somerleaze Loc: Coventry, England

I have been doing video now for 10 - 15 years, just holiday stuff. My current camcorder is a Panasonic NV-GS75, about 7 years old, 4:3 format. I need to get into HD so that I can produce videos in a 16:9 format. I am a stills photographer really, a lot of what I am reading about HD video leaves me more confused than ever about the technical side.

As usual in these cases what I should do and what I can afford now I am retired are not very close. Do I upgrade my Canon 450D / XSi to something like a used 600D / T3i or go for a low cost HD Camcorder?

I think I may have problems editing 1080p video on my laptop so it would have to stick to 720p.
Laptop: Acer Aspire 6935
Intel Core2 Duo CPU T6400 @ 2.00GHz
RAM: 4 GB
Windows7 64 bit
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS
I currently only have 20GB left on my external drive and the C:drive is a SSD 125GB

The CPU is not changeable, the RAM is at its maximum.
I have Premiere Pro CS6 and Premiere Elements 12 and Serif MoviePlus X5 to chose between for editing.

Is there anyone on UHH who has experience editing HD video files?

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I also use cs6 pro on win7 64bit. Rendering files to a Verbatim 500GB ssd pocket drive instead of on the C:\ drive sped up the process quite a bit.

Bob

Scoutman Loc: Orlando, FL

I cannot speak to the advantages of a camcorder, but lots of folks are doing DSLR video. Go to YouTube and you will find many examples of, perhaps the same thing you would see yourself doing. Also, you may have already seen this link demonstrating how to set-up and use a DSLR for video.
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-190416-1.html

Use the "Search" function, inputting "video editing software" to bring up previous posts on that subject.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Hi Somer. When I made the video switch from analog to HD I found that my computer then, much like you're experiencing, was simply too slow to handle 1080 video.

HD video produces a huge data stream and that was the major problem television makers and cable servers when HD was first suggested... HD video changed everything as we've seen.

Thus, without a fast computer, HD video editing isn't practical.

If you are serious about HD video it sounds as if you're going to have to upgrade your computer... it's the only way.

I have a Gateway running at 3.3 / 8gb RAM and it works very well with HD video... playing and editing to burning.

Good luck

somerleaze Loc: Coventry, England

Hi Jimmy,
Well I made the jump and bought a Panasonic HC-V510 HD video camera. I found to my surprise that the laptop was quite capable of editing and rendering and writing a 1080p blueray dvd. Up to now I have only done one lasting 15 minutes so I might have problems with a much longer one. I am going to Norway later this month and expect to have a much longer one to do so watch this space. I found the Serif Movieplus X6 software very capable and quick enough and easier to use than either of the Adobe programs but I know the laptop will be a bottleneck in the production when I get more adventurous so I am currently building a new desktop with parts I can obtain as I go along.
Thanks for your comments,
Phil
(Somerleaze)

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Congratulations on your new camera... I'm sure you'll have excellent luck with it.

Video, as we know, is a different animal and can cause or create lots of extra problems - we who've been shooting for a long time know this and try to plan for it.

Best of luck and have fun on your trip... I'm certain there's lots of stuff there just waiting to be shot... frankly, I'm green. Have fun

Samuraiz Loc: Central Florida

A big benefit of the DSL method is that using a DLSR with regular lenses you have full control over DOF, Aperture and Shutter speed. Most camcorders with their ultra tiny sensors seem to have every thing in focus from 2 feet to infinity giving everything that camcorder look.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

I can't speak to the editing issue as I have Corel Visual Studio on my laptop and desktop and it works well on both.

But as to DSLR or camcorder, here are my thoughts. You can take great photographs with a DSLR and you can take great videos with a DSLR. I've had camcorders that claim to take stills as well--and they do--but they are not very good. Most of the facilities that a DSLR has are missing. The camcorder takes good videos, of course, but I'm greedy; I want both in one box and the up to date DSLR will do that.

somerleaze Loc: Coventry, England

I decided in the end to go with getting a new camcorder, a Panasonic V510. It turned out cheaper than upgrading my DSLR. I found that my laptop would edit 1080p HD Video using the Serif Movieplus software which I have upgraded to X6. Thanks to all those who gave me their thoughts on the matter.