I know this is a forum for Panasonic users, but since my original purchase was a Panasonic PV-GS70, I figure my meager 2 cents worth might be informative to someone.

Here is a update on my comparison of DVD vs MiniDV


It's been a few weeks and I've played with my camcorder alot, so I think I'm ready for a update. My earlier comments are unchanged with the addition of my disgust over Hitachi (and I think Panasonic's claim of variable bit recording). BS is all I can say. Maybe a few minutes more recording time... but thats it, no matter if I point the camcorder at a gray wall, or a speeding sports car. Figure your choices are EP. SP and Ultra Fine. Period, don't expect any difference with Variable Bit blah blah.

Other than that, I an pretty much thrilled with my choice. Picture quality is just fine, low light quality is excellent, ease of use, especially the ability to pop my DVD into a DVD player is just perfect.

I do have a major complaint of my inability of recording from RAM DVD to DVD R, but I bought a DVD RAM player and that solves that problem. Price of DVD RAM via the internet is no more than MiniDV at Best Buy, so price of media is not a problem.

To sum it up... I will not argue with those who prefer MiniDV over DVD. Maybe it is better, but not to me. All I want is better picture quality over my old VHS-C camcorder and the ease of editing and playing back that a DVD has to offer.

Good luck and have fun to everyone, I appreciate all that I've seen here

ORIGINAL POST..................................................

Hello everyone, I said I would give my opinion of whatever camcorder I bought, so here goes. I picked the Hitachi DZ-MV580A over the Panasonic GS 120 and 200 for one reason only and that’s because I want to pop the finished DVD in my player with as little fuss as possible and I liked the thumbnail and instant access features of the DVD. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to record something only to find the tape was in a spot I didn’t want to record over. The DVD eliminates that. Also the burning of MiniDV onto DVD from what I hear on this board is more work than I want.

The only comparisons I can make are with a GS-70 I had for about 30 minutes before it broke and my 6 year old VHS-C.

Size. DVD is a little bigger and heavier than 120, but not much.
Handling. A matter of opinion, but I have no problem operating DVD.
Picture quality. Light years better than VHS-C and comparable with my 30 minutes of MiniDV from GS-70. Both were played back via S-Video on newish Sony 32" TV. Won’t argue if people say the MiniDV is better, but I can’t see it. The one DVD-R I recorded directly on camcorder at fine setting, played back via DVD player had outstanding sharpness.
Low light quality. Comparable with ¼" CCD VHS-C and much better than GS-70.
Color quality. GS-70 is noticeably better than DVD, but not by as much as DVD’s better low light quality.
Ease of burning onto permanent DVD. Oh my god. This is where we run into trouble. The GS-120 is less expensive than the DVD, but I figured by the time I bought editing software and a DVD recorder the price would be the same or even higher. I don’t mind the greater cost of DVD’s over MiniDV media because it’s not much and presumabley so much less work it’s worth it. Hitachi says they recommend Maxell media only. Period, end of story, according to their tech support. Problem is Maxell is not easily available and if one shops around one can find Panasonic RAM and all sorts of DVD-R at much lower prices. So far the Pana RAM records and plays back fine, but I have to use a S-Video for play back. I’m batting 0-3 in burning from RAM to Sony DVD-R. Hitachi’s response is use Maxell only. I can buy Optodisc DVD-R online for less than $1.50 each as opposed to Maxell for $8.00 each. It’s worth a try, but the incompatability leaves me, at this point, unhappy with Hitachi or maybe the whole DVD idea. I’ve been seeing Panasonic DVD RAM online for under $8.00 each, thats about the same as MiniDV. I’m thinking of buying a used RAM compatible DVD player, but with Hitachi’s position of nothing other than Maxell, that’s risky.

To sum up… Many people on this board told me to stick with MiniDV. If I can figure out how to record onto permanent DVD economicaly, I will be quite happy with the Hitachi. I just don’t want to have to pay $8.00 for 30 minutes of DVD-R and still have to go through the effort of recording on DVD RAM first, edit then burn. If I can’t and I’m doomed to playing DVD RAM via S-Video, I say BUYER BEWARE!
Hopes this helps someone. Thanks for all your time.

I had originally bought the Panasonic VDR-M50 and was extremely pleased with the camcorder. The only reason why I returned it was because I wanted to do a lot of editing on the computer. I'm now using the 200 and am really pleased.

Back to the mini DVD - It's perfect for the person who wants to tape, do a little bit of editing and then copy to a DVD. The only Ram discs I used was Maxell but I had no problem using Fuji DVD-r in the camera. With either type of disc, I would transfer to the PC, edit, and burn a full size 4.7gb DVD-r (I used TDK and Sony without any problems.) I used Power Producer Gold or Power Directer to do this. You can get trial downloads at the Cyberlink website. You're spending a lot more money for Ram discs.

If it weren't for my need and obsession to play with editing, I was very happy with my DVD cam. Outside picture quality was excellent. It did as well as or a bit better than most cameras in this price range indoors. Changing discs (and finalizing DVD-r) was a snap.

If you're having these problems with the Hitachi, I would exchange it for the Panasonic or get in touch with the company. No reason why you shouldn't be able to record DVD-r.