I'm looking to buy a camcorder with which I can put the footage onto dvds rather than videos. However, do I need dv in and dv out to do this? Or just a usb link. Or will any camcorder that has mini dv be able to do it? Bit confused, greatful for any advice, thanks for reading!
If your only objective is to make DVDs of home video, then DV out will suffice.
If you wish to edit, then store your video by transferring it back onto miniDV tape, then you need DV in on your camcorder as well.
DV in and DV out are usually the same port. A control on your camera will allow you to select whether the camcorder is outputting DV, or expecting it to come in. It may even be automatic.
Do not use USB unless there is no alternative.
Make sure your computer meets the specs required for video capture (e.g. >1 GHz processor and 20G or so of free space on your hard disk).