Camcorder Question

Hello. I bought a JVC-DVL120 camcorder about a week ago. It was fine until I turned on the night vision which is horrible and you can't see anything out of it. I am looking to take the camcorder to parks and on some rides. Does anyone have any suggestions for around 400$?

For that price there is no way you are going to get a great night vision. I have a Canon ZR45MC that goes for around that price, and I absolutely love it. The night vision isn't that great though, but I wasn't expecting it to be at that price.

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Jonathan Hawkins
Starcoasters.com
"There is a cluster of bees at the top of the lift. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Jonathan- Would you use it in one of your videos on your site or is it just bad.

Edit: I found it for the ZR 40MC for 410.00. It looks like that will probably what I am getting.
*** This post was edited by SFgadvMAN 2/22/2003 5:31:51 PM ***

I bought a Sony CCD-TRV66 Steady shot Cam for $399.00 and it is a great cam. 360X zoom and steady shot! Plus the little side window view finder is a must!

timmyk

SFgadvMAN: Search around more. I got my 45MC for $299.99. There is a web site that has great price comparisons where you can usually find really low prices on stuff, but I can't quite remember the URL. Drop me an email to remind me and I'll look it up for you.

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Jonathan Hawkins
Starcoasters.com
"There is a cluster of bees at the top of the lift. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Sony is the way to go.

www.americacoasters.com/images/camandclamp.jpg

Thats the cam I use for most of my POV's, its actually just the CCD and lense, the signal is piped into an Elura 2 MC, it doesnt have night vision, but it had a pretty lox lux rating which means it picks up even the smallest amounts of light. You should be able to find it and a small power supply for under $350. Nightvision cameras under $1,000 aren't going to work very well, most either come out extremely grainy or from to 10-15 FPS.

From my experiance Sony has the best nightvision around. They call it nightshot and it works pretty good and they claim for it to work at 0 lux.

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Mike
Favorite Wood: Viper at SFGAM,Shivering Timbers
Favorite Steel: Magnum and Raging Bull

Yea, if you watch Robb Alvey's videos, (he has a Sony cam) it looks very good.

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SFNE Central v4- Online Six Flags New England Resource
CBuzzer since September 2001 with a few bumps along the way. :)

Sony's secret to their 0-lux night shot mode is simple:

Sony's cameras are equipped with their IR-Link system, which is a high-power IR emitter intended to broadcast audio and video signals to a receiver or to a properly equpped Sony TV set, so that you don't have to hook the A/V cables to the TV to watch your DV tapes. In the NightShot mode, Sony turns on that emitter so that it's a bit like having an infra-red 'sun gun' on the front of the camera. It does have an odd beam pattern, though. For better performance in darkness, Sony also sells a camera-mounted IR light that attaches to the accessory shoe.

The IR light is also why dark ride operators yell at you when you shoot on board dark rides...your floodlight is blinding their security cameras!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

How do u guys get your camera on the rides? do u just hold it infront of u, wont u get kicked out if u r caught???

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Continued use may result in limb loss.

I bought a Sony DCR-TRV320 a couple of years back and I have had nothing but good things to say about it. (of course the original poster of this thread was looking for something around 400 dollars and my camera was way more than that at the time.) It has the nightshot and the Super Nightshot (which adds color to the nightshot images)and they work pretty good. Last summer, after I had spent the entire day at CP, I went over to battery park and did some filming of the park in the dark. It was interesting to say the least.

Rumor has it that if you use the Nightshot during the daytime and look at someone with loose fitting clothing on, you are "supposed" to be able to see through the clothing. I wouldn't know anything about that though. ;)

On a side note, why would you want to take your video camera on to the ride itself anyway? I ain't gonna lie, I did it one time and it was the scariest thing I ever did and I vowed that I will NEVER do it again. You can not predict when and how hard the g's will pull something out of your hand and I have to say after I realized the seriousness of what could have happened had I lost controllof my camera, I think that taking a camera on-ride has to be one of the dumbest things anyone could do. Leave the film making to the professionals, just enjoy the ride. :)

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This ain't no book you can close, when the big light hits your eyes. Cropduster-Riot Act-Pearl Jam
*** This post was edited by Joey Stewart 2/23/2003 6:52:46 PM ***