Where would be the best places online to buy a camcorder for someone in India? Does it even make sense to do so? Are MiniDV tapes commonly available?

If I bought a PAL camcorder from a UK or European e-tailer would the voltage be correct for India?

Tapes are freely available. All camcorders come with adaptors that are good for 110-220 volts so that should not be an issue. As a matter of fact I think even NTSC should not be a problem for most people since almost all medium to high end televisions sold here are multi system. A simple test would be if their television works with American DVDs which is what most DVD libraries keep here, then NTSC should not be an issue.

Many Yrs ago, I just plugged in my North American (NTSC) camcorder into UK host's TV, just to check what kind of audio it picked up that day. We all were pleasantly surprised when the video appeared as well.

But that was many many Years ago. These days, VHS/ PAL/ 8mm etc all camcorders are obsolete. Digital is the way to go.

VHS, 8MM, Digital8, DV, MiniDV refer to formats whereas PAL is a TV color system. VHS, 8MM, Digital8, DV, MiniDV can all be either in NTSC or PAL. Thus unfortunately even with the advent of Digital we still have the problem of PAL vs NTSC.

Most high end TV's in India are multi system so you will not run into any issues.

Almost all Indians in the US take the cheap Cyber Link DVD players to India, and gift them to family, and those DVD players work just fine on the Indian TVs.

So the digital camcorder shouldn't have any issues unless the TV is old in which case it wouldn't have RCA inputs from past experience.

I though ALL PAL sets are compatible with NTSC? I can view PAL content on my NTSC set, although the image appears smooshed & tall, similar to playing an anamorphic dvd set to 16:9 on a 4:3 set. I played NTSC dvds on pretty low end PAL sets.

anyway, I never had those problems. as someone already mentioned, if you buy any goods that are american 110volts, make sure the recepient gets a proper voltage conveter!! I went to purchase one in India for my mp3 player and digi cam, and there were these kids at the shop enquiring about their XBOX that their relatives brough from the states. In short, the xbox was fried because they didn't have a converter.

I personally don't trust Indian electronic shops in USA, nor do I trust the postal/couriar system in India, thus I would deliver the cam myself if I were you

Thanks for the information, guys I bought this camcorder.

cool. are you getting it shipped directly from BHP? let me know how the transaction works out for you.

off topic-did you happen to catch the new Honda Civic video advert? Purple Haze galangalangalang caught it during the playoffs

I'm getting it shipped to my home and then giving it to a relative via a friend who's going to India.



Yeah, that's been around for a while now. I first saw it in a movie theater quite sometime ago. Waiting for MIA's next album...

haha. I am soo not up with the times.