The best camcorder go far past the videos generated on the flagship smartphones. Meaning that even in the event that you’ve got one of the best camera phones around, you would probably still benefit from a dedicated camcorder. Far from dying out, the camcorder is experiencing a renaissance, having a remarkable selection for every budget, amount of experience and action.
Here we have piled up the absolute best camcorders that provide the best balance of performance and value, whatever your requirements.
And when you’re looking for ways to edit your footage when you’re done, do not overlook out our reviews about Top 6 Best Mini DV Camcorder.
See also:
Top 6 Best Mini DV Camcorder
#1 – Canon VIXIA HV40
- 57x (32.5-1853Mm) advanced zoom/ 32x Optical / 1140x Digital and Super range OIS.
- Canon 3.28 Megapixel full HD CMOS image sensor.
- Digic DV 4 image processor.
- Minimum Focusing Distance-All other modes: 10mm (WIDE end), 1m across entire zooming range (from edge of lens).
- However, approx. 50cm at tele macro setting established at this time (automatic movement to TELE end)
Canon’s VIXIA HV40 features quality HDV recording at a reasonable price. The camcorder features a 2.96-megapixel 1/2.7-inch full-HD CMOS image sensor, a DIGIC DV II image processor, and a 10x HD video lens. The zoom lens provides three fixed zoom speeds. A super spectra coating suppresses flare and ghosting and its own aspheric design cuts down to aberration and promotes resolution. 200x digital zoom may be utilized in conjunction with the optical zoom. Zooming into a topic frequently ends in the shaky video, but also the HV40’s optical picture stabilizer corrects for a handshake and moving issues.
The HV40 captures an accurate 1920 x 1080 high-definition movie. But should you have to catch a standard-definition movie for playback non-HD gear, the HV40 lets that also? Different shooting speeds provide you professional results. The HV40 provides 24p Native (60i) and 24p Cinema manners alongside a 30p Progressive mode.
You can ditch your camera when carrying the HV40 since it captures 3.1-megapixel still pictures to mini SD cards. You have the option of capturing stills just, capturing stills while shooting video or capturing stills into a miniSD card after shooting a movie.
It’s simple to examine the movie and stills you have captured together with all the HV40’s 2.7-inch multi-angle widescreen LCD. The LCD can be set to anything angle makes it effortless to view, depending on the job of the camcorder, and also its own difficult jacket anti-reflective surface reproduces color correctly with reduced glare and improved contrast.
Dim lighting conditions have been no problem for the HV40. The camcorder includes a 0.2-lux night style in addition to a built-in video lighting and a built-in flash for stills. An innovative accessory shoe allows you to attach external cans and lights that operate on camcorder power. The camcorder also features a microphone input and headphone jack.
Inputs and outputs around the HV40 are plentiful. Inputs include a 1/8-inch stereo sound along with a FireWire. Outputs include USB 2.0 component video, composite video, FireWire, 1/8-inch stereo sound, and HDMI. The HDMI makes it effortless to connect the camcorder into an HDTV with only 1 cable.
In spite of a packed attribute set, the HV40 is rather compact. It measures 3.5 inches wide by 3.2 inches high by 5.4 inches deep and weighs only 1.4 lbs. It costs $649.00.
#2 – Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV Handycam Camcorder
- Info Lithium Battery with AccuPower Meter System
- 40X Optical / 2000X Digital Zoom (Professional Quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens)
- Uses MiniDV tapes (NOT HDV Tapes) - comes with battery, charger/AC adapter, and multi cable.
- 1/6" Advanced HAD CCD Imager, 680K Pixels (Gross)
- 2.7" Touch Panel SwivelScreen LCD Display (123K Pixels)
Sure, HD cameras and also the ones that record straight to disk are the rage in the media nowadays, but these are not those the normal household person is looking to purchase. In reality, everybody I spoke to over the holidays had exactly the exact same thing in common: They wanted to obtain the best camera that they can get for less than $500. Which appears to be everybody’s magical price point. They do not require the most recent technology or the most recent format; they simply need the best bang for your dollar!
So here is my choice: the Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV Handycam Camcorder, with 10x optical/120x digital zoom, 3.3-megapixel CCD, color viewfinder, and 2.7″ Touch Panel LCD display. Surprisingly, this really is a one-chip (CCD) camera, meaning that I typically would not suggest it (preferring to invite people to devote a bit more to get a three-chip camera). Nonetheless, in test after test, this camera will much better in low-light situations compared to most three-chip cameras costing a few hundred dollars more. This is mainly because of how the 1 processor in this camera is twice as large as the processors in the other cameras. So you are getting high quality at a lower cost!
This camera also has the distinction of being in a position to pass analog audio via the camera’s FireWire interface straight into your PC. This means that you can hook up your VCR or older Hi8 camera to the Sony DCR-HC96 and digitize all your old websites easily. It is like getting an analog-to-digital converter at no cost. And the best part is it has a mean street price of $479.
#3 – Canon VIXIA HV20
- 4K UHD 30p Recording
- Genuine Canon 4K-compatible 20x Optical Zoom Lens and Wide 29.3mm Angle of View
- Advanced Full HD
- Intelligent 5-axis Image Stabilization
- Turn your VIXIA camcorder into a high-quality webcam using its clean HDMI output
The best Mini DV camcorder is an oldie but a Goldie
- Max recording resolution: 720p
- Image sensor: CMOS
- Total pixels: 2.96MP
- Dimensions: 88 x 13.8 x 80mm
- Weight: 535g
- Wireless: No
MiniDV is currently an outmoded format, having being superseded by SD cards, but the Canon VIXIA HV20 has been among the best camcorders created for the small tapes in their centuries. Capable of shooting at 1080p and featuring 10x optical zoom, it was a badly strong consumer camera when initially released and has aged well in the years since. Helpfully, this MiniDV camcorder is capable of recording to Mini-SD cards, which will ensure that it remains in routine use when your source of tiny tapes operates dry. You may find a new VIXIA HV20, however, refurbished is the best way to go.
#4 – Canon ZR800 Mini DV Camcorder
The Canon ZR800 mini DV camcorder comes together with a 35x optical zooming capacity and 1000x digital zooming capacity. Its own brand and features allow it to be accountable for being favored by all people who adore cameras or camcorders. The camcorder comes together with a pair that includes a battery pack BP-2L5, a compact power connector CA-590 plus a stereo video cable STV-250N. The lens of this camcorder has a focal length of 2.6 to 91 mm, f/2.0-5.0. The camcorder weighing 13.2 ounces additionally features a picture stabilizer, that maintains the picture quality when clicking.
The Canon ZR800 Mini DV Camcorder includes many different features, including 35x optical zoom, picture stabilizer, 16:9 widescreen capabilities plus a mic jack. In addition, this camcorder comes equipped with a cable, so that you can instantly download your movies into your favorite video editing program.
16:9 widescreen capabilities
Shoot wide display or panoramic footage. This camera also supports 16:9 widescreen format. Enjoy breathtaking vistas and complete family photographs, all at the touch of a button.
35x Optical / 1000x Digital Zoom
If you have to get up close by a far distance, this camcorder has a 1000x digital zoom. Document the finest details from the farthest places.
Digital Picture Stabilizer
Canon’s innovative digital image stabilizer smooths out rough shots by reducing shake and jitter. It works during panning and zooming.
Smooth Zoom
Steer clear of the”zoom leap” found in several home videos with Canon’s Smooth Zoom Control. This feature provides you with a smooth gradual zoom, and so all of your videos appear as professional as you can.
2.7-Inch LCD display
Take your footage effortlessly. The 2.7-Inch LCD with this camcorder ensures that you won’t overlook a single detail.
FireWire prepared
Would you wish to move your video footage into the movie editing applications on your house computer? This camcorder has a FireWire connector, which means that you can instantly download your videos into some FireWire-capable computer.
Mic Input
Canon understands that at entry-level camcorders, there’s a demand for an external microphone. So if you’re a teacher working on a class project, or even a parent working to the ideal home movie, the sound level of your movie will suit the standard of the movie.
#5 – Sony DCR-PC5
- Sony Handycam 70x Zoom 16gb Black DCR-SX85
It is amazing how little consumer electronics are very. But Hormone decrease comes at a cost. For producers to match the required features onto these tiny bodies, compromises have been made and a few components are made out, particularly innovative features. We understood it was only a matter of time, but there is finally a camcorder that does not forfeit user-friendliness, performance, or innovative features in the title of miniaturization. The PC5, however modest in size, is big on features and ease of use. The features are all here — manual controls, sound, and movie dub, a camera using Memory Stick, flip-out viewscreen, headphone jack, and outside Mike plug — all inside a single body that actually does fit in a shirt pocket.
PC5 Packs a Compact Punch
The PC5 is just one of the smallest camcorders in the marketplace. Due to its small dimensions, the PC5 is a small struggle to hold and could be difficult for bigger hands to coordinate. The flip-down grip arm appears to be an afterthought in this line of cameras to facilitate the awkward character of its small but thick layout.
The PC5 includes a 2.5-inch flip-out color LCD viewscreen and a .44-inch color viewfinder. Additionally, it sports a Carl Zeiss lens using a 10:1 optical zoom along with 120:1 digital zoom. The picture looked great with exceptional all-natural color representation and representation, particularly within the optical zoom range. By accessing the menu, then we can also go for varying digital zoom settings of around 20:1 or around 120:1. We were amazed at just how good the electronic zooms looked. At approximately 70:1, the picture remained stable (using the digital image stabilization on) and seemed pretty apparent. We can readily read a license plate from approximately 50 yards in the setting. At 120:1 resolutions endured and the picture appeared resilient and pixelated.
Most of the controls are accessed via the menu system, however, there are numerous important controls on your system. A button on the ideal side of this body let’s quickly switch between automatic and manual focus. The automated focus functioned nicely. Even if we panned and flashed concurrently, the lens kept speed.
Sony’s Super SteadyShot digital stabilizer worked well and has been particularly evident with the digital zoom turned and maxed out in 20:1.
This tiny camcorder also doubles as a still camera with 640×480 VGA still picture resolution and a 4MB Memory Stick storage apparatus. Together with the Memory Stick, still, pictures are stored as JPEGs for later transfer to a PC. You might even utilize the still pictures as alterations should you fade in or outside of shots.
Intuitive Menus and Touchscreen
The other innovation in minimizing body area is your touchscreen system. Opening the 2.5-inch color LCD viewscreen, we just used the touchscreen to get numerous choices. Alternatives included preset exposure settings such as Auto, Spotlight, Portrait, Sports, Beach & Ski, Sunset/Moon, Landscape, and Low Lux. Digital effects included Side Effects, Art, Sepia, B & W, Solarize, Pastel, and Mosaic. We could also change to manually white balance and exposure control, but the screen of true shutter settings in numerical values of per/second isn’t present.
In the Camera setting, the menu can scroll through our options to place the maximum digital zoom span, select 16:9 mode, flip the digital image stabilizer off or on and trigger the NightShot light. Using the menu program, we can choose between more electronic effects such as Slow Shutter Speed, Old Movie, Still, Flash, Luminance, and Path.
The PC5 Provides the Spot Meter, a brand new attribute for Sony cams, like Canon’s FlexiZone. Activating the Spot Meter place a moveable white rectangle around the screen. The camcorder then corrected the vulnerability for anything that seemed in the rectangular framework.
Other controls obtained via the menu system included a title for custom or preset names. It was here where we adjusted LCD display brightness and speaker volume. When we were put to review our footage, then we changed to VCR mode and used the touchscreen buttons to control playback. We were delighted with how well the camera method functioned. The menu has been well-designed and there wasn’t any obviously scrolling.
Audio Satisfaction
The PC5’s on-camera condenser Mike sits towards the top of the camcorder. This introduces a problem with a few components since it can sometimes cause inadvertent pickup of the zoom motor, hand motions, and other unwanted noises. We did not discover any of these possible audio problems upon playback. We were delighted with all the mike’s pickup. It had been apparent for ambient noises within approximately ten ft of the mike and if we talked as we listed, our narration overrode the neighboring noises without drowning them out entirely.
Advanced Features
Even though it’s easy to use in the all-automatic, point-and-shoot manner, the PC5’s real strength lies in its innovative features. Serious shooters will appreciate its manual controls: focus, white balance, exposure, and many of preset shutter speeds. It’s a headphone jack to monitor sound and an outside Mike input for much more advanced audio programs. Sony also included video and audio dubs. This really is an excellent quality that permits rapid, in-camera editing.
We had no difficulty dialing in a sharp focus together with the manual focus ring and were happy to find it on the lens, where it ought to be. We did find, however, the little focus ring required several spins to correct, and we had difficulty holding the camera steady while we concentrated. This left recording a stand focus hard without shaking our shooter. Again, large-handed shooters ought to take note.
The Sony DCR-PC5 Mini DV camcorder has combined the best intermediate and advanced features in a tiny package without sacrificing functionality or simplicity of use. Its manual controls, consumer friendliness, in-camera editing capacity, and picture quality make this camcorder worth its price.
#6 – Sony DCR-HC21 Mini DV Camcorder
The DCR-HC21 from Sony provides you a full-featured, compact MiniDV camcorder at an entry-level cost. Highlights include the Advanced HAD CCD imager, which captures stunning detail and clarity, and the Digital Zoom, which focuses on distant subjects providing clear close-up images without distortion. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens offers less glare and increased contrast for vivid, more life-like color and tones. Create your personal videos complete with additional customization features like Picture and Fader effects for creative and professional looking enhancements. Photo Mode lets you capture and store hundreds of individual still images, and Picture Package software helps you easily organize and edit still images and video.
The Sony DCR-HC21 Mini DV Camcorder comes combined with 20x optical zooming. The 1/6-inch CCD imager together with a 340K resolution provides its structure up to 520 lines of horizontal resolution. The stabilizer of this camcorder together with its own 2.5-inch touch panel Swivel display LCD. The nighttime video technologies installed in it’s accountable for its clarity whilst shooting following the sunset. Sony Handycams is among the most favored camcorders up to now and has the maximum selling to date.
What’s the best way to move mini DV tapes into digital?
The good thing is that MiniDV tapes are already electronic – that the DV in MiniDV stands for”Digital Video.” The good thing is that most MiniDV camcorders just encourage export within IEEE 1394, also called FireWire (IEEE 1394).
Even though a variety of MiniDV camcorders have a USB port, these ports are USB 1, restricted to a paltry 12 Mbit/sec. The MiniDV cameras of the era included an independent, integrated still picture camera and the USB port affirmed that purpose.
Sad to say, the FireWire interface was not common and today has all but disappeared from the modern PC. The character of FireWire creates a USB to FireWire port hopeless. Just just how do you extract MiniDV to a modern PC or Mac?
If it’s possible to procure a MiniDV camcorder, below are a few options.
Find an older PC or laptop using a FireWire port. You might require a 4 to 6 pin connector, or a 4 pin to 4 pin cables, depending upon the camcorder and PC.
Receive a Thunderbolt into Firewire adapter when you’ve got a newer PC with Thunderbolt. You might also require a Firewire 800 to 400 adapter.
Receive a PCMCIA or Express card using Firewire support for an older laptop.
Use analog catch (NOT RECOMMENDED) having an analog video to USB adapter. This ought to be a whole last resort.
If you do not have a MiniDV camcorder, attempt to procure one of the latest potential ones which might have USB 2 support for video transport.
As soon as you’ve got a good connection, find a program that simplifies the movie. Alternatives include Kino
(Linux), iMovie
(Apple), and Windows Movie Maker (PC). The camcorder itself needs to have been bundled together with movie applications too.
Optionally, it is possible to employ numerous service providers to perform the job.
Best Mini DV Camcorder in Youtube
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q#1: The Way many is a Mini DV cassette?
MiniDV is a movie format introduced in 1995. Its small size and visual quality created it particularly common in the consumer and educational markets. Each cassette holds approximately 13 GB for approximately one hour of the movie.
Q#2: How long can Mini DV tapes survive?
20 Decades
Most must last 20 decades. Nonetheless, it is dependent upon the character of the cassette, where and how they’re stored. Depends how you saved the tapes. Mini dv is quite prone to environmental contamination.
Q#3: What’s the resolution of Mini DV?
MiniDV includes a normal arrangement of 720 by 480 pixels resulting in a maximum resolution of 345,600 pixels.
Q#4: What’s the DV port on the camcorder?
DV format permits you to catch your digital video in the maximum resolution your digital camcorder provides. It’s exactly the identical format that’s used to keep your digital movie on miniDV and Digital8 tapes. So Once You move the DV for your computer, There’s absolutely no information loss
Conclusion
Video cameras say, camcorders really are a requirement in the current date as we take a few minutes from our every day busy and scheduled lifestyles to creep into our joyful and unforgettable pasts. To do this, we also must keep them securely. That is the reason the camcorders were purchased into use.
We expect that these reviews about the Top 6 Best Mini DV Camcorder will help you pick the suitable Camcorder for you.