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Post by ghosthunter1026 on Nov 11, 2008 13:35:18 GMT -5
Hi everyone, I'm new on here and I was wondering if anybody can recommend a Mini DVD camcorder to purchase. I wanted to get one that has the IR light to add to it?
Thanks in advance for any info.
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Post by Eric on Nov 11, 2008 14:24:40 GMT -5
Hunter
Talk to Rick Bill (WRATH) or Tom (SPRISKEPTIC) on this one.
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Post by wrath186 on Nov 11, 2008 14:41:36 GMT -5
Hey ghosthunter. How much money are you looking to spend? This is the basic gauge I use when looking for equipment.
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Post by spriskeptic on Nov 11, 2008 15:28:54 GMT -5
Hi Ghosthunter,
Sony has the best off the shelf night vision (although several of us can attest that the newer models are not as good as the older 8mm ones) and Sony does use IR lenses.
If you are looking at other brands check to make sure that they can "see" IR light. Some brands advertise low light capability but it has more to do with "open shutter speed" than IR night vision.
If you were to be on an investigation with us, the night vision cameras and IR lights that we use would help your camera's night vision as well. If you had a camera that can see IR light, that is.
Also look at the recording time available with the DVD's that the camera would use. Some of our members have DVD camcorders with 30 record time limits. There is nothing wrong with that, but it makes for a lot of reloads during an investigation.
Hope that this helped a bit.
Tom.
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Post by ghosthunter1026 on Nov 11, 2008 15:49:26 GMT -5
Thanks everyone...I am looking to spend up to 450....
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Post by wrath186 on Nov 11, 2008 16:48:25 GMT -5
I did some sniffing around and found that MiniDV's are nice, but you may be hard pressed to find one that sees low light. Also, the record time is kind of short, thirty minutes seems to be the max.
Does it have to be MiniDV or would Hard or flash drive be ok as well.
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Post by ghosthunter1026 on Nov 11, 2008 23:51:55 GMT -5
I was thinking about the harddrive ones... I've never got one and I know TAPS is always talking about mini DVD's. I thought maybe they were the standard. This is why I'm asking. lol.
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Post by wrath186 on Nov 12, 2008 9:30:54 GMT -5
Admittedly, I know very little about the MiniDVs, but from what I read they are easier to work with video wise. That's probably why they use them. With tape you have to use editing software. The hard drive cameras would function much like our DVR system.
Let me take a look at what's out there and see if I can find something to recommend to you. At least then you would be able to go to Circuit City or Best Buy to see what they look and feel like.
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Post by wrath186 on Nov 13, 2008 10:51:26 GMT -5
Ok after some research I can recommend that you take a closer look at the following camcorders
Cannon DC10 Cannon DC22 Sony DCR-HC28 Cannon ZR500 - Take an especially close look at this one
All of these are MiniDVs. Now from everything I've read the record time is very limited, in many cases only twenty or thirty minutes and the disks are more expensive as compared to tapes. Also, these all come in under 2 lux for low light recording. Take that with a grain of salt, however, since many sites state that Sony has the best night vision of all camcorders, yet I can state with certainty that it's not nearly as good on newer models as it was on the older ones. In fact w/o an infrared illuminator to boost the reception of the low light recording my newest Sony would be almost useless for what we do.
These cameras are hard drive driven.
Sony DCR-SR200 Sony DCR-SR45
Hard drive cameras offer the most record time, depending on the drive. Once again, night shot is an issue. I didn't find any cameras in the hard drive division that met with my specifications, but you may want to take a look at others just as well. These should give you a firm jumping off point at what to look for when you are ready to buy.
Any questions, let me know. Hope this helps.
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Post by ghosthunter1026 on Nov 13, 2008 11:34:11 GMT -5
I've searched on line, but I can't find the lux number on the cams. Also do you know if you can get IR illuminators for all of those?
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Post by wrath186 on Nov 13, 2008 13:57:21 GMT -5
No, I don't know if you can get IR illuminators that will work directly with those cameras. Some do and some don't, but you can purchase separate illuminators, which can be had for a lot less than the ones that manufacturer makes for their cameras. Here is a site to give you an idea of what your are looking for: www.polarisusa.com/Infrared_Illuminators.htmlGenerally you are looking for a stand alone illuminator which would act as a flood light boosting the performance of your camera's nightshot. We have several that we have used on investigations and they work remarkablely well.
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Post by Rick on Nov 14, 2008 13:59:26 GMT -5
just to jump in here: when you look at a video camera, look for a 1394 or firewire port (they are the same thing). if you want to tranfer your videos over to the computer for DVD archiving (very easy now) this eliminates the additional hardware of a video capture device. I have both the firewire port and the usb capture device. I can get better video from the firewire connection.
all new cameras have a USB port, but that is useful for transfering snapshorts.
Rick
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Post by Rick on Nov 14, 2008 14:05:51 GMT -5
Also to add most cameras will see an IR light and can view some things illuminated with an IR light source. I spent $1500 on a camera a few years ago and now regret not buying a night shot I could have bought 4. My camera is best at shooting interviews and lighted shots.
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