Best Camcorder For WDW - Sony or Canon?

[MouseearsDeb]

I'm looking at buying a new minidv camcorder. So far, the two I like the most is Sony DCR-HC36 and Canon ZR600 or Canon Elura 100. I really want the one that's going to do well taking night time videos of parades and of course daytime video. I thought surely someone on these forums might have some insight on one of these. These are at the top of the price point that I want to spend. So, any help suggestions would be appreciated.

PS- Thought I could squeeze this in under trip planning since I do plan on taking to WDW at the end of Sept. :animwink:

 

[Summerland24]

I am in no way an expert when it comes to miniDv but I have had both a Canon and a Sony digital camera. I do know first hand that the Canon had a designated "Fireworks" setting that took great night time pictures of both FIreworks and the parades.
I found the sony to take nothing but a blur.

Just my two cents

 

[KnK]

We have the Sony miniDV type. We upgraded last year and was amazed at the difference. Videos are very clear. Was surprized the level of detail that showed up during Spectromajic. And they transfered really well to DVD as well. This is our second Sony.

 

[monorailguy01]

I bought a Sony Handycam MiniDV camcorder for my trip in May of this year and I have to say it is by far the best camcorder I have ever owned. It take great video if your are going be on rides, the night vision is not the greatest but it works great for the dark rides, ( except EE and space mountain) nothing came out on EE inside the mountain and nothing came out at all on SM, I think I payed somewhere around 600.00 for mine and that was the middle one they have 3 versons the more expensive one I belive is somewhere around 800.00 and it has better night vision and you can put a digital memory chip it in to take pictures as well, I can take pictures on mine it just save the picture onto the mini dv tape..

Hope I helped....

 

[isitingood]

I have a Sony HDR-FX1 HDV Handyman Camcorder that is just awesome. I also just bought a Sony Alpha DSLR-A 100K digital camera that is better then anything Canon has to offer. So I would go with Sony over Canon but it also depends on what you're looking at:wave:

 

[slk212]

I bought a Canon mini DV last year and picked it mainly for it's stronger
zoom. We were at Disney this past May and it worked great. Playback
is beautiful.:sohappy:

 

[Senderella]

I've dealt with all of this recently. As recently as yesterday. We wanted to upgrade from a Hi8 SonyHandycam. I wanted to move to a dvd camcorder, but I accidently ordered a DV. I wanted to move away from tapes completely so it was a big foul up on my part. I sat on the phone w/ Canon tech support yesterday and found out in order to be able to transfer your movies to dvd via your computer.. you're going to need a firewire card and cable as well as a dvd burner if you don't already have one. There is no USB port like in the Sony handycam. The problem with the Sony handycam is the software that comes with the camcorder is very selective. Basically, it only supports certain burner drives. I figured since my computer is relatively new, no problem. WRONG. After some researching, I found out my burner is NOT supported so I was screwed on that too. I had ordered a Canon ZR500. If you're looking for a DV camera thats very small and light, it looked to be a good deal. It looked like it'd fit in a pack. I want to go to DVD because it finalizes inside the camcorder and there's nothing to mess with. The mini dvd is done and most computers/dvd players can manage those. We're looking into the Canon DC100.

PS- The hi8 Sony did well at WDW. We'd gotten great footage of the night time parades, fireworks and everything else imaginable.

 

[MouseearsDeb]

Thanks for the great replies so far. We are upgrading from a Sony Hi8 handycam and primarily wanted something a lot smaller. I thought about a DVD camcorder, but had read several negatives about them 'dropping' data? I didn't like the way that sounded, so for the price I will go with the minidv until I feel more comfortable with the DVD one.

Anyone that has a Sony, have any problems with the touch LCD menu?

 

[pisces8331]

DVD is the way to go!

I have a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD203 that I bought last summer for my honeymoon! It is great, has never dropped data and does finalize in the camcorder. Plus this version will use re-writable DVDs if you are willing to fork out the extra money for the RW-DVDs. I love that I can finalize the DVD and pop it into my DVD player. The finalization process puts each recorded segment into chapters so you can find what you are looking for easily. It was well worth the money and I'm sure the prices of these are even cheaper now than last summer!

And the LCD screen is super easy to use! Screen seems a little small when you go to touch just one little button but it's easy to get used to. Plus most of these Sony DVD camcorders come with remotes too, although I can't find a purpose for it yet.

Hope this helps.:wave: Good luck in your decision.

 

[Senderella]

I have a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD203 that I bought last summer for my honeymoon! It is great, has never dropped data and does finalize in the camcorder. Plus this version will use re-writable DVDs if you are willing to fork out the extra money for the RW-DVDs. I love that I can finalize the DVD and pop it into my DVD player. The finalization process puts each recorded segment into chapters so you can find what you are looking for easily. It was well worth the money and I'm sure the prices of these are even cheaper now than last summer!

Hope this helps.:wave: Good luck in your decision.

That's my entire reasoning for going for the Canon DC100. Considering the hassles I had trying to figure out the Sony Hi8's program for the computer, the possible BS of going through getting the EXTRAS for the DV I had just ordered (and sent back today to exchange)... the DVD seems like the most hassle free option. Plus I saw the one I want at Target last night (for 100 more) and played with it a little. :sohappy: Perfect size & everything.

Hey Pisces, where have you found the mini-dvds for your camcorder the least expensive?

 

[monorailguy01]

yep your right you do need a firewire card and cable to transfer onto a dvd..

I was going to buy a DVD camcorder too but what turned off was that it only holds 20min on a DVD and if im there for a week I am going to be carring around so many blank DVDs its not worth it to me. so thats why I got the MiniDV the picture is outstanding and the tapes hold over an hour of footage, I bought a extra battery it retails for 100.00 i got it on ebay for 15.00 and it holds 15 hours I believe maybe a little less...

 

[Senderella]

yep your right you do need a firewire card and cable to transfer onto a dvd..

I was going to buy a DVD camcorder too but what turned off was that it only holds 20min on a DVD and if im there for a week I am going to be carring around so many blank DVDs its not worth it to me. so thats why I got the MiniDV the picture is outstanding and the tapes hold over an hour of footage, I bought a extra battery it retails for 100.00 i got it on ebay for 15.00 and it holds 15 hours I believe maybe a little less...

I've read those mini dvds hold 30 mins per each side... I was figuring on getting one of those little cd zip cases and using that for blanks/used and making up some sticky labels on the computer to label the outside of the plastic once they're inside and used.

 

[twolf]

I've dealt with all of this recently. As recently as yesterday. We wanted to upgrade from a Hi8 SonyHandycam. I wanted to move to a dvd camcorder, but I accidently ordered a DV. I wanted to move away from tapes completely so it was a big foul up on my part. I sat on the phone w/ Canon tech support yesterday and found out in order to be able to transfer your movies to dvd via your computer.. you're going to need a firewire card and cable as well as a dvd burner if you don't already have one. There is no USB port like in the Sony handycam. The problem with the Sony handycam is the software that comes with the camcorder is very selective. Basically, it only supports certain burner drives. I figured since my computer is relatively new, no problem. WRONG. After some researching, I found out my burner is NOT supported so I was screwed on that too. I had ordered a Canon ZR500. If you're looking for a DV camera thats very small and light, it looked to be a good deal. It looked like it'd fit in a pack. I want to go to DVD because it finalizes inside the camcorder and there's nothing to mess with. The mini dvd is done and most computers/dvd players can manage those. We're looking into the Canon DC100.

PS- The hi8 Sony did well at WDW. We'd gotten great footage of the night time parades, fireworks and everything else imaginable.

Another way you might consider transferring from minidv "tape" camcorder that has a firewire port is a dvd recorder set top that you would use for recording from the tv like a vcr..but you need one with a firewire port and then you can record straight from the camcorder to a dvd...t

 

[Senderella]

Another way you might consider transferring from minidv "tape" camcorder that has a firewire port is a dvd recorder set top that you would use for recording from the tv like a vcr..but you need one with a firewire port and then you can record straight from the camcorder to a dvd...t

Problem is we have neither... dvd recorder or firewire.. we'd have to buy those things and for 80 more for the minidvd camera, it just made sense. We probably would've ended up spending more for the accessories we needed for the dv tape.

 

[twolf]

Problem is we have neither... dvd recorder or firewire.. we'd have to buy those things and for 80 more for the minidvd camera, it just made sense. We probably would've ended up spending more for the accessories we needed for the dv tape.

I understand...just was offering that there is another way to transfer to dvd, much easier than the computer..I have a video computer with firewire card, and a 3000 dollar capture card and even then you have to reencode after capturing to computer to format to burn to dvd.....so still a very slight loss of quality, where as straight to dvd thru a settop seems to be much easier and less loss of quality as once recorded to minidv tape it is digital file and unlike with vhs and so forth when you dub it or capture it to computer there is a loss ofquality..with minidv it is already 1's and 0's and digital...so in essence in transferring it is like transferring a file...which you lose nothing but with computer you still have to encode to format, mpeg mpeg2 etc for dvd burn which is a lossy process.

But did not know you did not have settop..just letting you know there is another option other than a computer and firewire card..in case you ever get a settop....I know many cable and satellite tv providers have dvdr's for use now but I have no idea their capabilities or ports or anything...
I have 2 pioneer settops with firewire input and think I paid 300 for them a year ago..but they will come down....but just offering another suggestion just in case...t

 

[Tramp]

I have a Sony HC-90 and take all my video in 16x9 format. The video is spectacular. However, the camera is slow or difficult to find a correct focus in dark scenes. I often manually focus in dark areas such as filming Fantasmic.

I convert all my video tapes to DVD with Pinnacle software. The final results are excellent.

I won't buy another video camera until they eliminate the tape or disk completely and record directly to a chip. This can't be far down the road.

I have always found Sony to produce an excellent video picture and Canon for all my still photos.