Ok, I am having problems trying to locate a camera that has A/V inputs. I don't want to spend alot of $$ and it seems I need to spend over $1000 for this. Is this genre of product going out the window towards a different technology? How can I record video with an external camera that can be edited via a PC/Mac and be digital? TIA

 

I purchased a portable DVD recorder from Circuit City for about $130. Runs off an inverter in the MINI. I was going to use these units as inexpensive recorders at the last MOTD when I thought I might rent my cameras out.

If you can afford to spend $550, I would buy this camcorder Sony DCR-H96. Not only will it record better quality than a DVD, it offers more flexibility, esp. for it's built-in LANC control.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

 

My Canon Eleura 100 was a Christmas gift this past year, and it has A/V inputs via an adapter cable that came with it. It's a basic, budget camcorder, but it gets the job done. It was CNET's top rated budget camcorder as of 11/06...

http://reviews.cnet.com/Canon_Elura_...5.html?tag=pop

Biggest downsides... no accessory hot shoe (you can use an external mic, but you need a free hand for it), and so-so in low light, which is common with cheap camcorders.

But it's compact & light, has 20x optical zoom, pretty good image quality for its price range. (I think they go for around $300)

 

I was reading up on camcorderinfo.com this weekend. The state of the MiniDV market (for consumers, at least) is pathetic. Manufacturers are moving toward DVD- and hard disk-based recorders. DVDs have lower quality and are much harder to edit, and the hard disk recorders don't give you the flexibility to swap in a new tape. I ended up ordering a Canon ZR700 from B&H, which was supposedly replaced by the (single-model) Elura line in '06. The Elura 100 has been discontinued (it's selling for over 500 when I can find it). Its nearest replacement, the ZR850, can record from external audio, but has no external video input (according to the manual; camcorderinfo.com is wrong about being able to record video). Camcorderinfo was not very complimentary of the Sony units. I paid about $280 for the ZR700 from B&H. I didn't want to order one right now, but I'm afraid I won't be able to find a reasonably-priced MiniDV recorder with A/V inputs in another month. :-(

 

OctaneGuy, thanks for the help, but it seems that there are just not alot of options out there. How about these new devices like iRecord, Archos, or Neuros devices that record input directly onto a CF or something similiar? Could these work?

 

If you want to try out the Neuros I can let you borrow the one I bought a while ago. It doesn't do what I need it to, but I also have a different set of requirements. I need something a little more rugged and with positive locking connectors because I plan on using mine at track days as well as other things.

What I have is a barely used Recorder 2 Plus (which does more than just CF). I think the extent I used it was for some very basic test at home to verify the quality (which was good) and maybe 1 test-run. I really can't remember anymore.

 

That sounds like a plan, I will PM you.

 

Running into the same camcorder issue, and after talking to OctaneGuy at AMVIV, I decided to purchase a DVD recorder and run it off an inverter in the MINI for the VacuCam. I bought the Lite-On DD-A100GX model from Best Buy for $99.00/

Got it yesterday and haven't had a chance to look it over for hooking it up, but I'm hoping that it will work fairly easy. I decided to try this route since the only thing I use my camcorder for is to record my drives through the twisties, and since the current camcorder that I have doesn't have the necessary inputs, I didn't want to spend more money on a camcorder.

With the DVD burner, I can use it for other things as well.