Small camcorder question

Quite, I suffered the same problem with ours. Our problem is that it won’t let us finalise a disc. It’s a Samsung if that is any help. We are thinking that possibly we are using incompatible discs. Does any one know what they mean by single and double layer discs as opposed to single sided?

DVD camcorders are still a relatively new medium and prone to certain pitfalls, as is the black art of dvd writing generally (although it’s much more reliable than it was five years ago).

Personally I prefer to use good old fashioned tape in my machines, if anything I’d be tempted by the new ‘solid state’ camcorders with a built in hard drive.

I’ve charged and discharged the battery about 4 times now, but I’ll continue to try it out. I should probably get another battery to be on the safe side though.

I’d recommend at least one spare battery for any camcorder owner. I get mine cheap as chips from www.cheap-camcorder-batteries.co.uk

You can usually find higher capacity ‘no brand name’, replacements for your ‘branded’ battery, and often made in the same factory as the more expensive versions that say Sony, Panasonic, Canon etc on them.

Thanks for the info about layers, it all makes some kind of sense now.

the problem you have with your battery is that the manual is based on the test that they do with the camera left on and recording. what your not told that the more you use the zoom and stop start the more power you use so hence your battery won`t last as long. so there is nothing wrong with you camera or battery. Also don`t use the digital zoom as that will just eat your power up. Hope this is of some help to you.

Does any one know what they mean by single and double layer discs as opposed to single sided?

Single sided – just one side of the disc holds data

Double sided – both sides hold data (like the original StarShip Troopers disc that needed flipping over during the movie – which meant coming out from behind the sofa! – terrifying if you happened to see a spider enroute)

Double/Dual layer – the data side holds two layers giving greater capacity – quite new for recordable discs and you need the correct equipment to write to these layers.

Nowadays most commercial films are on single sided dual layer (as they won’t fit on single sided single layer) – if you notice when watching a film there will be a pause at some stage as the DVD player focuses on the other layer

AS regards your problems finalising the discs – I have used various brands of recordable discs on a variety of equipment and have had lots of compatibility problems – some discs work well with one piece of equipment but not others – discs that work fine on my computer fail to work on my home DVD recorder. More expensive branded discs (Sony are one of my favourites) tend to get better results for me so I would be tempted to try a different brand and see if this cures your problems naturally you need to make sure they are of the correct format (DVD-R etc) and type (probably single layer).

Hope this helps.

I’m no battery expert but have found that new batteries need using a few times before they reach their maximum capacity. I have just bought a new camcorder and the first time the battery was charged it did not last long – mind you I was using the screen a lot which does use more power. Now I have charged and discharged the battery a few times it lasts quite a bit longer. So I would try this and see if the battery life improves.

Quite, I suffered the same problem with ours. Our problem is that it won’t let us finalise a disc. It’s a Samsung if that is any help. We are thinking that possibly we are using incompatible discs. Does any one know what they mean by single and double layer discs as opposed to single sided?

I’ve charged and discharged the battery about 4 times now, but I’ll continue to try it out. I should probably get another battery to be on the safe side though.

I’m no battery expert but have found that new batteries need using a few times before they reach their maximum capacity. I have just bought a new camcorder and the first time the battery was charged it did not last long – mind you I was using the screen a lot which does use more power. Now I have charged and discharged the battery a few times it lasts quite a bit longer. So I would try this and see if the battery life improves.