buying new camcorder and confused!

url · Post by **url** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:54 pm

Thx for the replies, I went out and purchased it yesterday, and couldn't believe how tiny it is compared to my Hi 8 Sony and my other (several) larger Sony's one which is digital as my better half checked. All of my camcorders that I bought were $2,000 + when I was using my Sony editor and transferring the family activities onto vhs.

Yes, the Panasonic comes with a Matsushita CD 2005, with USB Driver, Quick Movie Magic 1.0E, Motion DV Studio 5.6E for DV ; all digital palmcorder software.

i haven't had the chance to read the manual and examine the camera yet as it is our July 1st Canada Day long weekend and there is simply too much going on and the house is full.

Inspite of what was said earlier, I did purchase the extended warranty from my camera store that I get my 35 mm accessories and upgrade lenses etc at and the total price was $1,129.00 cdn with all taxes included and a camera bag and 4 fuji film and an extra 3 hr battery.

So I don't think that is too bad. Now I just have to do some reading and practicing. I fit the camcorder on my shoulder bracket that I used on my other sony's and it is extendable and acts like a tripod for steadying when your zooming and panning so I am happy that works. Even though the camera is small I always liked that attachment so I will likely use it.

Talked to the computer shop that I deal with and he said that he can get me a powered PC card for $40 cdn with a firewire on it so I asked him to order one in. He said that he has sold a lot of them with no complaints and the fella has been in business here for 6 years and I find him reliable.

Since I still am uncertain about USB 2's ability to do the job I thought that I may as well purchase the card and I have always used powered PC card's in the past on my older Toshiba's.

I actually have a firewire on my new Toshiba, however am using it for work and don't really want to mess with it with my hobbies, lest something create a problem and my data is jeopardized; there goes my bread and butter!!! Even though I do Ghost the notebooks it is the loss of time etc. when a problem occurs that is a costly factor.

Any more comments about this USB 2.0 and now I am wondering what programs I should browse that are user friendly for transfer of the film to dvd.
I always like to have more than one program or can Ulead Movie Factory 4 do ths for me as I am in my comfort zone with this program in using it with my Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2.0

I really realize this is going to be a brand new ball game for me in transferring to dvd than when I edited my Sony tapes.
A little apprehensive about it.
I imagine that there are books on it so I should get out and check the half price computer book store so that I have an idea of all of the terms.

Plus BTW, thx for the additional Links provided.
When this long weekend is over I should be able to settle down and do some serious reading of the manual and familiarize myself with the corder.
And practice on our tail wagging 4 paws here, who is used to that with my new 35 mm cams when I get one!!

Cheers, best regards and many thankyous for not letting this Noob become so enthusiastic about Mini DVD camcorders.
This forum has been simply excellent for me and I sincerely express my gratefulness!!

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:26 am

url
Hope you like the new camcorder and we are all here to try and help with any problems.

Any more comments about this USB 2.0 and now I am wondering what programs I should browse that are user friendly for transfer of the film to dvd.
I always like to have more than one program or can Ulead Movie Factory 4 do ths for me as I am in my comfort zone with this program in using it with my Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2.0

You may wish to look at the Tutorials Sections
In particular
From Camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio

Most Ulead programs work in a similar fashion and so the tutorials section comprises of tutorials spanning various products. The procedures can often apply to other Ulead Programs. I chose to use VideoStudio for this article due to the editing phase (soon to be included).

The capture and authoring modules would apply to MovieFactory in much the same way as VideoStudio.

You may also be interested in downloading the 30 day trial of VideoStudio.
However before you do that, get familiar with the new camcorder first otherwise you may use up your 30 days before you're ready.

url · Post by **url** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 5:13 pm

Can Movie Factory 4 actually be used for the purpose that I want or are there limitations to its use and thus Video Studio is a better option. It is just that I feel comfortable with Movie Factory 4 (purchased version).

I must say Steve again that I cannot thank this forum enough for steering me away from the MPEG situation that I would have gotten myself into.

I have great respect for this forum, as others that exist to be very frank the attitude of some of their members is so fraught with negativity within many of their comments and the vulgar language that is allowed to be used; not only is discouraging to the member that posts but also makes one wonder why they even bother to reply.

They must have so much time on their hands and simply like to criticize members. When one identifies themselves as Noob's to the topic needing suggestions, otherwise the post would note have been initiated; I find these type of actions so unproductive as I always view forums as a very useful tool in the exchange of information that is critical to assisting the member doing the post.
And we all have to start somewhere at sometime, and all were Noob's somewhere along life's road.

I believe that the members, admin/mods here; call a "spade a spade" which makes the grey matter role around in the member's brain that is doing the query and that then gives the member more incentive to do more reading and more researching.

The conduct and quality of information at this forum is very professional and when one is a Noob or any member for that matter; it is very respected treatment by the participants in the forum and definitely speaks well for the knowledge that exists here.
Kudos!!

(I just had to mention that!)

I have just spent sometime reviewing the manual and familiarizing myself with this corder.
Giving the battery a good 2 hr charge as Panasonic recommended, I got the second battery with my bag and so I will be also charging that one as well.
I see that there are other batteries out there as well, "Energizer" that are the same??? However I was wondering if it is better to use the brand of Panasonic or are other batteries just as good?

I was surprised, I must say that I have to charge the camera for 24 hrs to have the lithium battery operate which shows the date/time. With my older models the lithium battery was already charged when I purchased the camera. Is this something new?

Again I look forward to comments, thankyou.

I also will be looking for an external mic, I believe the brand that Panasonic recommend is "Riode) I am not sure if I have the spelling correct. What I want is a decent quality "Zoom" mic and wondered if there are other suggestions.
I have seen one picture of this Mic and it looks quite cumbersome, however if the quality if great. I could live with that.
Only downside is that there is no ear plug although there is a volume control and speaker, however having not used the camera I am not sure if this will function in a similar capacity.

Apart from that there is no ability to do narrating as I did with my older camcorders and that is why I really want to do researching on a mic that might assist in doing this. Or maybe that can be done when I become more knowlegeable with editing?
All I want to do now is practice after i have properly charged the batteries and see how this existing mic performs, however I don't expect great wonders.

BTW, what is the best film to use? I purchased Fuji and the store was trying to sell me JVC which was twice the price. I had used Sony or Fuji in the past and had no experience with JVC and so I bought the Fuji as that was the only alternate.

Again, all comments would be appreciated.
Best regards and thankyou once again.

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 6:50 pm

url · Post by **url** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 7:16 pm

Thx for the reply, I take it then that I can't simply use MF 4 to do the job. I just feel in my comfort zone with the program, so I was really hoping I would not have to spend time struggling through another program.

I am not the greatest at picking up the process with programs quickly and wanted to keep the learning again aspect to a minimum.
I only have Nero 6 on my notebook so that won't do the job I guess??

I have been researching microphones and Panasonic recommends the Rode VideoMic for the GS models, however again I am confused as it mentions that it has a mini TRS plug.
My corder only has a "shoe" on the top and the mic has to be a stereo one or there are buzz problems.

Again, I wondered if there is any accessory that one can add on the tripod connector at the bottom of the corder and attach an ear jack which is sorely missing from this camera.

Also, what is the best film? As I mentioned I purchased Fuji and the store was trying to sell me JVC for twice the price???

One final query, it was also suggested that if I am going to use an external mic, that a 4500 - 6000 mah battery would be a good idea and the brands of "Power 2000" and "Lenmar" were mentioned.
Anyone have experience with any of these? I know that with my older Sony's I used a larger capacity battery when I was using my external mic.

Again I look forward to comments and thankyou all for having the patience with me!!

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:51 pm

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:58 am

Very Briefly. If you want to get whatever is on your camcorder onto a DVD with very little fuss and virtually no editing then MovieFactory will do the job.

Now to explain VideoStudio.......
Imagine that you are working with old fashioned projector film.
You can take a pair of scissors and cut that film up, throw bits away. Re-arrange the bits you want to keep. Join those bits together back into one big long film. where the joins ocur you can overlap the film ends slightly to create transitions - in other words instead of suddenly jumping from one clip to the next they blend into each other. That is known as a crossfade.

You can also add titles and credits to your film. You can include those picture in picture effects you see in things like "24" with Kiefer Sutherland. You can clean up or even replace the soundtrack. Add 'lower thirds' - the things you see scrolling across the bottom of the TV when you watch a News Program.

All that and lots more. When you really get into it you may even go to the next stage - MediaStudio Pro.

Theres a couple of examples in this post of what can be done with
VideoStudio and also MediaStudio.
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... 7725#67725

Remember my suggestion though - get used to your camcorder before you download the 30 day trials. Once you start using these programs the 30 days will pass by like minutes.

url · Post by **url** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:42 pm

I really appreciate these replies, I bought the panasonic pv-gs300 and priced the Rode mini mic my camera store recommends, $200 plus $55 foam wind screen for the mic.
This is all cdn dollars, I have unboxed the camera and read the manual and am trying to get comfortable with it.

There is USB drivers 2.0 that come on the cd for the corder, but I am going to purchase that firwire PCMCIA card as recommended regarding the consistent streaming and will likely try importing from my Ulead movie factory 4 program and may try the programs that come with the corder and see the results.

Up North here there is not much choice for external mic's.
The store that I bought the corder at is where I have shopped at for years for my 35 mm camera upgrades and accessories as I dabble in amateur black and white photos and have for 20 years.
So I trust the store staff that I have known for years and they say that this corder is better than any sony at the price I am paying which was the $1,100 including extended warranty which they recommend b/c of the newer technology on these cameras and so I am taking it.
My still cameras never needed the warranty, however I trust the store and so I decided to buy the package.

I am sure that I will need that external mic as there have been comments in the panasonic forums regarding the peripheral noise you get with the built in mic when filming a large gathering.
I of course experienced this with my older sony's and had external mic's with these corders.
Just thought that I would post this.
Thankyou very much for all of the extremely experienced comments and Links that have been provided.

Regards and again with many thankyous!!

(or I would have bought the wrong format mini dvd, which would have been irreversible!!)

snoops · Post by **snoops** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:59 pm

Hi,

attach an ear jack which is sorely missing from this camera

Yeah, don't you "love" it when they omit important connections, or move them to external docking units!
I've seen units (Sony) that don't have a mic input, which is much worse.

what is the best film?

You mean tape. Since the data is written digitally, the "best" tape means a very high quality recording layer (avoiding drop-outs) and transport.
I'd say Panasonic miniDV Master cassettes (DVM83MQ for 80 minutes). But they are more expensive than JVC, being professional quality.

url · Post by **url** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 2:45 pm

Looks like I bought the wrong tape as I bought the fuju, I always used that in the past with success; however I guess these new formats respond better to different tape. they suggested jvc which was double the price of fuji and i had never used jvc tape before and so i went for the fuji.

Any comments on the fuji tape, is it now a poor quality tape. There is not panasonic tape around this neck of the woods.

Also, besides Rode Video Mic I have had the Seinhauser brand recommended, however I don't have the model noted down here and will have to post it later. They were comparing the 2 and Seinhauser was getting better comments. Anyone familiar with these external mics?

Also as far as the firewire PCMCIA card is concerned, I read in one of the panasonic corder forums a recommendation that the card be OHCI compatible or have a TI chipset.
The only store that will bring one in for me brings in IOGEAR and there is no indication the store says of any of this information.

Both he and I don't know what panasonic is referencing with OHCI compatible.

I would appreciate comments, thankyou.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:10 pm

OHCI
Short for Open Host Controller Interface, OHCI was developed by Compaq and is a standard that allows a computer host to interface with Firewire and USB 1.0 and 1.1 devices

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:51 pm

url · Post by **url** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:28 pm

Thx for the name of adaptec and i have googled and hopefully have found 2 suppliers in western canada. The price of the IOGEAR pc card is $27 cdn and i see the price of the adaptec that you referenced is $60 US so i will see what the canadian resellers are asking for it as it has 3 hot wire attachments as compared to IOGEARS 2.

It won't help if I buy it online b/c of the provincial taxes, federal taxes, and then custom and excise taxes and not to mention the difference in the value between the US and cdn dollar; which now has our dollar 10 cents below the us dollar.

I will persist with this researching up here and see what I can find out. I was not certain if there is a difference in quality of the PCMCIA cards or not; thus I decided to do the post.

I really do appreciate all of the informed and experienced members/mods/admin at this site.
It is genuinely a thumbs up forum to be a memer of indeed!!

url · Post by **url** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:44 pm

This PCMCIA card is available up here as well and is recommended. I checked out the adaptec card and by the time I pay the cdn/us exchange and shipping and customs tax would cost $125. There is one store that can get it in but they don't like to place an order for just one.

So they suggested this card which they sell a lot of and have had no problems with:

http://www.sabrent.com/products/index.htm

And click on fire wire products and it will take you to the window with the 2 port pcmcia card and then click on it for the details. The card seems to look alright, although I don't know the company.

They recommended this PC card over the IOGEAR card, has anyone knowledge of this brand?

The canadian store here in western canada said that it is difficult for them dealing with adaptec suppliers with small amounts ordered for whatever reason.
So I thought I would post this and see what members may have to say about this card.
I again would appreciate comments on this card at the above site.
Thankyou.

url · Post by **url** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:37 pm

Thx for the Links for the Tutorials, since my corder is the panasonic pv-gs 300 and mini dv format and not mini dvd I was wondering if there is a tutorial on that type of format as the one Link listed is for Mini Dvd?

Being a Noob to all of this I need all of the Tutorials I can feast my eyes on and read and re-read.

Having looked at the Video 10 clip, it looks like it may be the way that I want to go, however i wondered how user friendly the program is.

All I want to do is capture the video and edit, like fades and possibly add music. I don't know if this is a program for a Noob like me or whether there is another out there that would be more suitable. I need one that is very user friendly, having gone from using a separate sony editor of some 10 - 15 yrs ago with my super 8's and hi 8 corders and this new technology being rather mind boggling for me right now.

I have to wait a week to get my firewire PCMCIA card as they are not in stores here in Canada. I basically got laughed at when I asked about one; the stores said they are of days gone past. They maybe, but my notebook is 3 years old and the toshiba is functioning fine and I use my newer one for work and this is my hobby notebook.

I would again appreciate experienced comments, again with many thanks.

And again I really appreciate the Links as they have been extremely helpful and I have put them in my favorites for future reference and as well printed out some pages for my binder.

Cheers