I received a JVC GR-D30 as a gift from a father-in-law that was desperate to see movies of his granddaughter. This camcorder sits at the bottom of the JVC Digital/Mini-DV line and my initial inclination was to return it and get something better. After some research I kept it and here's why.
1. Mini-DV is a popular and relatively inexpensive format.
2. DVD recording units just don't have it together yet.
3. Upgrading to a unit that could take pictures was pointless, since I have two digital cameras already with far more functionality.
4. The analog connection cable that comes with the unit allows me to playback and record to a VCR.
5. The DV (Firewire) connection (cable not included) gave me digital editing and formatting capabilities. You need some software to do this and I wuh-sed out and went with Pinnacle Systems' Studio version 8 for Windows instead of looking Linux. It works great. My old Windows PC didn't have Firewire, so I spent less than $50 on a PCI Firewire card.
It's not fancy, but with this setup I record VHS tapes for the technology troglodytes and burn CD/DVDs for everyone else. I can even edit the videos, copy them back to Mini-DV and then record the polished final clip to VHS. Not real elegant, but all for under $600 US.
Final note, video eats hard drive space so count on setting aside at least 5GB just to get going without saving anything long term to disk.
I caught a History Channel special called " History Undercover: Secrets of Soviet Space Disasters". While there were plenty of disasters, there were many accomplishments. With respect to the lunokhod, according to the program there was some concern that the orbiting Apollo spacecraft might collide with the lunokhod craft (though highly unlikely) and that the lunokhod was a fallback plan after the Soviet's own manned moon-craft failed repeatedly on the launch pad. I'm certainly no space expert, so any comments on the TV show?
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1. Mini-DV is a popular and relatively inexpensive format.
2. DVD recording units just don't have it together yet.
3. Upgrading to a unit that could take pictures was pointless, since I have two digital cameras already with far more functionality.
4. The analog connection cable that comes with the unit allows me to playback and record to a VCR.
5. The DV (Firewire) connection (cable not included) gave me digital editing and formatting capabilities. You need some software to do this and I wuh-sed out and went with Pinnacle Systems' Studio version 8 for Windows instead of looking Linux. It works great. My old Windows PC didn't have Firewire, so I spent less than $50 on a PCI Firewire card.
It's not fancy, but with this setup I record VHS tapes for the technology troglodytes and burn CD/DVDs for everyone else. I can even edit the videos, copy them back to Mini-DV and then record the polished final clip to VHS. Not real elegant, but all for under $600 US.
Final note, video eats hard drive space so count on setting aside at least 5GB just to get going without saving anything long term to disk.
I caught a History Channel special called " History Undercover: Secrets of Soviet Space Disasters". While there were plenty of disasters, there were many accomplishments. With respect to the lunokhod, according to the program there was some concern that the orbiting Apollo spacecraft might collide with the lunokhod craft (though highly unlikely) and that the lunokhod was a fallback plan after the Soviet's own manned moon-craft failed repeatedly on the launch pad. I'm certainly no space expert, so any comments on the TV show?