is mini dv the highest quality

[sony mavica]

wanted to know is the mini dv format (depending on camera used) was the highest quality you can get for sd video or is there something better as mini dv video looks really good

[Halcyon]

MiniDV was pretty much 'the' format for SD video. There was another format known as Digital8 (based on the Hi8 tapes), but MiniDV became far more popular. For commercial applications like newsgathering, DigiBeta, Betacam SX, DVCPRO and DVcam were popular.

I remember owning one of the first Sharp Viewcam cameras which used MiniDV. The RCA and S-Video sockets on the camera (normally used to connect the camera to a TV or VCR) actually supported input as well, but was locked down in software as there was the concern that people could make near perfect recordings from other media or televisions. To get around the software lock, Sharp actually had engineering remote controls with totally different buttons to the normal consumer remote. It allowed you access to engineering and test menus and you could toggle this 'Video in' option on and off.

You can get consumer cameras which will record directly onto DVD media in standard DVD format, but I've used a few and the image can be quite horrible, not because of the media/codec but because of the cheap lenses and image sensors. You're better off getting a decent camera that records to MiniDV.

If you're thinking about archiving analog video to MiniDV then I would probably suggest you don't bother. Tape doesn't last forever and the MiniDV format was especially prone to audio dropout/glitches or image break-up if tapes got damaged or degraded. From memory, the audio was the first to go, you just wouldn't get any sound. You're better off archiving to an MPEG file which can be stored on several different types of media. DV did have error correction data stored on tape but I think in the LP (long play) mode that was either reduced or not recorded at all (to fit more video data on the tape). Lots of people had issues with LP-recorded tapes.

[Ampera]

wanted to know is the mini dv format (depending on camera used) was the highest quality you can get for sd video or is there something better as mini dv video looks really good

It depends on your needs.

If your recording and you need a cheap camera for SD video, MiniDV cameras are not a bad option for a dirt cheap price, however at the same time of MiniDV, CF solutions were also widespread due to relative speed and the extremely higher reliability.

What it comes down to is that unlike analog formats like VHS/BETA/Super8, MiniDV will be as good as your camera is. If your camera doesn't record SD to DV format, it is using something similar like MPEG 2 (Or if it's a tad older MPEG 4.) But all of these formats really don't give much more than moderately better compression for each version.

If your looking for the "Best" digital codecs, something like H.265 or H.264 are modern options, but not supported by an SD camera, but for video storage they come out as the best on a computer platform.

If your just looking for what format is the best option for an older SD only camera, I would go out on a limb and say some sort of flash solution like CF or SD. These are not stuck to any set format unlike MiniDV, so different cameras can encode into whatever format they want to instead of the DV format. They would of course use as I said MPEG based or maybe (Taking a guess on this one) something like an XviD / DivX codec if it's new enough.

But then the question is why do you need the best SD storage/recording medium? I don't know what your special needs are, and if it's something that prevents a modern camera then that is fine by me, but if your in the mood of finding the best camera, 1080p60 cameras that record to things like SD cards exist that will give you near perfect video quality at a higher resolution. But I am kinda assuming you already know this and need something different.

[kolbep]

I do parttime videography,
For weddings, etc, I use at least 4 Consumer Grade Cameras (For Different Angles, and Redundancy, etc), and a Zoom Audio Recorder either hooked to the Sound System, or in a decent place to get decent sound.

I loved the quality of SD MiniDV. And used it a lot. Until one of my Cameras heads picked up a bit of dirt during a wedding ceremony. The camera happily continued to record with the dirty head, and as a result I could not use a single part of the footage from that Camera.
If it were not for my other cameras I was using, I would have had nothing to work with.

Since then I have gone to SD Card HD Cameras (Still Consumer grade though)
The SD Card is much easier to just dump the footage onto the PC and start editing. No Need to play the tape back while it is captured with firewire. It is instantly available.

[Someone]

MiniDV was pretty much 'the' format for SD video. There was another format known as Digital8 (based on the Hi8 tapes), but MiniDV became far more popular. For commercial applications like newsgathering, DigiBeta, Betacam SX, DVCPRO and DVcam were popular.

Popular for field use but there were other (and earlier) options when quality was paramount:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-1_(Sony)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-2_(video)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-3_(video)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D5_HD
The marketing departments were particularly creative with the names for these formats...

[Halcyon]

I do parttime videography

Then forget standard definition altogether and tape-based recording. Of course it's going to be highly budget-dependant.
These days, if you're getting paid to do some semi-professional work for someone you want your recording to be at bare minimum 720P (even if you plan on exporting out to DVD for the final piece). Full HD is the standard (1080p) although many professionals now shoot in 4K for their masters and exporting out to Blu-ray or H.264 files.

I do a bit of professional work for theatre productions in my spare time (recording promos and things like that). I started off using the Sony HXR-NX5P which did the job pretty well although it's now a discontinued model. It was fairly flexible for the price (I think I paid about $7000 for the entire kit with some extras). I bought the add-on 128GB external solid state recorder, but it also had 2x SD card slots for recording (when one became full it automatically switched to slot 2 and you could remove the first card on the fly). The Sony HXR-NX5R replaced my old camera.

That was about 5-6 years ago now. These days we use the Sony PXW-FS7 cameras (it does 3840x2160 @ 59.94P, very nice) and record straight out the SDI port to external recorders to an uncompressed format. The built-in recorder is only used as a backup in case something fails. I should point out, Sony professional cameras have excellent battery life. I think with the larger battery, I was getting something like 5-6 hours recording time out of a single charge.

If you have a few grand to spend, I strongly recommend you check out Sony's NXCAM and AVCHD camera range. They offer good bang-for-buck with a lot of advanced features (you won't get everything in one unit unless you pay big money).

If your budget is even less, the next step down would be one of the Canon or Nikon DSLR cameras which also shoot HD or 4K video. You can get very good results with them.

Your audio is just as important as your picture so don't neglect that. There is nothing worse than watching a stunning HD video with crap, echo-ey audio. As you probably already know, it can become an expensive hobby.