Isn't that only true with Vista as it doesn't support USB streaming. I copied stuff off my mate's tape camcorder the other day over USB, not sure if it was MiniDV tape or something else tho.

I'm not really sure about Hard Discs and vibration either. 
Memory cards seem to be the way forward if they can do the write speed (slower write speeds resulting in lower quality).
I use a DVD camcorder at them moment, its pretty easy to get the footage on the PC.

No no no no.

There is a massive difference between shutter speed and frame rate.

Frame rate is how many individual frames your camera takes per second. This is fixed on all but the most expensive pro cameras. European cameras shoot 25 frames per second and American ones shoot 30.

Shutter speed is how long the shutter is open for. As video cameras do not have a physical shutter, this is simply how long the sensor is turned "on" for. This normally ranges from 1/3rd of a second to 1/10,000th of a second.

Therefore with a European camera, you need to set the shutter speed above 1/25th, in order to ensure the shutter is not open longer than a single frame. The standard shutter speed is normally 1/50th, with higher values being used in particularly bright conditions or where slow motion will be used in post production and the subject needs to be sharper.

Do not worry about shutter speed values when buying a camera, it is not an attribute that is going to be realisticaly any different accross models.


To the best of my knowledge you can only steam DV footage from a MiniDV camera via a Firewire. You can take nasty low-res stuff from the memory card slot present on some MiniDV cameras via USB, but thats it.

iv been looking at this http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/419748/index.html

any comments?