Daily Archives: December 11, 2009

A New Camcorder just in the nick of time for Olivia’s first Xmas concert

Our 4 year old Canon Digital camcorder went kaput. It uses the Mini digital tapes….the load mechanism on the camcorder failed and we can no longer load tapes for viewing or recording. Which leads to the problem that I have a bunch of used tapes that I need to somehow get the data off of and onto PC and DVD for archiving. But that’s another story.

I went and purchased a Sony XR200 HD AVCHD camera yesterday. In a rush since we needed it for Olivia’s school concert last night. Very slick piece of hardware. Do not purchase a camcorder unless it is HD!

After fiddling around with it, I’m still confused about a couple of things: 1) What does the ‘easy’ button actually do and if I use it, will it wipe out all my customized settings? 2) What is the technical difference between the HDSD (which is default) mode, HDHQ and HDFH? I’m assuming HDFH is highest quality as it takes up more storage. But when I view it on my TV it all looks the same to me. I wish I could find more about this stuff, including the benefits/disads of most of the features. Another example is the ability to change the sound capture from standard to this mode that reacts to the zoom in/out and the panning away and to subjects. Also, the face/smile recognition. The manual is horrendous in explaining anything and I haven’t yet found anything on the web that describes these features in more detail and provide guidelines for setting them in various situations.

Anyway, the concert was a very special experience for all of us. A benchmark in our lives: the first time one of the kids has performed onstage and in public. Olivia was part of her class in singing ‘Let There Be Peace On Earth’. I’m so glad we captured the moment in HD. When watching it on the TV last night, it really felt like being there again.

One thing I’ll always remember: the weater was atrocious. We live only 5 minutes away on a good day. 15 minutes last night. With the horrendous weather conditions, I was shocked to discover the parking lot was packed full and spilling onto the road 20 minutes before the concert began. It appears that parents are fanatical when it comes to their children. Go figure.