What do I need to buy a HD camcorder

kavitasekhar

Do I need to have a HDTV or HD DVD player to play my HD camcorder tapes? Right now we just have a normal TV and have no plans to get a HD TV in the near future. If I'm not able to play my camcorder tapes in good quality on my normal TV I don't see a point in getting a HD camcorder. Also do I need to have some software on my PC installed before I get a HD camcorder?

acgold7

Most HDV camcorders some with regular composite cables which you plug into a regular TV and allow you to view HDV footage in very nice SD resolution.

Also, most of these cams will shoot in HDV or DV (SD) mode so you can shoot regular video now and move up to HD when you're ready.

Or you can do everything in HD and just burn to regular DVD at the end, and still have an HDV master for later you can play either via the cam to an HDTV or by burning either of the HD disc formats and playing in the appropriate player.
How would your PC know what you're buying? You only need SW if you want to transfer the footage to the PC, in which case, yes, you do need SW to do it. The SW that comes bundled with the cam usually isn't very good.

mshulman

Just a recommendation for you - Don't buy one that records to a hard drive. They are a pain in the ass.

Buy one that uses tapes. When on the road, you can easily swap tapes and you can always connect the camcorder to the computer to convert the tape to digital.

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