I'm looking at three different cameras , The first one is Canon ZR80 MINI DV the second one is JVC GR-D33U Mini DV
and the third one is SONY Hi8 I want to know what one is going to take the best video and pictures and fastest transfer to your pc? Also the good and bad about each if possible. This site just keeps getting better.

Get a Sony - the picture is, hands down, the best of any brand.

Also, upgrade to MiniDV format.

Any of the Sony models will be fine.

I have the JVC GR-D70U, its a digital camcorder/camera. it takes good all around video and pics, uses the SD/MMC card as well as MiniDV. zoom is good, (16x optical) but the pics can be a little grainy if the lighting isnt perfect.



good camera for the money though. I can take pics out of the video and it uploads quick. great quality when hooked up to the tv too.

you will want to make sure it has a video in jack,so you can hook up your helmet cam.

For my other sport, I use digital video cameras. I've tried them all - Canon Elura, JVC,s, Sharps, and Sony's.

The Canon will not work well as a helmet cam. Their image stabilization is done by moving the lense, rather than digitally. Because of this, the image is not even watchable (video taken while skydiving). They should call it the image shaker!

JVC's have a decent picture, but the slow motion is rather 'glitchy' It looks like claymation, rather than slow-motion. Plus, you have to pause the video before it can be viewed in slow-motion.

Sharps - JUNK QUALITY. Enough said.

Sony doesn't have any of these bad attributes. The only bad thing I can say about Sony is their expensive service. They have a flat-rate program. No matter what the problem it's $276 USD to fix it. If all you have is a broken switch or something, this is outrageous!

Hope this helps.

Chris

Here are things that I find very important, I have a Canon Optura 20, it is a higher end model then the ZR 80


3.5" LCD screen, great for viewing pics and overall shooting, it seems twice as large as a 2.5
I don't take too much action shots so that is not so important to me. Sledding Video
Firewire for connecting to computer. Even if you do not have a firewire on your computer, you can get a seperate card.
Rca outs are good for connecting to a TV
Remote control is great for viewing video and stills
My stills are 1.3 megapixel (zr80 is half that) To some people stills are not very important but I use both all the time, very handy, check Here for a 1.3 mp picture I took.
My camera has no built in flash, I had to buy a very expensive Canon one, it claims it is a video light and flash but is pretty useless a light, it is only 3 watts and I am told the big light is 10 watts. Flash part works great.
My Video Camera is very poor in low light but I have yet to see a good one in low light yet, don't shoot in low light is my answer.
SD card for stills is great I bought a 256 meg one and it can hold about 500 pics
The 16x optical zoom is great, digital zoom is useless.

I have a Canon ZR series and I like it. The Sonys are nice too. Just make sure its a MiniDV format.

Just an F.Y.I.....if you're going to go w/ the SonyHi8....it's alot cheaper at this site.

SonyHi8 Cheaper

Looks like you'd save over $150 here instead of Sears! (means another snowmobile accessory)

Thanks for the heads up on the sony , but I ordered the jvc spose to be here june 24 . :div20: Lots of time to get use to it for sleding this winter.