Direct (straight) record to DVD disc via DVD recorder…,essentially using the camcorder as a viewing mechanism to get video on the disc.

I will be recording a church sermon and was wondering if anyone can tell me which camera, and option listed below will provide the best recording, e.g. video quality based on the 2-cameras listed herein and their mode of recording?

Unfortunately, I cannot find a DVD recorder with “component IN nor HDMI IN”, thus my recorder only offers RCA composite IN and S-video IN – not sure about Firewire IN either.

(1) Sony DCR-VX2000 Camcorder: S-Video (IN) to rear of DVD recorder
(2) Sony DCR-VX2000 Camcorder: RCA composite (IN) to rear of DVD recorder
(3) Sony DCR-VX2000 Camcorder: Firewire (IN) to rear of DVD recorder
(4) Canon Vixia HF G20 (HD) Camcorder: RCA composite (IN) to rear of DVD recorder using what I think might be its best setting: 60i at 24mbps…opposed to its lower recording modes of 17mbps, 12mbps, 7mbps, 5mbps AND frame rates of PF30, PF24, and 24p.

All things considered, my lighting should be fairly good. My audio will be shot out directly from soundboard to DVD recorder…

Thanks,

Which DVD Recorder are you using?

In general and other things equal:
IEEE 1394 (aka Firewire and iLink) would be the best input to use.
S-VIDEO is next best.
Composite (usually yellow RCA) is usually least desireable.

However, you should do some side-by-side tests under anticipated live lighting conditions to see if the potentially higher quality of the G20 imaging internals would offset the losses associated with composite video output. Recording to the the G20 SDHC card gives you the option to move to HD/Blu-Ray media at some point in in the future.

I see you are paying attention to the audio quality - it is likely more important for spoken work than the visuals. Watch out for possible latency (audio leading the video) caused by the longer signal path through the camcorder. Keep in mind that the firewire input will likely carry audio as well from the camcorder. You may find it works best to feed the sound through the camcorder to keep things in sync.

Thanks for your informative reply...did the shoot. Whilst recording straight to DVD from the look of things it appears the G20 yielded the best results, e.g. color and clarity probably due to newer cmos chip, 1.2 lux, etc. However, the vx2000 did ok - work horse under any condition(s).

Thanks again...