Canon DCD Camcorder

dpollock · Post by **dpollock** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:07 am

I am considering replacing my old JVC camcorder for a new Canon DVD model. I have heard many stories of Canon producing DVD's that are difficult, if not impossible, to read onto a PC for editing (unless using all kinds of third party converters). Advice seems to be 'don't touch DVD camcorders - stay with DV, it's far better quality anyway'

Can anyone offer advice or comments

Post by **lancecarr** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:02 am

I have taken a look at the specs for all the Canon DVD cams and can find nothing that indicates anything propriatary that would make editing the MPEGs difficult. That said, however, you need to remember that there are inherent problems with editing MPEGs regardless of source that need to be understood so as to achieve good results consistently. I really see no reason why VideoStudio would not be able to "Import DVD" from a finalised disc in the DVD tray of your computer from a Canon cam.
As with all technology there is a learning curve but if you do your homework it should be ok. I say "should" be because let's remember that we ARE working with Video cams, editing software and computers so nothing certain there!
Take a look at this forum on the cams and judge for yourself. One thing to remember when looking at forums such as these is that it is mainly the people with problems posting...the ones who are happily using the product rarley post the fact that they are totally happy and have no need for assistance!
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/f154

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 12:45 pm

Those that are happily using them are generally those not doing any editing in my opinion.

I suggested my brother buy one, he has no interest, or in fact spare time for editing, or the use of a pc except for work.

He goes on holiday, he records his kids at school etc, and he just watches the dvds he makes. OK, they may have some rubbish in them, but he can ff over that.

This is their biggest market, as Sony's tv advert in the UK said, see it, record it, watch it - nothing about editing

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:34 pm

Even though not about Canon, here is more http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=15061

I never heard anything about Canon being difficult, Sony, hmmm...

dpollock · Post by **dpollock** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:07 pm

I'm getting a definite impression to stay away from DVD. I did mention Canon, but are Panasonic or Sony any better for post editing? The attraction to me was NOT to have to use Firewire / AVI as I do now and clobber the hard disc on my PC

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:39 pm

It seems to me that though the idea of a mini DVD camera is a nice one, if you plan to do a lot of editing of your video, it is not necessarily the way to go. But it is a matter of personal choice. The formulae seem to be as follows:

(Highest quality capture + minimal problems in capture and editing) - large files = mini DV (Firewire).

OR

DVD quality mpeg-2 captures - (quirkiness in being able to import into other than the program that came with the camera + potential problems in editing the format if a lot of editing is involved) = mini DVD

The choice is obviously a personal one. But a lot of people on this Board using DVD cameras appear to have problems of one kind or another importing their video into VS, when theoretically it should be a simple matter. And it is not just VS. A simple Google search will reveal lots of other problems with the camera on other Boards as well. To be fair, though, there are probably a lot of other people out there who find that sort of camera just fine for what they want. But we don't tend to hear from people who are happy with what they've got.

But that is the crux of the matter -- it is a question of personal choice, based on your wishes AND your intentions AND your computer resources. There is already a heated debate on this Board about the advisability of editing mpeg-2, and if so, how much and, indeed, how. The jury is out: some people manage to do it successfully; others have a lot of problems.

Personally, I have a Canon mini-DV and a Sony Digital 8 camera, and have no intention of ever getting a mini DVD or hard disc camera for that matter. But that's my choice, based mainly on the ease and quality of the DV capture from both cameras and the fact that I have tons of hard disc space to store the captured files.

dpollock · Post by **dpollock** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 1:30 pm

Ok, so I am convinced that DVD is a bad move for several reasons. What about the newer HDD Camcorders? What format do they record in (MPEG Only?). Are they any better from a point of view of post editing?

Post by **lancecarr** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:08 pm

Well not particularly Dave. They still record in MPEG2 just with higher capacity than mini DVD's.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:33 pm

They may however be easier to access since the computer would just see the connected camera as another hard disk drive. However, as Lance says, there is still the question of how far you can edit mpeg-2s.

You would also have to remember to regularly 'clean out' the camera's HDD, particularly if it is a 20 GB model. This might seem a lot, but if you are travelling around and filming a lot, I would imagine that 20 GB could fill up quickly. Then what do you do if you are not carrying a computer with you where you can empty out the camera's HDD?

dpollock · Post by **dpollock** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:49 am

No that's a very good question - I guess loading spare HDD's on the run is a bit iffy![/quote]

Mintrax · Post by **Mintrax** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:04 am

I have a Canon DC100 mini DVD camera. I simply put the disc in my DVD drive open up VS and click capture, import DVD-VR and away it goes. Never a problem. don't even have to finalize the DVD.

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:26 pm

Dpollock,
Checkout www.camcorderinfo.com where you will find excellent technical reviews of most camcorders on the market. These tests measure a huge number of important attributes that a camcorder should have, such as optical quality, low light performance, color accuracy, zoom performance, image resolution, ease of use, manual controls, automatic control convenience, white balance, view finder quality, LCD screen performance, etc. etc. etc. You can compare the qualities of different camcorders against each other because each review assigns numeric scores for all attributes. IMO these are the important criteria that you should look at first, when selecting a camcorder. Today, there is a HUGE difference in image resolution between high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) video.

Here are a direct links to three Canon DVD camcorder reviews and one HD review.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Ca ... Review.htm
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Ca ... Review.htm
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Ca ... Review.htm
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/So ... Review.htm

IMO, recording on DVD in the camcorder offers the advantage of immediate playability for SD video but the bandwidth is too low for high definition. Recording on hard disk in the camcorder supports higher bitrate video, increased recording capacity, and is suitable for recording high definition video as well as extremely fast video capture to a computer. Solid state memory stick recording is not quite ready for prime time, today, but is definitely going to happen in the future. Video encoding formats DV (SD) and Mpeg2 (HD and SD) are editable in Video Studio 10+. The only recording formats that I would avoid, today, are Mpeg4 and its close cousins Divx, Xvid, H.264, etc., which I am unable to edit in Video Studio 10+.