equipment recommendations

[chrisletts]

yes here we are again with the equipment market changing and us
frantically trying to keep up!

We're gradually changing from DVC tape camcorders, to memory card
camcorders - at the moment using Sanyo HD2 which produce mp4 files of
good quality which can be edited and played back with QuickTime and
even on many mobile devices. These cameras are not perfect - the sound
levels are nothing like as high as the old SONY DVC camcorders,
although the quality is fine. They are very portable and easy to use
though and ideal for student use as they can copy the results straight
onto their laptop.

Yes I agree steer clear of any DVD-based machines as we found them a
nightmare to explain to users, and the recordings may or may not play
on this or that equipment !

Don't forget that virtually all camcorder sound is compressed. Due to
this, in cases where we need pristine sound we don't usually bother
with adding microphones to the camcorder, but make simultaneous audio
recordings on our Edirol R9's - there is software available to allow
to to sync the audio and video back together if absoutely necessary.
If we do use microphones these are normally Sennheiser radio mikes.

On Apr 21, 4:43 pm, "Iverson, Jana Marie" <jiver... at pitt.edu> wrote:
> Dear all, I have received excellent advice from this listserv before and am hoping that I can count on you once again to steer me in the right direction.  Our well-loved and used camcorders and microphones are just about to be retired and we are seeking to replace them.  This seems to be more difficult than in past years as some of the features that we count on are no longer available on many models.
>
> We collect all of our data in infants' homes, so mobility and dependability are of great importance.  In the past, we have used miniDV camcorders with wireless microphones plugged into the camera's audio input jack (the microphone itself is positioned at shoulder level on the baby hidden in a vest worn over the clothes and the receiver is mounted on the camcorder).  This has yielded very good recordings.  As we've looked at new camcorders (miniDV), we've noticed that many no longer have the microphone jack, which is a big problem.  So, I am wondering if any of you have recently purchased video and audio equipment that you like and find reliable that you could recommend.  Since our sessions all involve fairly unstructured play and interaction, we need cameras that aren't too heavy and will still record good images in low lighting situations.
>
> We recently purchased new microphones which seem all right, but the microphone itself is quite large and has been the object of much exploration by little hands.  So any suggestions for wireless microphones that will interface with a miniDV camcorder would also be appreciated.
>
> Thank you in advance for your help!  I will post a summary of your responses to the list.
>
> Best regards,
> Jana Iverson
>
> Jana M. Iverson, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Psychology and Linguistics
> University of Pittsburgh
> 3415 Sennott Square
> 210 S. Bouquet St.
> Pittsburgh, PA 15260
>
> Phone: (412) 624-6160
> Fax: (412) 624-4428
> Email: jiver... at pitt.eduhttp://www.pitt.edu/~icl
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