Looking to buy a video camera....

[Jon99]

Since we don't own a VCR, what are my options???? We would like to keep the cost under $500....

 

[lindabacker]

I bought a Sharp Viewcam yesterday at Sam's club for $218.00 which is a really good deal and a good quality camcorder. You can pick up a regular VCR at Walmart or someplace for around $70 and you would be way under $500. Or you can just watch your video on the viewcam LCD display which also lays the sound also. there are a lot of god deals on camcorders right now, I'm sure you'll find one to meet your needs. Good luck!

 

[Jon99]

How close are they to making ones that record on DVD's????? Or are they already out???

 

[lindabacker]

They are already out, however they are pretty pricey. You can get one from around $800 from circuit city. I know I saw a place online that had some for around $700, but right now I can't remember the name of the site. If this is the kind you really must-have, you will have to spend more money than you wanted to to purchase one, however be aware that the prices will go down dramatically over the next year or two. It's a personal preference whether or not to buy it now or wait. Whatever you decide, good luck and happy filming!

 

[gallaj0]

I just picked up a new Sony for under $450; it's a digital 8 camera, so it uses regular 8 mm tapes, but records in digital; it is also backwards compatible with my old HI 8 tapes. It connects right to a TV or VCR with the RCA jacks, OR puts out a digital signal with a Firewire jack. If you want to burn DVDs on your computer, all you need is a Firewire jack ($20) and a DVD burner (about $200). It also converts my old analog VCR tapes and 8 mm tapes into digital, so I can burn them onto DVD's whenever I get around to mastering the software.

 

[nataliesdaddy]

re Gallo's comments - yeah that is the Sony 350 I believe it is an awesome camera - you can go to www.circuiytcity.com and look up all the various cameras there and get user reviews.... the 350 or the 250 that matter are under 500 bucks and are good cameras and fairly small for what they are and hey...THEY ARE SONY... we were looking at the Sony 350 - girlfriend had to have a minidv so we got the sony trv33 - awesome little bugger - sony all the way - and the dvd recorders? well there ra e acouple fo good ones out right now but they are significantly more in price then the 779 we paid for the mini dv trv33 - there are pluses and minuses to each - depends if you want still shot capability and a bunch of other factors - do you time to research