Truely Digital Camcorders

Now that part of my new life will involve shooting a lot more video, videocameras are demanding a larger share of my attention. In case any of you hadn't figured it out by now, linear storage models are going the way of the videogame cartridge. Cast your gaze across the electronic landscape and what do you see? Answering machines: If anyone hasn't offloaded this task to a hosted service, then the box on their desk is using RAM. Music and videos: CD/DVD, iTMS, and BitTorrent are all digital delivery methods, and that's leaving out all the nex-gen malarkey.

Why then are Kevin Smith and George Lucas the only guys who actually care about putting an end to all this film? I know the argument for the superior quality of film, but all those advantages are on ticking clocks, and the sooner people move on is the quicker the digital world evolves.

Eric is on his way to getting his hands on the beautiful Sony DCR-SR100, which will record 7 hours of DVD-quality video onto it's 30GB drive! That should have people throwing their MiniDV cameras out the window, "Seven hours and I don't have to stop for anything but batteries? Ring me up Selley-I'll take seven!" If that weren't enough, the thing will shot 3 megapixel stills and it's got USB 2, so the cats at Make are bound to find a way to extend the camera's storage without a computer.

The other piece to this puzzle is whether now is the right time to start shooting in HD. While Sony is trying to maintain some sort of market lead with things like the HDR-HC3, that sort of price point is is slamming its head against the ceiling. Plus it goes against our first rule: It runs on tape. If you can do without 1080i, and honestly I think I can, then the Sanyo HD1 is the business. It fits in the palm of your hand (perfect for concert bootlegging), has a 2 inch OLED display to preserve your precious battery life, and records 40 minutes of 720p on 2GB of SD!

The early adopter in me is jumping on his bed like a nutter, and even though I know that in another product cycle I'll get 1080i recording straight to a 30GB drive, I so desperately want to piss away my first paycheck on one of these.