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Rugged Mini-DV Camcorder for the Road?
step asks: "As part of my job, I (and my colleagues) spend weeks at a time on the road, doing science shows for high school students. To review our work, we carry DV camcorders to tape and watch our performances. Unfortunately, all the previous models we've tried haven't lasted more than 12 months on the road (and not from lack of care). When returned for repair we were told that they weren't faulty, just not up to the task.
We don't need a full feature camera, just solid reliable recording and playback. In fact, simple is probably better to accommodate the most users.
What experience has Slashdot had with camcorders? What's a good model that can handle lots of travel?"
I have been looking for a good DV cam to use for a long time, but I didn't want to use miniDV, I want to use flash ram. Recently Panasonic has come out with a whole line of them that use SD cards, but they're a little pricey, and you can't get much video at DVD quality on one SD card. I don't know about the durability of the hardware, but at least this option would take out all of the mechanics.
You talk better than you fool!
Unfortunately I do not know of very many rugged mini dv cameras. The high quality camera designed for being beaten up are generally Betacam or DVCAM professional cameras for News stations and such. Its unfortunate that no company has come out with a "Toughbook" camera, but nice compromises can be found. Naturally the rule with consumer and prosumer camcorders is the bigger they are the harder they fall and more stuff they break. I personally own a JVC HD1U camcorder that is great, its has a steel handle on top so you can lug it around much easier and safer. I've had problems with cheap consumer Sony Cameras going bad after a jolt or two. My advice, go to Best Buy or whatever flavor of electronics megamart you prefer, and bang on some of the display models for a while. You'll get some funny looks, but that will be the best way to see what cameras are up to the task.
The Property of One's : "The Oneitude is directly proportional to the Colditude of the one." - S.B.
It can be had on Ebay for $600 package deals.
Most skydivers and other extreme sports types have cameras these days. I have a (now old) Sony PC9 which I have helmet mounted (oo-err) and has survived quite a lot of jumping, skidoo riding, heli-boarding (-30c) and general snow boarding.
It has finally started giving me grief however, not at the tape transport, but the auto-focus mechanism (which sometimes sticks).
My advice would be to post a polite note on a skydiving forum and find out what people there recommend.
Good luck.
Solution? Buy a mid-priced one at Best Buy, along with the extended warranty. If you're likely to need it (and you likely will), the extended warranty is a bargain. My first two Sony MiniDV cams both failed just after a year. The Best Buy extended warranty will cover it for four years.
Yes, you will have to let them repair it if it breaks, which can take a couple of weeks. But the $200 you spend on the extended warranty is less than the $260 that Sony will charge you for a repair after the first year. Also, you may be able to get the manager to simply replace the product with a new model that sells for the original purchase price--especially if you have to bring the camcorder back more than once. As an added bonus, the extended warranty does cover the battery, should it need replacing.
Yeah, yeah. I know there are a lot of people who hate Best Buy. And yeah, for the most part, the extended warranties are a rip off. But I've found that for some reason, MiniDV cameras are extremely prone to breaking, and this is the best solution that I've found for the problem.
The Panasonic line.
I am embarking on my two year bike journey/documentary. You can see it at worldcyclist.com
What I am using is a 3 CCD chip (A MUST!) Panasonic PV-GS120 (the 150 has replaced it). It has a few drawbacks, no deal breakers though. It has a cinema-like mode, not true 16:9 shooting. It does have a stereo mike input which, with 2 Radio Shack lavaliere mono mikes and a stereo y connector, works pretty good for interview subjects.
Before buying any Mini-DV get the manual from Amazon, you can download them usually.
Before you know it people will beat down a path to your door if you have a good idea. I have a proven Emmy winning director assembling mine, the book already optioned and a sponsorship from Sugoi apparel
I also smoked for 20 years, am slightly overweight and am 39 years old. No one is more surprised than me.
The Sony VX2100 and PD170 (they're almost the same camera, but the PD170 has a few more professional features) are generally considered the most rugged and reliable mini-dv cameras around. I've heard some statistics and general anecdotal evidence indicating that they're much more durable than the Panasonic and Canon models in the same range.
They are favorites among skateboard video makers, documentarians (), and professional videographers in general. I have heard people talk about having dropped, kicked, and generally abused these
I don't know your price range, but the VX2100 runs about $2300 and the PD170 about $2700 new.
By the way, before anyone thinks I'm a sony fanboy, know that my personal camcorder is a Panasonic. Other brands have other desirable features, but at that price range and in terms of ruggedness/durability, the sonys are it.
Good luck!
This was what I thought.
I bought a Sony camcorder three years ago, and it still works like new. I expect that this is because I don't use it very often for filming. In fact, it gets more use taking stills than shooting film. But it gets carried around a lot, even more than my Canon SLR.
My brother in law also had a Sony camcorder, but he used it a lot. The tape transport gave up a few months ago. Repair would cost as much as a new camcorder...
If the weak part of the camcorder is the tape transport, and you have one or several camcorders where the tape part is the only failure, then I suggest using a laptop computer to record straight to disc.
Use either the S-VHS or the Composite video output of the camcorder connected to the laptop.
I've connected my camcorder to a Pinnacle TV-Tuner card like this in order to use it as a webcam.
If you have trouble with dust getting inside the camcorder, it might be from changing the cassettes often.
You should be able to make up a sort of "dustproof bag" from a ziplock freezer bag, and control the camcorder via the remote. Beef.
If you don't need any fancy feature, you will be better of with a cheap digital camera that have no moving parts on it.
The Olympus Stylus Verve looks grate. It's water resistant, cheat, very nice overall. It's movie mode have a 320x200 pixels resolution (half a mini-DV camera) and can store 21 minutes of movies in a 512MB card...
If you need better resolution camera, you can get the Sony Cyber-shot® DSC-S40 that has a 640x480 movie mode with 30fps, but it's not water resistant...
Any digital camera will last far longer than a camera that have moving parts...
I have no idea why, in this day of PVR's and Ipods, there isn't a DV-recording camera out there with a standard 30 or 40 GB laptop drive inside. If removability is a factor, they could just sell preformatted drives on rails that go in and out like cartridges.