Which Camcorder has AV in and Mic in AND is affordable?

[OMS]

I'm in the process of spec'ing out a bullet cam system and I'm looking to find a camcorder with AV in AND microphone in, preferably a DVD system not tape.

I've scoured the posts on bullet cam posts but can't find any recomendations on this particular spec....

Can anyone help??? Oh and when I say affordable I mean less than £500!

Thanks!

[cw42]

Don't go the dvd route. Mate has a dvd based system, and apart from all the hassle of formating discs when he uses it, theres the running time of about 30 mins for each disc to contend with. I've got a tape based system, and the quality is easily as good as his dvd, tapes are cheaper and the running time in long play (not much drop in quality) is 1hour 30mins
Have a look at www.dogcamsport.co.uk or www.fastfilms.co.uk or www.rfconcepts.co.uk for a whole range of bullet cams. I ended up buying a SONY DCR HC90E from Comet for around £400. It can be had a bit cheaper than that now though. It has the all inportant DV/MIC in, you can see the results in the 2007 filming on this page: www.scoobysmacs.co.uk/video.asp
and most of my previous films are on there too, with my older sony camcorder which I managed to kill

Get yourself a good mount from here: www.b-hague.co.uk, I've got this one: www.b-hague.co.uk/camera_suction_pads_vacuum_mounts.htm

[crmcatee]

I've got the Canon MVX960 Works a treat and should be about 200 - 250 mark..

[OMS]

Thanks cw42!

cw42 said:

Don't go the dvd route. Mate has a dvd based system, and apart from all the hassle of formating discs when he uses it, theres the running time of about 30 mins for each disc to contend with. I've got a tape based system, and the quality is easily as good as his dvd, tapes are cheaper and the running time in long play (not much drop in quality) is 1hour 30mins
Have a look at www.dogcamsport.co.uk or www.fastfilms.co.uk or www.rfconcepts.co.uk for a whole range of bullet cams. I ended up buying a SONY DCR HC90E from Comet for around £400. It can be had a bit cheaper than that now though. It has the all inportant DV/MIC in, you can see the results in the 2007 filming on this page: www.scoobysmacs.co.uk/video.asp
and most of my previous films are on there too, with my older sony camcorder which I managed to kill

Get yourself a good mount from here: www.b-hague.co.uk, I've got this one: www.b-hague.co.uk/camera_suction_pads_vacuum_mounts.htm

How do you get the video from the tape to your computer? Do you need a special graphics card?

Edited by OMS on Sunday 25th March 21:07

[pikey]

OMS said:

I'm in the process of spec'ing out a bullet cam system and I'm looking to find a camcorder with AV in AND microphone in, preferably a DVD system not tape.

I've scoured the posts on bullet cam posts but can't find any recomendations on this particular spec....

Can anyone help??? Oh and when I say affordable I mean less than £500!

Thanks!

Why DVD? I bought a nearly new Sony DCR-HC32E from ebay for £180. Perfect.

[JonRB]

OMS said:

How do you get the video from the tape to your computer? Do you need a special graphics card?

No. DV-Cams pretty much all have a FireWire connector (name varies - Sony call it "i.Link" and it is also referred to as IEEE 1394) so provided your computer has a FireWire port you just need a cable.
If your computer doesn't have a FireWire port then they're fairly inexpensive (£20-odd) to buy as an add-on card (although you will need to open up your PC to install it).

See also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewire

Edit:
Many standalone HDD/DVD recorders also have a FireWire port, specifically for dumping down stuff from your DV-Cam, in which case you don't even need a computer.

Edited by JonRB on Monday 26th March 13:50

[cw42]

what he said ^^

you'll also need some form of editing software, I use pinnacle for all my films. The light version came with my firewire card, I then upgraded online to the full version.