Rank order of importance for a video cam.....audio vs zoom vs USB charging....or can I get all three without breaking the bank?

[sacountry]

Am I asking too much to find a video camera that's USB chargeable, has a microphone jack, and has a powerful optical zoom for around $200? Seems like all the brand name models I've found are 4-5 years old which tells me that there isn't a lot of innovation going in to this category courtesy of the smart phone. But I've watched Marcus' video from 2017 and to his point as well as Gerald's, you can't undervalue a quality zoom or external microphone (obviously the weak points of smart phones and Go PRos). I'm adding USB chargeable because I'd like to charge the camera over night in my solar battery bank while in the high country.

My three top contenders are (understanding none check all my boxes)

1) Panasonic HC-V180 (50x optical zoom up to 90x digitally. USB chargable. No microphone jack) Under $200
2) Sony HDR CX455 (32x optical zoom up to 60x digitally. USB chargeable. Microphone jack) around $400
3) Canon VIXIZ HF R800 (32 optical zoom up to 60x digitally. Micro phone jack. AC only charge) under $200

I do see a bunch of knock off Chinese crapola on Amazon for less than $150, but the zoom is the first feature to get reduced for the price. If someone knows of a dream camera that satisfies my three desired criteria and not cost me an arm and a leg, I'm definitely listening.

 

[RG_Adult_Onset_Hunter]

Zoom is where you are losing your budget in my opinion. Most cameras these days use optics for most of the zoom capacity and then up the number by using digital zooming. Unfortunatly the digital zooming looks like garbage unless you have VERY high resolution. Like good binos, the power of the lenses only tells half the story, the quality of the glass and the coatings on the glass are going to be way more important to the overall quality of the camera than just the zoom level.

What type of footage are you trying to get with it? If it's long shots on animals do you really need the mic? Honestly if you are trying to produce a high quality video, why not get a body mic and edit in the sound later?

If i had to pic from this list, the canon would fall off of it because of the lack of usb charge. I've had sony and panasonic cameras, the Sony's tend to be a better camera, but don't survive well in the wild, while the Panasonics tend to live until obsolescence.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

 

[vanish]

$200 budget is too low.

 

[sacountry]

Thanks. that was the video I watched which got me thinking a lot more about external microphones. Unfortunately the models Marcus talks about for the run n gun are obsolete, but the concepts are still ring true.

 

[sacountry]

Zoom is where you are losing your budget in my opinion. Most cameras these days use optics for most of the zoom capacity and then up the number by using digital zooming. Unfortunatly the digital zooming looks like garbage unless you have VERY high resolution. Like good binos, the power of the lenses only tells half the story, the quality of the glass and the coatings on the glass are going to be way more important to the overall quality of the camera than just the zoom level.

What type of footage are you trying to get with it? If it's long shots on animals do you really need the mic? Honestly if you are trying to produce a high quality video, why not get a body mic and edit in the sound later?

If i had to pic from this list, the canon would fall off of it because of the lack of usb charge. I've had sony and panasonic cameras, the Sony's tend to be a better camera, but don't survive well in the wild, while the Panasonics tend to live until obsolescence.

Super good info. Thanks RG. I have an old go Pro 3 which I'll use for short range stuff. I'm thinking I'll want the zoom on handcam for capturing animals off in the distance with more clarity than a Phone scope on my spotter. Seems like if trying to capture the totality of a hunt, including a shot on an animal at 200 yards then the zoom is pretty key. I agree with you about dropping the Canon off the list. Can't believe there's a camcorder on the market that isn't USB chargeable. Seems like an obvious feature.

Also, really...REALLY...appreciate your feedback on brands. From looking at specs, the Panasonics appear to have a greater temperature operating range than the Sonys which speaks somewhat to your point. I'm going to take another look at the Panasonic lineup since I was feeling pretty comfortable with the Sony, albeit looking to move up to a mid-level cam vs entry level.

 

[WyoDoug]

If you want good quality videos, you want high resolution and you should be prepared to pay more. Sure you can get cheap stuff but you will also get cheap return. Just like any optics, while you need not pay high end prices, you pretty much get what you pay for. For outdoor work, especially hunting, you want waterproof or water resistant and lenses that do not fog easy.

 

[sacountry]

$200 budget is too low.

It certainly is feeling that way. There's a balance to this though. I won't use this camera for anything else other than hunting really. So for that reason, I can't see dropping a ton of coin on it. BUT, I really like the Sony CX675 for checking all the boxes. I need to see what Panasonic has at that same tier. Then I'm probably looking to buy something used to bring that mid-level feature set down to an entry level price.

 

[WyoDoug]

Save your money and get something made for outdoor work. If you do that, you will likely also buy something that will last your lifetime and not have to replace in a few years.

 

[WyoDoug]

I should add is you want something that can zoom AND focus in easy and fast. I can not count the number of pictures I took on my cell phone that by time it focused, I lost my opportunity. Same thing applies to video cameras.

 

[RG_Adult_Onset_Hunter]

I should add is you want something that can zoom AND focus in easy and fast. I can not count the number of pictures I took on my cell phone that by time it focused, I lost my opportunity. Same thing applies to video cameras.

Manual focus is a feature I won't give up. Auto focus is nice for portraits, but often fails when taking a picture of something dark (try to get a camera to focus on a black bear, it can't get the contrast to resolve the picture).

I agree with the folks who say that the budget might be a bit light for the scope here. But there might be a workaround. If you already have a camera that can swap lenses (like a canon rebel or something like it), then the money could be dumped into a decent telephoto. This would give you better long range image capture than most camercorders in the same price range. Just a thought.

 

[WyoDoug]

Manual focus is a feature I won't give up. Auto focus is nice for portraits, but often fails when taking a picture of something dark (try to get a camera to focus on a black bear, it can't get the contrast to resolve the picture).

I agree with the folks who say that the budget might be a bit light for the scope here. But there might be a workaround. If you already have a camera that can swap lenses (like a canon rebel or something like it), then the money could be dumped into a decent telephoto. This would give you better long range image capture than most camercorders in the same price range. Just a thought.

You got that right on point. I hate auto-focus. It is good for everyday documentary and action photography but not for what we do with wildlife photography where sharpness is key.

 

[WyoDoug]

Start with a camera body that you can rely on for years to come and add lens as your budget situation allows. I spent $500 on a Cannon EOS Rebel T6 DLSR camera and have been buying several lens since. It has auto focus but I have that turned off. Recommend you consider that route.

 

[Gerald Martin]

You can often stretch your dollar further buying a couple years old and used from EBay.

 

[WyoDoug]

You can often stretch your dollar further buying a couple years old and used from EBay.

I agree with you here with one caveat. I refuse to buy from EBay. You don't know what you are getting or when or if. I was burned twice paying for things and not ever getting it. I now go to pawn shops before I go to EBay. Pawn shops will let you play and test them in the store and you get a pretty good price. Lens though, I am reluctant to buy used. Not saying I won't if I see something really good.

 

[sacountry]

So I picked up an old Panasonic HC-V750 on ebay for $230. Decent zoom, image stabilization, a cold shoe for an external microphone, better low light performance than Sony and USB chargeable. It's 6 years old, but it'll cut the mustard this year and if I find that I'm really getting into it, I can upgrade without feeling like I'm throwing away a lot of money.

Now the question will be.....will it fire up when I plug it in. Always a little fear of that when buying used stuff on eBay. I have my fingers crossed.

 

[sacountry]

For what it's worth, this video was kind of useful for a newbie videographers like myself.

There's a lot of garbage out there and this video separates the garbage from the good low end and mid range consumer camcorders.

 

[LaSportsman]

Look to photography and video forums for classifieds where you may pay more than ebay but get better quality used gear. B&H and Adorama sell used gear as well. $200 is low for any quality.

 

[Cornell2012]

My three top contenders are (understanding none check all my boxes)

1) Panasonic HC-V180 (50x optical zoom up to 90x digitally. USB chargable. No microphone jack) Under $200
2) Sony HDR CX455 (32x optical zoom up to 60x digitally. USB chargeable. Microphone jack) around $400
3) Canon VIXIZ HF R800 (32 optical zoom up to 60x digitally. Micro phone jack. AC only charge) under $200

IMO, I really dislike USB charging because I find it to be slow and unreliable depending on the charger. I'd rather carry a spare battery or two. My preference would be to have a microphone jack. With that, if I was making this choice with the budget you specified, I personally would choose the Canon. My priorities are probably different than yours though.

What is your use case for this? The answer to that will help you figure out how you personally rank the features.
For example:

• Do you have a way to record audio already? If so, maybe the microphone jack isn't as important. Poor audio and not having in focus/stable video are the main things that prevent "okay" video from being "good" video. (If recording audio isn't a problem, I'd probably pick the Panasonic given your constraints.)
• How important is the zoom? Are you going to be lugging around a tripod? (Note that a better comparison might be 35mm equivalent focal length. In this measure, the max zoom for Panasonic is 1740mm, Sony has 800mm, and Canon has 1230mm - larger numbers get you more "zoomed in." The 50x/32x measure are numbers that compare the max focal length to the minimum focal length.) Panasonic seems to win this battle, then Canon, then Sony. As previously noted, a lot of detail can get lost at extreme zoom and there might be a massive difference between all three cameras in terms of image quality at 800mm focal length. There might be a website somewhere that has image samples for all three at various points in their zoom range. Digital zoom is usually not worth dealing with.
• How important is battery life / USB charging? All three cameras have the option for larger battery packs. I don't see any direct comparisons which makes this kind of hard. The Panasonic is rated for 1 hr of recording time, but there are reports online that real-life use is more than double that. You can also get a battery pack that is 2x the size. The Sony claims typical recording time of 75 min with included battery, up to 325 minutes with the largest battery (Link), and even longer at best-case scenario. Info is a bit more scarce on the Canon (the product page doesn't even specify the mAh rating of the battery), but they do sell one that is twice(?) the size of the base model...

 

[sacountry]

IMO, I really dislike USB charging because I find it to be slow and unreliable depending on the charger. I'd rather carry a spare battery or two. My preference would be to have a microphone jack. With that, if I was making this choice with the budget you specified, I personally would choose the Canon. My priorities are probably different than yours though.

What is your use case for this? The answer to that will help you figure out how you personally rank the features.
For example:

• Do you have a way to record audio already? If so, maybe the microphone jack isn't as important. Poor audio and not having in focus/stable video are the main things that prevent "okay" video from being "good" video. (If recording audio isn't a problem, I'd probably pick the Panasonic given your constraints.)
• How important is the zoom? Are you going to be lugging around a tripod? (Note that a better comparison might be 35mm equivalent focal length. In this measure, the max zoom for Panasonic is 1740mm, Sony has 800mm, and Canon has 1230mm - larger numbers get you more "zoomed in." The 50x/32x measure are numbers that compare the max focal length to the minimum focal length.) Panasonic seems to win this battle, then Canon, then Sony. As previously noted, a lot of detail can get lost at extreme zoom and there might be a massive difference between all three cameras in terms of image quality at 800mm focal length. There might be a website somewhere that has image samples for all three at various points in their zoom range. Digital zoom is usually not worth dealing with.
• How important is battery life / USB charging? All three cameras have the option for larger battery packs. I don't see any direct comparisons which makes this kind of hard. The Panasonic is rated for 1 hr of recording time, but there are reports online that real-life use is more than double that. You can also get a battery pack that is 2x the size. The Sony claims typical recording time of 75 min with included battery, up to 325 minutes with the largest battery (Link), and even longer at best-case scenario. Info is a bit more scarce on the Canon (the product page doesn't even specify the mAh rating of the battery), but they do sell one that is twice(?) the size of the base model...

Very thoughtful questions. 1) I'd like to be have USB chargeable because I have a solar panel charging unit. Hoping this will mean spending less on batteries for any camera I buy since I'm still not sure if recording will be a regular a thing for me when hunting
2) I don't have any way to record voice and Im not sure my buddies are all the fired up to get mic'd up. Who knows this may change but my editing skills are zero so having audio and video on the same recording simplifies things.
3) Zoom seems like the main reason to buy a Camcorder, if not, then a go pro would suffice. I will have a tripod with me on these hunts since I'll have my spotting scope. Figure I'll use the camcorder and spotter interchangeably on the tripod.

The learning curve on this goat hunt is truly steep. Hope I'm able to share some cool footage.