what kind of Video camera to buy?

[sweetpee_1993]

JVC Everio.

Don't buy Sony based on the name. The lenses are very nice, but you can get them in other cams for lots cheaper. The rest of Sonys stuff, besides the lens, are mediocre at best.

The Everio is what I plan to buy before my next trip. It's small, lightweight, and meets my minimum of 5 megapixels for still shots. I'm not expecting offloading my video for the day onto my laptop each night to be too much hassle. I like that the stills are saved to the SD cards which I have several of. I think for the $$ this is the way to go for me.

For the person not sure what to buy, I went to Best Buy and spent a long time with the salesperson looking at all the formats, features, prices, etc. and found what I felt fit us best. The main thing I took into consideration is the way we travel and what works for us. Heavy equipment will get left behind. Large, pain-in-the-tookus equipment will stay in the camera bag, and good quality still shots was a must. Who wants to carry around 2 cameras???

Anywhoo, good luck!

 

[Matpez]

I love that even at its highest quality I can still tape for about 14 hours. It has great stabilization (as I believe most Sonys do), and it's even good in low light. It has but one flaw - though the picture is amazingly beautiful, when you move the camera too fast the picture "slows down" so it looks like you're moving in slow motion. I read the directions, and it says that's normal.

This is again related to the method the camera is using for compression.
The Canon XL H1 costs $9000 and shoots in HDV, meaning that if you make movements with it to quickly, the picture will become blocky and look like it loses frames.

I will agree with one thing, I currently use Panasonic pro cameras, and without a doubt, Sony has better low light performance.
I can't confirm that will be the case on cameras lower than $1000, but it is the case with cameras between $3000 to $9000.

Also remember, the more you zoom in, the more steady your hand must be...
you are also amplifying your shakes.

 

[wdwmomof3]

I have been looking and I think that I have found one but I still have a few questions. When I go in to compare them I do not see anything about LUX. Someone said that I need one with the lowest LUX possible. Also, what do you mean by mechanical zoom? Can you tell that I am not good at this?

The one that I am looking at is a Sony, DCR-HC38. Does anyone own this camera?

 

[CThaddeus]

I have been looking and I think that I have found one but I still have a few questions. When I go in to compare them I do not see anything about LUX. Someone said that I need one with the lowest LUX possible. Also, what do you mean by mechanical zoom? Can you tell that I am not good at this?

The one that I am looking at is a Sony, DCR-HC38. Does anyone own this camera?

I just took a look at it on the Sony website, and it seems to be a pretty good camera (maybe I should have just bought that one and saved myself $700!). It has Sony's great stabilization, as well as Nightshot Plus, which makes it possible to see things in total darkness up to usually about 10 feet away. Also, Best Buy's website says: "NightShot Plus infrared system allows you to capture natural-looking video, when shooting in low light," which probably means if you use it, it doesn't make everything the usual Nightshot green color. There may still be more green than normal in it, but Sony has come out with a Nightshot that can keep certain colors looking good, even in really low light. If you can test it in a darkened area, though, I'd highly recommend it. Also, Best Buy is showing it to be on sale right now, though that may just be online.
In addition, I see it has a 40X optical zoom, which should be good enough for just about anything, but also has a 2000X digital zoom. You might be able to use some of that digital zoom, but as someone else already noted, the more digital zoom you use, the uglier and blockier the picture becomes. I try never to use the digital zoom personally, but if you really want to zoom in on something VERY far away, it might help a bit.
I should note that LUX is a low light rating. The lower the Lux number (ie. below 1), the more it will pick up in dark situations.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Glad to hear you decided to skip the direct to DVD camcorder. I'm convinced they are just intended for the complete technophobes like your grandmas.

Considering your budget constraints... You are not in the ballpark for a good HD camcorder so don't get sucked into buying a bad one. You may also want to cross off hard drive camcorder from your list also. Their big downfall is that they compress the video quite a bit inorder to get 15 or 20 hours onto a hard drive. For uncompressed clean video that you can edit in the future if you so decide to, go with a miniDV. I would suggest JVCs I've had good luck with them and mine does quite well in low light.

What you do want to consider looking for in any camcorder you buy is an input for a mic. If you intend on capturing anything where you care about the sound a mic that is detached from the camcorder even if it is hanging on a cord around your neck will give you much better sound than the mic that is inside the camcorder. Nothing screams home made movie worse than a parade that sounds like it was recorded in a tin can, no matter how perfectly you've shot the actual parade.

 

[wdwmomof3]

I just took a look at it on the Sony website, and it seems to be a pretty good camera (maybe I should have just bought that one and saved myself $700!). It has Sony's great stabilization, as well as Nightshot Plus, which makes it possible to see things in total darkness up to usually about 10 feet away. Also, Best Buy's website says: "NightShot Plus infrared system allows you to capture natural-looking video, when shooting in low light," which probably means if you use it, it doesn't make everything the usual Nightshot green color. There may still be more green than normal in it, but Sony has come out with a Nightshot that can keep certain colors looking good, even in really low light. If you can test it in a darkened area, though, I'd highly recommend it. Also, Best Buy is showing it to be on sale right now, though that may just be online.
In addition, I see it has a 40X optical zoom, which should be good enough for just about anything, but also has a 2000X digital zoom. You might be able to use some of that digital zoom, but as someone else already noted, the more digital zoom you use, the uglier and blockier the picture becomes. I try never to use the digital zoom personally, but if you really want to zoom in on something VERY far away, it might help a bit.
I should note that LUX is a low light rating. The lower the Lux number (ie. below 1), the more it will pick up in dark situations.

Thank you for looking at it. I think that it will be good enough for me. I really don't use the one that I have now very much. The only reason that I want a new one is because of the size. The one that I have works great but it is pretty big compared to the ones now. I thought it was small when I got it. :lol: Anyway, I just want to be able to capture some Disney magic when we go. I think this one will be fine.

Thanks again to everyone for your help!!

 

[PhilharMagician]

Good choice. Have fun using it.:wave:

 

[wdwmomof3]

Bump to help the person with a question about cameras.

 

[haveyoumetmark]

I'm looking to get a camera too! I don't plan on hijacking your thread though...

As far as I know the future is in SD cameras that record HD video. The one I am eyeing is a Panasonic and it goes for around $1000.

 

[wdwmomof3]

look back and read what they told me. It really helped a lot. I wasn't spending that much money though. I did this once and after a couple of years there were so many better ones out there that I swore I would never do that again. Keep in mind though that I don't use it everyday. I use it for birthdays & vacations so I didn't need anything major.

Good luck with your shopping and use this thread how ever you need to so you can get some help. The people here are great.

 

[dolbyman]

As far as I know the future is in SD cameras that record HD video. The one I am eyeing is a Panasonic and it goes for around $1000.

the future maybe .. but not the near future .. the media (the cards) is just not large enough and so the cameras keep the bitrate too low. the best thing to buy is still tape, cheapest media and best picture quality :wave:

 

[Deadmanwalking]

I'm looking to get a camera too! I don't plan on hijacking your thread though...

As far as I know the future is in SD cameras that record HD video. The one I am eyeing is a Panasonic and it goes for around $1000.

Before you do that ask yourself how you will feel in 6 months time when the same camera or a better camera is put on the market that cost 1/3 as much. I've been a first mover before with techie items... and for me I got tired of feeling used and abused by the over whelming price drop that always followed.

I would also caution you about getting a camera that also serves as your camcorder.... I have cameras that also do video as well as camcorders that take pictures and the one thing I have found is that no the most expensive camera taking video will be out performed in video by a cheap camcorder. If you are going to spend $1000 why not consider putting some of the money on a camera and some on a camcorder. You might have to lug around one extra item but aside from the better quality of video and pictures you wouldn't risk losing both options if the do-all-camera-camcorder died on you.