On Sun, 28 Apr 2002 08:57:14 +0200, Mojtaba wrote:

>Greetings,
>
>I had for a while ago an inquiry about video cameras. Thanks for all
>responses I got, I learned that a digital camera would be suitable for
>me. Now, I am going to buy one but I am very unsecure what to choose.
>first price: My price range is something around 1000 US dollars. I
>live in Norway, prices here are very high but I have checked and know
>that the prices in sweden are lower, so I think I shall order there.
>
>My question now is simply what to choose. From the cataluge I have got
>thereare these cameras in my price range:
>
> Sony DCR-PC6
> Sony DCR-TRV 15
>Is the difference between TRV series and PC series only the form of
>cameras?
> Canon MV400i
> Canon MV430
> Panasonic NV-DS28
>
>I do not know if there is really any advantage to get any special
>brand. As Sony has got Carl Zeiss lenses so I think it will give a
>better video quality but In rerturn I do not know anything about other
>lenses.
>
>Do the different brands offer specific features which I might not find
>in another brand?
>
>Any thoughts, any suggestion is welcomed.

Selecting a camcorder in a "vacuum" is frustrating,
especially since most specs are not comparable between
brands, so become as meaningless as the names on
lenses ("Zeiss", "Leitz", "Canon", etc. are marketing
hype, not real indicators of lens quality in the
consumer market...). I have not used most one-CCD
camcorders, so have not compared these much, but
the Sony *imaging types* are compared at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder--comparison.htm,
several older one-chip, and some 3-CCD cameras
are compared at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder-comparison.htm,
and some 3-CCD cameras are compared at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/sony_dcr-vx2000.htm.
These sites can be useful, also:
http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/index.html
and: www.bealecorner.com.
BTW, you may find this site useful, since it shows
29 video image characteristics, with examples, so
it gives you some standards for judging video image
quality differences - at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/vid_pict_characts.htm