DVD video camera

[Marc DeGirolamo]

I am thinking of purchasing a DVD camcorder and have looked at several different models......At this point I see several models which would serve my needs.....Am wanting to spend about $800-1000. Can any of you comment on a particular make and model (one which you use).....or more importantly which ones to stay away from.....? thanks

ps: I plan on mounting it onthe rollbar of my -4 to capture all those wonderful flights, not to mention the exciting landings....

[svanarts]

Marc,
Did you ever get any replies? I'm thinking of doing the same thing in my RV-4. How are you planning on mounting the VC on the rollbar?

[Sam Buchanan]

About three years ago I purchased a Canon ZR40 for about $400. We had an upcoming trip to Europe and I didn't want an expensive camera in case it was lost or stolen. The Canon easily fit in a jacket pocket, and more recently has been mounted to the roll bar to capture on-the-road video from my kit car.

http://216.180.55.64/driving_29.wmv

The ZR family is now up to about "100" or so but you can still buy a member of the ZR family for less than $400. Since the Canon was my first digital video unit, I was amazed at the quality of a production that could be produced on a PC.

It really isn't necessary to spend $800-1000 just to get a high quality video image. The image quality of the lower cost cameras is comparable to the higher priced units. More money buys more bells and whistles but the image quality of any of the DV cameras is far beyond the older analog cameras. If the video file is compressed for internet distribution, the image will be considerably degraded anyway.

Editing on a PC is really cool. I can now easily and inexpensively produce videos that are far beyond what was practical 18 years ago when I offered video services in my business.

Sam Buchanan
http://sambuchanan.com

[svanarts]

Cool. Now how did you mount it to your roll bar? I've never really checked into the camera stores or anything. Is this a pretty common kind of mount? RAM maybe?

[Captain_John]

Sam, Cool little car!

Looks like fun!

CJ

[Davepar]

I did the same thing. I bought a Canon ZR40 a few years ago. I didn't want all of the bells and whistles and didn't want to worry about the camera getting damaged/stolen. It was the cheapest model in the "ZR" line available at the time, but it absolutely blew away my old Sony Video8 camera in terms of quality. And transferring video to the PC (after I bought a FireWire/1394 card) was incredibly easy.

Dave
(disclaimer: I work for Canon)

[Sam Buchanan]

Attached is a photo of the Canon ZR40 mounted on the StalkerV6 rollbar. The mount was fabbed up out of stuff from the scrap box. The actual camera/mount interface is a "tripod quick release" mount that I had in another scrap box.

Well......I can't figure out how to insert an image into this post....keep getting an error message. Here is a link where you can see the mount:

http://www.stalkerv6project.com/camera_mount.jpg

This probably doesn't translate very well to mounting a camera in an RV, but the point is that the mount doesn't have to be particularly sophisticated.

You can also see the auxillary 0.43 wide-angle lense on the ZR40. This is how I am able to include most of the interior of the car along with great depth of field that keeps the landscape in sharp focus. I used a remote mike so the audio wouldn't be blown out by the slipstream around the camera.

There are a bunch of neat digicams on the market, but the little ZR cameras seem to be great units for the money. I have been completely satisfied (amazed?!) with the performance of the little puppy.

Sam Buchanan
http://thervjournal.com
http://www.stalkerv6project.com
http://sambuchanan.com

[svanarts]

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

Attached is a photo of the Canon ZR40 mounted on the StalkerV6 rollbar. ...
This probably doesn't translate very well to mounting a camera in an RV, but the point is that the mount doesn't have to be particularly sophisticated.

Actually that's perfect. And really does relate to mounting in an RV -- if you have rollbars. Which I do.

Thanks for the photo!

[svanarts]

For what it's worth I found a fairly cheap clamp on camera mount. Will fit up to 1.5 in tube. I'm going to try this on my rollbar.

Clamp On Video Mount

[ClayR_9A]

I've had difficulty getting video recorded directly onto a small DVD by one of the DVD cameras imported into a computer for editing with a program such as Studio 8. Seems to be much easier with a firewire linked miniDV camera when it comes time to import.

(would love to be wrong on this one, too, so let me know if you have a method for this)

-Clay