final decision depending on the budget in these tighter times.

And of course there's the issue of editing AVCHD, which requires some horsepower, but a few of the smaller cams (which get pretty impressive image quality) will record in SD, much easier to edit, and probably fine for this purpose, with the HD option there if you want it.

Just a few additional considerations.

January 12th, 2009, 03:27 PM	#12
Dave Blackhurst Trustee Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 1,985	He DID mention DVD camcorders, and those use a mini DVD... I'll just say Yuck as well, and leave it there... I'm going to guess that the church budget is NOT over $1K? And that's why they are only finding DVD and HDD cams... and rules out a $3K+ budget for a "pro" camera. The FX7 at $2K is about the only "semi-pro"/tape camera out there in the marketplace, until you go over $3K. IF budget is a consideration, one of the High Def "pocket rockets" with a HDD or flash may do surprisingly well. You lose some low light capability, but in decent lighting, they are fine, and not everyone should have manual controls (church volunteers who may "run camera" once there's one available). SOME of the small cameras have the ability to record to either the HDD or to memory stick/card. The SR11/12 can record to either, AND offload video from the HDD to the memory stick after it's been recorded to the HDD. I think that's what the OP wanted to ask, which I'm guessing was "how do I avoid taking the chuch camera home with me to download"? You can download/transfer video from a HDD camcorder with ANY USB equipped computer, meaning transfer to a USB jump drive is simple as well, as long as you have a computer available. You MAY need the program that came with the camera if you are using long clips (I'm presuming a 1 hour + service), as there's a file size limit "in cam", and they stitch the shorter files into one long one on transfer, which requires the cam, although some possible workarounds were discussed in the AVCHD section of DVinfo. Also the transfer time for files via USB is about 1/3 real time, so that's an advantage - 1 hour transfers in around 20 minutes plus or minus. For a church I could see some advantages to HDD or flash - if you archive the tapes (I've had lousy luck "re-using" tapes), 50-60 services a year plus events are going to start to pile up, maybe that's an advantage, maybe not? If you're editing down and the final DVD becomes your archive, not sure the advantage of tape. Budget considerations also apply. Spend the money once for a memory stick or cards, or spend for tapes for 2-3 years +, that might impact the final decision depending on the budget in these tighter times. And of course there's the issue of editing AVCHD, which requires some horsepower, but a few of the smaller cams (which get pretty impressive image quality) will record in SD, much easier to edit, and probably fine for this purpose, with the HD option there if you want it. Just a few additional considerations.