Mini DVD camcorders are popular because they can record high-quality MPEG-2 footage directly to a mini DVD-R or DVD-RW. The Panasonic Video Camera VDR-D50 is one of the best camcorders on the market that supports the mini DVD format.
The Panasonic Video Camera VDR-D50 is ideal for home and vacation moviemakers who aren’t interested in all the high tech, whiz-bang features but want a good quality camcorder that has mini DVD storage and a range of basic features.
The main reason mini DVD camcorders are so popular is because immediately after making recordings, discs can be played in a DVD player, eliminating the need to transfer to a computer for editing and burning to DVD.
Using mini DVDs, the Panasonic Video Camera VDR-D50 facilitates easy searching and random access to video segments rather than the linear, forward or reward restrictions on tape media.
The Panasonic Video Camera VDR-D50 also has selectable image-quality levels, including high quality variable bit rate recording and the option to take still images which are also stored on disc (as opposed to a tape and memory card combination).
The drawbacks of the Panasonic Video Camera VDR-D50 include the fact that mini DVDs have a shorter recording time in high quality mode than tape video cameras and the good quality discs are relatively expensive compared to mini DV tapes.