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Camcorder shopping

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JohnSWA

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I've been researching camcorders until I'm blurry eyed and blue in the face! I've looked at HD, DVD, HDD... you name it! All I want is a good quality camcorder that will produce good video, record for a decent amount of time and doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

Does anyone have any recommendations?
 
All I want is a good quality camcorder that will produce good video said:
Man you don't ask for much. :D If you want good video it will cost a little though. Really though, it is hard for others to tell you what to get because there are so many variables involved. My biggest criteria was HD, no tape drive, good low light performance, super compact to pack on hunts, and take good stills. What I ended up with was this
http://us.sanyo.com/entertainment/cameracorder/index.cfm?productID=1512
Biggest problems is you need a powerhouse PC to do anything with the video, and the format is so new the only thing you can edit with is Sony Vegas movie studio software.
Click to expand...
 
How much is "an arm and a leg?"

What do you intend to do with it?

We have three of them. They are all Sony's, but as a general rule the well known names are all good. Canon, Sony, JVC are the three biggest sellers.

They are all fickle in fowl weather, so filiming hunts with them requires some pampering. I am hoping the blizzard conditions of the buffalo hunt today doesn't fry my camera.

The sensor will most likely be a CMOS or CCD sensor. One sensor it obviously the minimum. Three sensors is really good, but usually in the "arm and a leg" price range.

HD is great, but you will use it very little. Most cameras come with that.

Here are the things that help me the most, and I am in no sort, a pro. Just mess around with them a lot while hunting.

1) Optical Zoom. Should be somewhere between 12X an 20X. Completely ignore the digital zoom.

2) Lux rating tells how good the camera operates as low light. Lower the lux rating, the better.

3) Auto settings. You want as many pre-set automatic functions as you can get. Auto focus, auto iris, auto backlight, auto spotlight, auto infinity focus, etc. If you are filming things that happen quickly, such as hunting, you won't have much time to mess with a lot of the manual settings.

4) Get a good tripod. Your video will increase ten fold by using a good tripod. They cost money and are a pain in the a$$ to carry around, but they make all the difference in the world.

Ignore the digital picture taking capacity. The sensors in a video camera are not any where the sharpness of a 8.0+mp digital camera. Use the digital camera for still pics and don't pay anything extra for this feature on a video camera, though most good ones come with some level of digital picture taking features.

Plan to get more interested than you thought. Filming will mess up some of your hunts.

Wish I knew more about this stuff.

Happy Hunting!
 
Great Ideals, Schmaltz and BF!

Basically, I want a good camcorder for filming family events/vacations. I would love to video hunts, but I'm pretty much a solo hunter and don't have the time and discipline for keeping a camera focused on myself. Honestly, I'm looking mostly in the $300 to $400 range.

Thanks again for the ideas and keep the advice coming!
 
SWA:

You will be amazed at what quality you can get in that price range. Sony has come out with some new stuff in that range. Canon and JVC also have stuff in that range.

All cameras in that price range will be very similar. Some with have more of something and less of another. Find what is most important to you and go with that. Don't get too stuck on brand name.

Have fun.
 
I got the Sony Handycam DCR-DVD108 for my trip to Africa, and it worked very well. It uses the little DVD-RW discs, but they only hold about 30 minutes of video. That may usually be plenty, but with all the wildlife seen in Africa, it did not seem like enough.
 
I've pretty much decided that I will be buying a camera in Mini-DV format. The HDD cameras will take up a ton of memory on your computer (most of the cameras hold 30 to 50 Gigs of video!). Most guys who do much videoing at all have to invest in external harddrives. Second, the format in which HDD cameras are recording are not software friendly, so expect to drop another chunk of change to buy a program that you can edit your video with. I also like the idea of having a hard copy (the mini-dv tapes) of my raw video. In the event of computer meltdown, you don't lose all of your data.

To me, the drawbacks of Mini-DV are two-fold. First, the transfer rate from the tapes to your computer is in real time (if you have 2 hours of video, it will take 2 hours to transfer). The second drawback is the need to carry the Mini-DV tapes with you (although they are tiny and weigh next to nothing).

But overall I think you get higher quality video at this point when comparing Mini-DV to HDD for the same amount of money.
 
smalls, the idea is to burn them to DVD after you download the video on the PC and edit it so hard drive space is not an issue
 
Get a SONY. I have one of the old ones that the back light works like x ray vision. They sent me a recall some years back but I never sent it to them. I've had many over the years and the SONYs were just the best. I sill have my BETA and VHS Cameras some where. BETA is Toshiba and VHS is RCA but they weigh as much as this 19 inch monitor I'm in front of.

I don't like HDD, I want tapes for a master. You can find some factory refurbs with full warrenties for a really good price.
 
We got a JVC Mini DV (can't remember the model number) and have been leased with it. It has gone on everything from being packed around the mountain to 4wheeler rides through the jungles of Cozumel. The silver coloring has been rubbed off in quite a few places, but it has never given up a problem. One thing you need to look at though is there the motor drive is in relation to the microphone. If it is too close then the mic will pick up some motor noise...not a big deal unless you are taping a hunt and you hear the constant whirrrrrr over the image.

Mini DV tapes are not too $$$$, and this unit plugs directly to the computer via firewire (most will have this now - or some version of it). Big Fin hit on the big factors, now it just comes to personal preference.
 
Yeah, I've been looking for a new one too, Our VHS-C died just before Christmas. I was at Circuit City yesterday and they had some of the display models on clearance with a full warranty and Firedog set-up for around 300.00 I have to take the wife back so that she can see which one she wants for vacation.
 
The Cannon ZR series are hard to beat. DANG hard. I've owned a Cannon Zr 40, Zr 80, ZR 200, Zr 600... I beat the Crap out of them. Sometimes When I'm filming in the rain I'll take them in to get fixed. But at the Price (Sub $300) they work great. The Cannon ZR800 has a 35x Optical Zoom 1000Digital zoom (Means nothing to me, I never use Digital).

They are very small and easy to pack around. All in all a great camcorder I think. Another good thing is the batterie sthey use are the same as the Cannon Reble I have. So they interchange. Just one more bonus !!!
 
Thanks, guys! I think the lil woman is set on Cali's Sony DCR-DVD108. We just checked one out and it looks like a really nice unit.

Thanks again for the suggestions.
 
If our local incompetent Vann's store gets it in today, we will be buying the Panasonic PV-GS320. It's a mini-dv camera with 3CCD capture and not too expensive.
 
Cali, does the camcorder come with a battery charger? I'm going to buy another back-up battery and just want to make sure that I don't have to buy another charger. Also, is there any other options that you think I should buy to complement this camcorder? One other thing... I've heard that they only will record on one side of the dvd. I've seen 60 minute dvds for sale that record on both sides (30 minutes per side). Do you know if the camcorder is compatible with two sided dvds (flipping the dvd and recording on the other side)?

Thanks!
 
JohnSWA said:
Cali, does the camcorder come with a battery charger? I'm going to buy another back-up battery and just want to make sure that I don't have to buy another charger. Also, is there any other options that you think I should buy to complement this camcorder? One other thing... I've heard that they only will record on one side of the dvd. I've seen 60 minute dvds for sale that record on both sides (30 minutes per side). Do you know if the camcorder is compatible with two sided dvds (flipping the dvd and recording on the other side)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Nevermind...

You gotta love the internet!!! I just downloaded the users manual and it answers all of my questions!

Well, all except for finding out why my wife likes Cali's unit! (Oscar, you crack me up!):p
 
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