Sony ACC-DVDP DVD Camcorder Starter Kit (Compact Case, Spare Battery, DVD+RW Disc)

Sony ACC-DVDP DVD Camcorder Starter Kit (Compact Case, Spare Battery, DVD+RW Disc)
Customer Review: Can be bought much cheaper now.
I know it`s almost a year since the last review but there are lots of these kits still around at a very good price. I`ve just bought one brand new on Ebay for ?5.50. A fantastic bargain. The case is good quality and as it includes the spare battery plus a +RW Disc then there`s no reason not to buy one now. I`m almost tempted to get another one just for the battery and Disc.

Customer Review: Extremely over priced - so make sure you buy it here
This is extremely over priced for what you get. Having said that though here is where you should buy it if you want it; it is 79.99 in Argos and shopping around i’ve seen it priced higher.

For the first 2-3 weeks the little DVD case is ok. After that it doesn’t last that long as you’ll have to buy a new one because it only holds 4 DVDs.

Overall, this will be good for your handycam especially the new spare battery you’ll get with it.

I’ve bought a bigger camcorder bag and DVD case now, though.

So to round up, this is a great kit to buy to start you off but you’ll probably end up buying replacements for your camcorder.

My advice is to buy it even though its really over-priced.

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JVC GR-D760 Mini DV Digital Camcorder
Versatile DVC ultra-powerful 34x optical zoom and convenient dual recording capability for shooting stills during video recording.
Amazon Price: ?170.10
Customer Review: JVC GRD-760 - review
In auto mode (if the auto focus works properly) in day light the camcorder has great picture and is pin sharp. But in very bright scenes the colours can be washed out as the camcorder doesn’t automatically get darker to compensate for the brighter scene so you loose detail in what ever your videoing. Battery charging is very simple and easy, you press the Data button and you can instantly see battery life. I love the graphics which show battery life, but the battery doesn’t last that long. Viewing the tape. —————– Move the selector to play mode, viewing the tape is easy to do but what is annoying is you can easily move the joystick to another position and instead of viewing the tape, you switch the camcorder lamp on or if you want to run the tape and normal speed you can do that instead the tape rewinds or fast forwards, that’s annoying and the camcorder should have had buttons inside it for rewinds, fast forwards and play. Did try editing the tape as the joystick didn’t feel to strong. Auto focus ———- Auto focus isn’t fast, even in daylight it some times gets confused and tends to “hunt” around until it gets a lock on (which means you could loose a once in a life time moment) If you point it at the sky to video a plane or helicopter flying in the distance, Auto focus can’t do it as it just hunts around for it. In low light or at night (unless there is bright spot some where) Auto focus is utter rubbish. The macro feature is good but the auto focus lets it down badly as it cant lock on fast enough and when it does, it doesnt stay locked on. i.e. If you video a flower gently moving in the wind with a bumble bee landing on it. As the flower moves in the gentle breeze the auto focus looses focus for a bit and then has trouble locking back on to it. Image stabilisation is great but this only works when the auto focus works properly. If the auto focus is having trouble Image stabilisation wont fix the problem. I want some thing which I can trust 100% of the time and which works with out me worrying about it, this doesn’t work that well and I can’t trust it. Controls ——– Controls are very easy to use and are laid out ok, it took me a short while to master them. Going from 16.9 to 4.3 is at push of a button on the LCD screen and is very easy, the camera works it all out for you. If you take a photo the camera automatically switches off Image stabilisation and 16.9 mode while the photo is being taken and puts them all back when its finished to allow normal video to be taken, that’s great. Once you set the camcorder up, you never need to do it again. Accessing more detailed menus is a real pain as the instruction manual isn’t that clear and controls on the camcorder don’t help much in this way, so it can takes ages to find a menu which adjusts low level stuff such as 12 bit or 16 bit sound. If you want to take picture it will not happen instantly, there is bad shutter lag which again means you loose that once in a life time moment, so better have your SLR camera handy if your going to do this. Also the picture quality on the JVC isn’t that good or clear. It has a great feature where you can take a photo and it automatically saves it to SD card at the same time as you videoing other things, this is good. Low light performance ——————— In auto mode indoors including at night with lights switched on in the room the camcorder gives good images. If go in to the garden at twilight the image is ok-ish. But the auto focus lets it down as it can get confused. Some times the lamp comes on (when you didn’t ask it to), that’s very annoying if your filming some thing like a wild animal which doesn’t need to see you. When you switch to manual and go to twilight mode this isn’t that good as images can be blurry at times as the camera looses focus lock, the one for ultra low light (which has an owl symbol) is a pile of utter kak. Its useless for capturing any thing moving in crisp clear fashion all you see are wavy lines all over the place or blurry moving imagines unless your filming a lit up building then its crisp and clear (so useless for making a movie at night). Best feature of this camcorder is build quality, that is great and has a solid well built quality feel and looks like it will give countless years of service, the LCD hinge looks like its heavy duty stuff and the clasp to keep it next to the camera is a great feature. Conclusion ———- I was really looking forward to this camcorder as I read a few good reviews but after having it for a few days I was very dissappointed by it. The main thing a camcorder needs is a good auto focus system as your recording moving images, this hasnt got it. JVC’s engineers need to give this camcorder more auto focus points = camcorder can “see” better. They also need give the camcorder’s computer better software which will allow it to lock on to a subject and not let it go if it moves. Auto focus and low light performance let this camcorder down very badly. Its no use having a camcorder which looks good, is well made, has a lot of toys to play with and (when the auto focus works properly) has pin sharp images if it cant auto focus and give pin sharp images all the time. The JVC only does it around 60-70% of the time, that’s no good for those once in a life time movies such your kid having her birthday etc or saying those first words or capturing images of you and your brother from New Zealand (who you haven’t seen in 20 years) seeing each other at the airport for the first time you need a camcorder which will record them. If you want a decent camcorder which will give good video, better to look else where. The Samsung VPD375W has very similar features to the JVC GRD760 but the Samsung has better auto focus which 97% of the time locks on and stays locked, the JVC can only do that 60-70% of the time. The Sony HC37 and 45 are similar priced as the JVC and Samsung, These Sonys are great camcorders but don’t have all the features of Samsung or JVC have such as taking pictures and video. The DVD and HDD Sonys have features of the Samsung and JVC but they cost 2-3 times as much. ************************************** Good points :- Looks good and has some chrome around it so has a bling factor. Great solid build quality which will last for years. (if the auto focus works properly) in day light pin sharp video with no grainy-ness. (if the auto focus works properly) good Image stabilisation Easy to use and setup. Bad points :- Auto focus lets it down extremely badly in lot of the areas I filmed in. Overall bad low light performance. JVC eats power so you’ll need to recharge it a lot. Doesn’t come with firewire cable. Washed out colours in daylight. Accessing detailed menus is a real pain. Camcorder manual isn’t that detailed. By e-mail JVC customer service is very slow and getting back to you and most don’t know enough about the product. If you call them its an 0870 number which is very expensive.

JVC GZ-MG175EK Hard Disk Camcorder
40GB Hard Disc Drive. Maximum recording time: 50 hours. 1.07 megapixel CCD.
Amazon Price: ?317.99

Aiptek AHD200 High Definition Camcorder
Amazon Price: ?117.78

Sony DCR-HC47 Handycam Mini Dv Camcorder With 2.7” LCD Screen
MINIDV CARL ZEISS 2.7 LCD 1/6 1 M/PIXEL CCD25X OPT.ZM NS
Amazon Price: ?206.50
Used Price: ?168.01
Customer Review: Great Little Handycam
I love this camera. Bought as a replacement for my JVC which died suddenly I went for the HC47 on the basis of various reviews I’ve read. It’s easy to operate, a good selection of features and if you buy the infoLithium battery you have up to five hours recording time available. The only let-down is filming in low light conditions, but I was aware of this when I purchased it and that’s the only reason I have given it 4/5. I haven’t tried to use the i.LINK, i download the movies via a USB cable and edit the films using Sony Vegas Movie Studio which is a dream to work with. The only problem I have is that I can’t put it down, it’s just so much fun to use!
Customer Review: lovely camera but cant download films!!!!!
I bought this camera in May and again in August!!!! Why, because cant get the darn thing to download via IIlink to computer. Amazon first class service, refunded no probs, but I really want this camera, or one that does work. We tried it on our computer, my brothers 3 computers and none of them could find the camera on the Ilink. Reported it to Sony who advised us to download updates for software, which we had already done about 5 times all to no avail. So back it goes again. Fortunately my brother has made our films (daughters wedding!!) into DVD’s for us through his canon. What shall we do, do we persevere and try again or just try a different camera. Also have bought loads of tapes and 2 extra betteries for this model. Anyone else had this problem or know a solution?? Or recommend a different make and model . P.S. Have now bought another one from local Sony centre (different batch obviously) and it is fine. Lovely camera, cant do better for price and Amazon provides a top class service.