So if you record in HD, do you have to create your DVDs in HD as well? This would necessitate a blue-ray player er something like that?

 

If you get a camcorder that records in 1080P then yes you would need bluray/HDdvd. But if you get one that records in 1080i, which is much more common, then you can use standard DVDs.

 

i just wanna add this in about firewire.

the standard for firewire is 400mbps. firewire 800 is still expensive and only comes on high end machines. you will need to purchase and install a firewire card for your machine. a PCI card for a desktop or a pcmcia card for a laptop.

USB 2.0 is 480mbps and is just as good as firewire currently. The speed is largely dependant on the hard drive. 500gb hard drives are big and slow no matter what. Data transfer is still fast enough for me though.

If you plan on doing a lot of editing its worth getting firewire 800.

Also, if you are looking for an external storage device with redundancy check out a company called Buffalo. they have lots of devices that support mirroring right out of the box. They also support gigabit ethernet which is 1000mbps...VERY fast

 

I thought USB functioned with pulses and firewire was a constant rate...

 

So i made a few mistakes at midnight after a long day... lol

He is right USB 2.0 is 490mbs and standard firewire is 400mbs (i forgot that it is only on high end computers as i have 4 built onto mine...)

And there is a new one simullar to the Buffalo called the Drobo. It uses standard 3.5" SATA drives in a type of RAID that will backup your data incase 1 of the drives goes out. Just google it for more info. it is $$$ though.

 

If I was just going to shoot vids, I would go with that Sony, it looks great.
Plus the hard drive feature is very cool.

And I second the idea of an external USB/Firewire hard drive to hook to your PC.
I have a Western Digital 200 GB external that is both USB2 and Firewire.

My Sony H9 Cybershot (uses the Flash Memory Stik Dual Pro) takes excellent movies as well as pics, but this one would be great for dedicated video.

 

Actually that sony takes 4MP pics as well and has a flash. The pictures are not bad.

 

Yes, I saw that it took pics too.
Gotta have my H9 though for dedicated full res shots, 8.1 megapixels.
But for movies only, I would be all over that Sony.

 

Yeah same here, i have my Nikon D80 for the pics. This is for the video.

 

Picked up the Sony SR5 yesterday. Very nice. Will be going to Alaska in a couple of weeks for vacation. Just need to mess around with it for awhi;e to get used to what it can do. No sense in not being prepared when amoose er something walks into your camp.

Still trying to figure out if the sony cam is able to dump directly to the external HD. It would be nice if i did not need to take my laptop with me for just this reason.

 

If you can find a way let us know there is no way that i know of for that to work. For cameras that use memory cards they have hard drives that can do that but i don't think there is anyway for you to do it from the camera directly to the hard-drive.

 

I've seen bridges that allow you to use USB flash drives and memory cards. I think the technology is there, it just hasn't been done yet...

 

Yeah, you pretty much need an operating system for the external hard drives to work, hence the need for right now to be hooked up to a computer.

 

The technology IS there, it has just not been done yet. You can already download memory card directly to stand alone hardrives as you said.

I wish they would do it in a way but then i also like to have a computer there most of the time so that i can view the pictures/video in case i need to.

 

Sorry if this is straying a bit off topic.

On shows like "Ice Road Truckers", they mount a small video camera on the dash of the truck. What kind of setup do they use to record their video for the hours and hours that they are on the road?

 

Could be one of about 100 different things. Anything from a cheap ACT 2000 to a mini HD camera. Those kind of things are near impossible to tell.

The ACT 2000 is a great little camera for us normal people. Not the best picture around but good enough for most things and it is water-proof.

 

Here's one way to do it. Still expensive and not exactly dumping direct to an external drive. This is dumping direct to DVD recorder.


http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...8&tab=Features

 

Now I'm checking out accessories. This crap is $$$.

For an additional lens, should I go Wide angle or telephoto? Polarized or neutral?

This really is becoming another "4runner buildup". Lots of new options. Very cool.

 

that technology has been around for awhile.

you just need to find out if you camera can be a USB host.

 

Interesting, only problem I see is that it will take a long time to download a full 60gb HD. That is a LOT of dvd?s and thus time. Nice idea though

Don?t worry about another lens at all if you really want to save $$. The need for one is almost never.

IF you were to get one the only one that you might need would be a wide angle lens if you will be doing some landscaping filing ect? the others are not needed except for very special stuff.

Oh, I know it can?t. I don?t really need it I would always put it on my computer anyways but it is a good idea I wish they would hurry up and make!