I'm new to camcorders and I bought an HC42 out of the box and finally got around to using it for the first time. It seems the highest video resolution it will film is 320x240. Is it true that when I capture it to my editing system the best I can do is 320x240 for video? I was hoping for at least 640x480 from this camera. Is there a way to increase res during capture and not lose quality. I have VT(4) and use a firewire. So far the best I have been able to do is an AVI at 320x240.

A second question just in case 320x240 is the best I can do with the HC42. Can anyone recommend a consumer mini-dv that shoots at a video res of at least 640x480.

Thanks

You did not say what software you are using.

Sorry, but I have no idea what a "VT(4)" is.

Are you sure you are using Firewire and not USB?

I use WinDV to do the transfer of video. DVIO is another good utility. They are both easy; small; free and do not use a lot of computer resources: Easy Capture Program





Rich

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FireWire Survey

I use (NewTek - Video Toaster) capture feature. Yes, I am using a firewire. Who ever opened the box didn't put the USB back in. Am I wrong about the HC42 or is 320x240 the best it will do for video?

Yes, you are incorrect about the HC42. Your video should be DV-AVI at 720x480 image size and about 13 GB per hour of video. That is the same for all MiniDV camcorders.

I suspect your "NewTek - Video Toaster" is encoding to something else. I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish. Normally the video is transferred from camcorder to computer, then edited, the encodedc to the desire format. In this case your HC42 outputs DV AVI as I descibed above.

A $12 Firewire Card will transfer the video with free software. Even Windows Movie Maker will do it and iMovie on the Mac's.



Rich

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FireWire Survey

Transferring Video

Look through these guides which have photos:

Infobase: About FireWire
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/infobase/about_firewire.html

Firewire and the Panasonic 3CCD Camcorder
http://www.pana3ccduser.com/article...-3CCD-Camcorder

Rich

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FireWire Survey

Thank you for your help.