I had been looking for a camcorder since my last one broke down which was an 8mm. I wanted the camcorder mainly for recording the activities of my children. My first impulse was to buy the digital8 where I could have played all my existing 8mm tapes, but after using a digital8 owned by one of my friends, I thought of putting in the extra money for a miniDV.

While deciding on a camcorder, I had the following priorities:

1. Must be digital - Though I do not edit my pictures/movies on the computer right now but I knew it was a matter of time before I would start doing that. With new formats like MPEG4, pretty soon I would be sending movie clips over the internet, the way I send pictures right now.

2. Must be a standard brand, well known for its quality and durability - I was burnt badly last time with my 8 MM camcorder which broke down after 14 months of purchase. I had not taken the extended warranty and the repair cost was as high as the cost of the camcorder. I narrowed down to Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC.

3. Must be the latest technology - Though I had thought of Digital 8 but when I came to know that you can use this camera to convert all your analog tapes into digital format, I preferred to go in for a mini dv format. I had already transferred all my 8mm tapes to video so I did not need the digital 8. Moreover MiniDV is the format that is and will be a format of the future while Digital8 is a stop gap technology. Digital8 is a technology that is being used to lure people who want to go digital but are not sure of what to do. If any one wants to go digital, they must wait and go in for MiniDV rather than go in for Digital8, as pretty soon they might again find themselves wanting to change to MiniDV format.

4. Features - The number of features that this camera offers is worth the price. You can actually edit the movies using the camcorder, transfer all the still photos on tape to the memory stick with one operation, transfer specific scene from the movie as a still photo etc. If you want to do night time photography, this is the camera.

5. Quality - I am quite impressed by the quality of both movies and stills. I had not bought this camera for stills but when I saw that the stills were comparable to the low res stills taken by some of the digital still cameras (you will keep the res low for emailing the photos), I was impressed. Low light photography is incredible.

6. 3.5 inch LCD screen is great. The viewfinder is color and the LCD screen can be flipped 180 deg to face the subject. When the screen is flipped, you can see through the viewfinder - so the subject can see what is actually going on to the tape. Also the flipped screen can be folded back so that there is the screen on the side of the camcorder facing outwards. The image inverts when you flip the screen 180 deg so that you always see it upright.

I am still exploring the features of the camcorder so I will keep on updating this review as and when I find something interesting.

I compared this camera with other minidv cameras and this one stands out. If you are a technology geek and love techy toys, this one for you.




Recommended: Yes