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Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Canon


I previously owned a Canon ZR930. I bought it for web and other marketing video. It is a great budget, entry level camera, but the resolution is not stellar and the lower light performance is not great, either. I had to return 2 of them before getting a ZR930 that worked--one had a blown mic port and another had a blown Firewire port. Third time was the charm and the ZR930 is a great entry level camera that can be had for less than $300--and it includes a mic port, which is a must.

I upgraded to this camera (Canon VIXIA HV30) after alot of research and I am glad I went with the one I did. I decided on tape because of the flexibility and proven technology and ease of transferring to computer. Hard drive or flash cameras have ... Read More:

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Sony DCR-HC52 MiniDV Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Sony

January 31, 2008
I received this camera as a gift. It works fine to capture video. However, it is not recognized by the computer, so I cannot edit the images.

Yes, I connected it to the computer via Firewire and yes, I used a video capture software (tried IMovie and Final Cut on Mac, Movie Maker on Windows). None of these programs recognized the camera.

The Firewire port seems to be working, since the "DV in" info appears on the camera display when it is connected. However, the computer does not recognize the device ever. It is not possible either to transfer video from the computer to the camera (record).

Since no one else seems to have had this same problem, I believe it should be a defect of my camera. However, it is very ... Read More:

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Canon ZR900 MiniDV Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Canon

February 01, 2008
This is a good overall camcorder. Very light and small with an excellent zoom. The video shot in well lit areas, and that shot outside, is excellent quality. Dimmer environments produce more grainy results. I'm sure all camcorders suffer from this problem, however. Expect some noise from the tape drive in very quiet situations, but it is not unreasonable. I would recomend this to a friend.

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Sony DCR-HC62 1MP MiniDV Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Sony

February 06, 2008
Love this camera for both home movies and still photos. With a 1 gig card it holds over 2k images on high quality. The battery life is excellent, although I still recommend a second battery. The video quality is outstanding for home movies, on board mic pics up sounds great.
I would suggest a case to put this in, as well as extra battery, and plenty of tapes. It has replaced both my digital camera and old camcorder.

A wonderful buy for anyone shooting home video and more.

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Canon ZR950 1.07MP MiniDV Camcorder with 48x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Canon


First off, two things you should be aware of before you buy this camera. One, if you don't have a firewire port, or don't intend on getting one for your computer (fireware cards aren't difficult to install and are fairly cheap), DO NOT buy this camera. Since most cameras record on harddrives nowadays anyways, this camera is definitely a little dated. However, if you have a firewire port this is a non issue since getting the video onto your computer is a painless process. Second, if sound is very important to you, DO NOT buy this camera. Now I'm talking more production quality sound, not your average home video sound. The microphone on this camera is very poor and does a terrible job at isolating important noise from background noise.

With ... Read More:

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Samsung SC-D382 MiniDV Camcorder

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Samsung


I just bought this camera and it works on my MacBook.
You need a firewire cable to import your movie into
iMovie 06 and everything is fine. For the money it
is OK. I do stop action animation so that is why I bought it.
(I have not tried it yet in iMovie 08, so I don't know if it
imports into that.) You can download iMovie 06 for free if you
have iMovie 08 from the Apple site.

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Canon ZR930 1.07MP MiniDV Camcorder with 48x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Canon

February 01, 2008
I received a unit that had a bad battery or a bad charger. I called and asked it I could get a different battery,
but was told I would have to send the unit back. I obtained a RA and sent the unit back UPS (no charge to me)
Expecting to receive a replacement, instead I got a call telling they were sorry but I wouldn't get a replacement
but I would receive my money back. Received my money less the shipping charges that was incurred on my
initial order.I later found that the camera was no longer available so I went to Sears and got a different one
on sale. I don't get why it happened this way unless the Model is discontinue but no one has indicated this.

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JVC GR-DA30US MiniDV Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: JVC


I've always been satisfied with JCV products and this is no exception. The sound and picture are excellent and the zoom is great! I know that digital is the way most people are going, but the tapes are inexpensive and easy to use and I like the idea of having everything on tape. The camera connects to the computer easily and the uploads are very simple. On top of everything else, the quality is high and the price is low. In fact, this is one of the most inexpensive video cameras on Amazon! Great buy!

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JVC GR-D850 MiniDV Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: JVC

January 15, 2008
The JVC GR-D850 MiniDV Camcorder is our 3rd JVC camcorder. It was purchased primarily for quick capture of family events and we didn't expect the final video to be as high a quality as our previous JVC GR-DV800U which cost almost 3 times as much. So, when we powered up the camcorder and took our first video we weren't too disappointed. That being said, this camcorder is small enough to tote around just about anywhere and comes in handy when hiking in the woods or around family gatherings. The final video produced isn't too bad although the color balance is just OK.

For the price this is a good buy.

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Sony HDR-HC9 6MP MiniDV High Definition Handycam Camcorder 10x Optical Zoom

Childrens Toy Shop > Photo > Digital MiniDV
from: Sony

January 31, 2008
Had a heck of a time getting the film into my Mac, and I do this for a living, so it shouldn't have been this hard, but once I got that figured out (put the tapes into a stand-alone deck) everything else came up roses. Great picture quality. Not bad audio. I can attach a wireless lavaliere microphone, which works pretty good. Would be nice to be able to control the audio in levels of the mic. I've only dinked around with the camera so far, but I'm about to take it to India on a shoot, where it will be my backup camera, and kick around town camera. Will post again if anything significant emerges from that shoot. So far, I'd say it's a great little rig.