Hello all iam new here. Iam looking for a new camcorder, Iam still using my 12yr hi8 sony without a flip display. Iam looking between the new 330 and the 255. Any thoughts?? I like the 35 optical on the 330 But i hear the 255 does well in low lighting....Help I know the 330 is still new but i cant find a good review of it...

Anyone? any info at all i wana order this tonight??

I don't think anyone knows anything about the 330 yet. I didn't know it was available. Personally, I would go with the 255 (I just bought the 555, offered at steep discounts because it's discontinued) because I need low light capabilities.

Looking at the 330, I wouldn't buy it for the zoom. 35X? I don't like how video comes out at 4X, even on a tripod. Maybe you're in to bird watching or something. I don't find a megazoom to be useful. Most people criticize camcorders for not going WIDE enough. Although I haven't had my camcorder for long, I always keep it wide. I rarely zoom.

What I like about the 330 is that it looks like it is about half the size of the old enviro's, which may be useful for the portability factor. It's tiny. In this case though, maybe it would be best to wait for Canon's new flash camcorders to come out. They're tiny too, and Canon may have the components handling the video quality worked out better than JVC does. The Canons may even have optical image stabilization, which would be a huge deciding factor.

Also, the 330 has lenses made by Minolta. Nobody has review yet, but maybe they cured JVC's sharpness ills by using better optics. Maybe they worked out some of the software kinks plaguing the image quality?

One thing is for sure, If you go for the 255 or 555, you will get a more expensive camera for big discounts. These cameras will give you bigger optics, and more manual features. The manual features are why I bought the 555; plus, I want to mount a good quality microphone on my camcorder. As I said in a post below, I procured my cam for only $399, which is just about the right price for the image quality, and a bargain for the feature set. Try to go to your local big box store to see if you can bargain with them.

Thanks for the help. The thing is i cant look around for killer deals because iam on a budget and hsn has nice flex pay option.. 330 for 449.00 or the 255 for 499.00 with the dvd recorder...both options with flex pay so im kinda torn between the two. (This is just for family stuff) trying to replace my old old sony 8mm hope its better quality then that

MG330 for $450 is not a killer deal. Only Sony manages to produce decent standard definition MPEG-2 at quality that is close to MiniDV, everyone else, Panasonic, Canon and especially JVC, are way behind, barely touching 300 lines of vertical resolution. The MG330 has no mic input, no shoe, no viewfinder, no joystick (instead it has stupid touch-strip, which drove me mad in under a minute, it is so impresize). I would pay $200 for it, maybe $250.

If you are not a girl looking for a tiny-shiny-cute purse item, then better look at Panasonic models. Same file format and directory structure, but better video.

Or, you can buy Sony HC96 MiniDV camera with 1/3" CCD, much better low light, IR nightshot mode, with almost 500 lines of resolution in 60i mode, and almost 550 lines in progressive mode -- that is true, the HC96 is able to shoot in 30p -- think about it, this is pretty close to the HV20, which produces about 600 lines, and the HV20 is a high-def camera. This would be $450 much better spent. Not so cute though.

---
Michael, Canon Elura User Information

Well you must not have read my last post to well........(The thing is i cant look around for killer deals because iam on a budget and hsn has nice flex pay option.) I will be going on a trip in 3 weeks and these 2 are all i can afford with 100 bucks down.

Ok, I see. Both have the same feature set (no mic in, no shoe, no viewfinder), but one is older with bigger sensor and is tested, another is newer with smaller chip, not tested yet.

With all things being equal bigger chip is better, but I had the MG555 for a week and did not come impressed. So... I have nothing :-) Does your hi8 Sony still work?

Yes it still works , just wanted a new one for my trip...those are the only 2 @ hsn

I wish people would get their facts right before they give advice...
Both of those cameras offer the same CCD unit, the 255 gives you the advantage of a brighter lens [f1.2] where as the MG330 is F1.9.
The 330 is a newer model, looks much nicer and build quality is better than last years range. The new laser touch operation allows for quick and easy navigation throughout the menu and looks funky too[it's backlit in blue]. The 330 also offers the Konica Minolta lens, which is also a wider angle than the '07 range, it's 36mm [opposed to 39mm] Also has a great start up function, you don't actually have to hit an on/off switch, just open the LCD and the camera turns on!
Also don't forget the drmatic reduction in size, it's much thinner than last years range, and smaller than the new flash cameras coming from canon.
The MG330 is a great choice imo, see if you can get it in Ruby Red, it looks sexy as!

The MG330 has an f-stop number of 1.8, while the MG255 has 1.2.

The MG330 sensor size is 1/6", while the MG255 is 1/4".

Meanwhile, the MG555 and MG730 have an f-stop number of 3.5, and a sensor size of 1/2".

I can see that with the 1/2" sensor, JVC can get away with having a smaller aperture, but why didn't they allow for a larger aperture, like 1.2?

Just curious. Is there some kind of size restriction going on with that?

Todd.

The lens "f Stop" and sensor size are not related.



Rich

__________________
FireWire Survey

But because there is a larger sensor, they can get away with a smaller aperture diameter?

It looks like, from a quick review of various cameras, that the smaller aperture/bigger f-number is comparable to digital cameras with 1/2" sensors, such as the Canon S5.

Thanks Rich.

Todd.

Not really, there is really no set rule except perhaps.

1. A lens with a lower F stop (wider aperature) tends to cost more.

2. A smaller sensor area used for the imaging allows a smaller size lens.

3. Wide angle tends to cost more than telephoto. ie, look at what 5 mm of wide angle focal length costs in relation to 5 mm of telephoto focal length costs.

It is difficult to really judge a camera by specs alone.



Rich

__________________
FireWire Survey