Best ultra compact miniDV video Camera?

[Yorch]

Hi, I'm in the process of buying a miniDV camera, I want something really compact, I hate to carry around a big camera bag on trips. I'm undecided between a canon elura 50 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000095Z87/qid=1081427824/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/002-4388753-7562444?v=glance&s=electronics) or the JVC GR-DVP7U (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000669B8/002-4388753-7562444?v=glance), I'm inclining for the JVC, for the size, it looks really small. (also matches my tiny Canon S400) Is there any other good choices around?

I want something very small, economical, and that has good quality, I don't really need something that has all the bells and whistles (although they are welcomed), I want just something to record movies, and edit them in my pc.

[Gary Sheynkman]

The Canon Elura is a great model and I would personally lean towards that. But that is just personal bias...if this was between sony and canon it would be MUCH harder :wink:

[Yorch]

which compact sony would you recommend?

[backpackerx]

Is the sony trv-22 too big for you? It's about the size of your palm, you need to hold one to measure it. It's basically the trv-33 but with a bigger CCD sensor but it's cheaper.

I almost went for the elura 50 but it has poor low light recordings compared to other brands. Actually, almost all the Canon's have worse low light than the other brands but that's the only negative you can say about them.

[backpackerx]

From what I've read, JVC just doesn't have the image quality of Canon and Sony. For their DV line anyways. That's not to say that they make a bad camera though. They made a name for themselves in VHS and S-VHS.

check www.camcorderinfo.com for some thorough image reviews.

[Gary Sheynkman]

JVC makes great looking camcorders but Canon and Sony tend to be the current leaders in the market although the 3ccd offerings from panasonic seem very enticing indeed.

Sony tends to have a "cool blue" hue while Canon has a "warmer" tone. To each his own though. Sony has a great nightshot feature (just ask Paris Hilton) but in the end it comes down to going to a store and picking the model that you "feel" is best.

[igroknful]

I have the Canon Elura 40 and it's great. I went on a short trip last week and I had the Elura 40 and the S400 in a medium size bag along with my standard junk. It wasn't heavy and I had all of my toys with me. It was sweet.

[Suhit Gupta]

My boss just bought the DCR-PC330 MiniDV Handycam (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=XOJCW3iUEXZCBjjolo9IUDebw5m9pMsOx4Y=?ProductSKU=DCRPC330&Dept=dcc&CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_MiniDVHandycamCamcorders) and when I saw it, I was in love. It is teeny tiny :) and takes 3MP still image captures in addition to all it's zillions of features. From what I have read, people are quite happy with the battery life too.

Suhit