Buying digital camcorder - advice?

[notnothin]

I am strongly considering buying a digital camcorder for our upcoming vacation in May. I have been reading reviews and opinions of various models. I thought I'd check here for suggestions. My price limit is about $500-$650. I'm not looking for anything ridiculous. Is it possible to get somewhat decent low light performance in this range, or would I need to go up a little bit for the benefit of 3 CCDs?

Any advice is welcome.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I was wondering the same thing. I was hoping not to spend that much though. We borrowed my brothers canon for our last trip and it did really poorly in low light situations. Our old Sonny Handy Cam (from about 5 years ago) does really well in the light. However I want one smaller and that I can make DVD's from. I also want it to be steady. Our old one has seen better days.

 

[donaldduck1967]

I'm also in the market and most reviews i've read all say the same thing about 1ccd camcorders, theyr'e not to good in low light. But it's hard to find a 3ccd camcorder with a googd zoom. Alot of them are 10x-12x where alot of 1ccd's are 20x+. Panasonic just came out with a 30x 1ccd. So which do you want good low light or good zoom? I may go with the panasonic gs35.

 

[notnothin]

The GS35 looks pretty nice for the price and features. I'm also looking at the GS65 and GS150 (both 3 CCD). I was also considering the Sony DCR-HC42, but it doesn't seem to function well in low-light at all. I'm torn!

 

[monorail_driver]

Go with Canon!

I've used JVC but the best image quality for the best price is Canon! I had a JVC camcorder, but something went wrong, because it wouldn't record audio very clear and was terrible and playing back tapes. I sent it in, and the support for the camera was terrible (I called once and they didn't know where it was!) When I finally got an estimate, it would cost almost as much as a new camera, so I went with canon. It handles great! I started with a ZR65 and now have an elura 90. For the price range, I'd go with the new ZRs. Go to canondv.com for info. They've lowered the prices and the cameras are even more compact then when I bought the ZR65. I've heard that Sony has had problems with their digital camcorders and the quality isn't that great. Canon has agreat lenses and I used by ZR65 while viewing fireworks from the contemporary and I could see the monorails, firweworks, and tomorrowland great (of course, that's my opinion). I work with camcorders all the time, as I do film projects, and I wouldn't trust any other camcorder other than Canon. Good luck in your search for a camcorder and enjoy your Disney vacation!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hey there, we got a new one a few weeks ago. It is a panasonic PV-Gs16. I got it from cost co for $300 (normally 350) I can't seem to find it on the web, but can find others close to it, I think they packaged this one just for cost co.


Anyway we got it because my sister in law has one like it but an older model and is very happy with it.

So far we really are too, light weight, small takes good pictures, does much better in the dark then my brother canon. It even has a light, but I find the pictures look a little strange with it.

Anyway we are really pleased.

This is close to it, but mine has 24 times opital zoom.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...002-6494250-3854441?v=glance&s=photo&n=502394

Can't wait to use it at WDW in 11 days!

 

[dreamteacher]

What is a ccd?

 

[dolbyman]

What is a ccd?

a charged coupled device :lol:

it's the light reacting chip that converts light into electric signals ... to capture your videos

 

[dreamteacher]

ok so then you are saying the more I have the better.

a charged coupled device :lol:

it's the light reacting chip that converts light into electric signals ... to capture your videos

 

[dolbyman]

all prosumer camcorders have 3ccd's

but depending on the money you want to spend a upper class 1 ccd can be better than a low cost 3 ccd ..

the plain best sites to get infos are

www.dvspot.com
www.camcorderinfo.com

those sites have detailed reviews of almost all camcordes and give out advice if they are a good buy