Digital8 vs MiniDV

[Dan Cook]

What's the difference between the two? Does MiniDV have better quality than Digital8?

I'm shopping around to replace my vid cam after the Chasing incident last year.

 

[John Wetter]

At this point I would not even consider Digital8, as it is already nearly end-of-life as far as a product line.

-John

 

[Billy Griffin]

Here's a forum with a wealth of information on all types of video format:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=64

I do agree with John's statement. Digital 8 has been fading fast over the past couple of years.

 

[Tony Laubach]

The one perk to Digital 8 is cheapness! I've shot and continue to use Digital 8 as my main source of video capturing and with it becoming a memory, its cheap to get your hands on. Seeing as I'm not doing anything professionally, it works very well for me! Especially cause it is cheap! But other than that, not much perk to it.

 

[David Drummond]

If you do decide to go Digital8, see if you can pick up a lightly used Sony TRV520 on Ebay. I have put a few of those through hell and back and they held up WAY long than they should and shoot a pretty darn good picture!

 

[Laura Duchesne]

I own a Panasonic PVGS250 minidv cam and I like it. The colours come out nice on the videos and it's crisper images... I find that Digital8 is more grainy looking, especially in low light. Digital8 is on the way out, although I've heard good things about the Sony TRV cams.

Either are good buys, it just depends on your limit how much you want to spend, plus I have no idea where you could find a Sony Digital8 TRV cam except on Ebay.....

 

[David Drummond]

I own a Panasonic PVGS250 minidv cam and I like it. The colours come out nice on the videos and it's crisper images... I find that Digital8 is more grainy looking, especially in low light. Digital8 is on the way out, although I've heard good things about the Sony TRV cams.

Either are good buys, it just depends on your limit how much you want to spend, plus I have no idea where you could find a Sony Digital8 TRV cam except on Ebay.....

Laura, regarding the Panasonic....my partner had one and we compared the both on a shot lit only be headlights. The difference in the grain from the Panasonic and the Sony camera was unreal. Don't get me wrong, there was still plenty of grain on the Sony, but the Panasonic (at least the camera we had) was almost unusable. Just a note from a real world comparison we did.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I think the better way to shop for a camera for chasing is to look at its features and specs, IE, things like low light capabilities, the ability to lock focus at infinity, ease of changing tapes (some models load from the bottom, a problem with tripod use), ease of ingesting video into a computer, and so on.

Tape format is not that important. Apparently Digital 8 records at the same bitrate as MiniDV and would be acceptable for chasing. Digital 8, however, is rapidy heading toward obsolescence, and it will be harder to find things like new tapes for it down the road. You'll also find that the selection of cameras in the Digital 8 format are small compared to those in MiniDV. If it was me, I would go MiniDV.

 

[Mark Sefried]

I have a Sony DCR-HC90 miniDV camcorder and love it. It's large 1/3 inch ccd is very good against unwanted grain in your video during low light conditions. Sony has replaced that model and now has the Sony DCR-HC96 which sells for around $600. Actually, I am a little surprised that more chasers do not own either a Sony DCR-HC90 or a Sony DCR-HC96. So, depending on how much money you have and are looking for miniDV format, I suggest the Sony DCR-HC96.

 

[John Wetter]

Actually, I am a little surprised that more chasers do not own either a Sony DCR-HC90 or a Sony DCR-HC96. So, depending on how much money you have and are looking for miniDV format, I suggest the Sony DCR-HC96.

I own a DCR-HC96 and have had very good results. The only bad part is the need for a dock to connect firewire/analog cables.

-John

 

[Jim Leonard]

I also own the sony HC-90 along with my older trv-900 and vx-2000. The reason I like the HC-90 is I was able to locate a sports pack so the camcorder will be great in hurricanes. This camcorder has an image quality that looks real close to the clarity of the trv-900 and vx-2000. I highly recommend this camera for those who don't have the bucks for the 3-chip models.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

I'm in the market for a new camcorder, and was looking for a Digital8 because my current camcorder is Hi8 which uses the same tapes. However I found I could not find one at ANY store. If I was to have a Mini DV camcorder, it would have to be one that has a VCR mode with analog input so that I can copy my Hi8 tapes through it to the computer. However, I could not find any with THAT feature either. Which models have this?

 

[Mark Sefried]

This info was taken form B&H's homepage on the Sony DCR-HC96:

Input/Output Connectors

Line In Recording Yes - Digital & Analog with Pass Through

I know that the DCR-HC90 has this feature as well. So, both the DCR-HC90 and the DCR-HC96 have the analog pass through to convert old hi-8 video from analog camcorders to digital. I don't if the low end panasonic 3 chip miniDV camcorders that some chasers use have that feature. Maybe someone who has one of the Panasonic 3 chippers can comment if thier camcorder has it.

 

[John Wetter]

I'm in the market for a new camcorder, and was looking for a Digital8 because my current camcorder is Hi8 which uses the same tapes. However I found I could not find one at ANY store. If I was to have a Mini DV camcorder, it would have to be one that has a VCR mode with analog input so that I can copy my Hi8 tapes through it to the computer. However, I could not find any with THAT feature either. Which models have this?

I can confirm that the DCR-HC96 can do pass-through and A to D conversion, I've done it.

-John

 

[Dan Cook]

Decided to buy this one:

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=PNPVGS39

Has anyone had any experience with this model?