$600 or Under - Need a HD Camcorder

[assassin24]

Need a new camcorder as we have just had our first baby and would like to get some footage while he's a newborn.

What do you recommend? There are so many models that I have a hard time keeping them all straight.

Please Please Please let me know. I appreciate it.

 

[Davegod75]

I'm seriously considering the Canon HF200. I am in the exact same situation (Due Dec 5), so congrats

 

[jpeyton]

HF200

 

[Kaido]

* HF200
* UV Lens (lens protector, APPLY TO CAMERA AS SOON AS YOU OPEN THE BOX)
* eBay battery kits ($20 for a battery + A/C charger + car adapter)
* 8gb (or more) Class 6 SDHC memory cards
* Soft padded case for carrying everything
* At minimum, a cheap plastic tripod so you don't get shaky handheld shots

 

[assassin24]

What are your thoughts about the Sony HDR-CX100?

 

[theblackbox]

canon hf200

 

[assassin24]

How difficult is it to down-convert the HD quality video on the HF200 to regular DVD quality if I wanted to burn some footage for the grandparents onto DVD?

Please let me know as this is really important in my decision.

 

[assassin24]

After hours and hours of debating this decision I went with the Canon HF200. Got it at Adorama with 11% cash back thru bing.

Can't wait. Now where is the best place to get SDHC cards?

 

[Koing]

Hmmmmm...I'm intrigued...I'm off to a shop to check it out now...

Is it worth the extra £120-150 over the Panasonic HDC SD10? Granted it's in a difference class and it's bigger but the images will not be as good...but I'm only uploading to youtube with viewing on a 50" 1080p plasma screen...

Koing

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Koing
Hmmmmm...I'm intrigued...I'm off to a shop to check it out now...

Is it worth the extra £120-150 over the Panasonic HDC SD10? Granted it's in a difference class and it's bigger but the images will not be as good...but I'm only uploading to youtube with viewing on a 50" 1080p plasma screen...

Koing

Depends. imo even the "low" end Canons (that's an understatement in terms of modern technology, the HF200 blows the pants off so many other cameras on the market) are better to go with than other brands. I've had a Sony and JVC before, and played with a ton of others, and Canons give the best all-around picture quality, features, film effects, and so on. I'm definitely a Canon fanboy, but for a good reason: the footage looks ama-za-zing

Also keep in mind the price difference: if you spend (I don't know your money equivalent, so bear with me) £450 for a Panasonic and £600 for an HF200, and you later want to upgrade to the HF200, then that's not an £150 difference, that's an £600 difference and whatever beans you can get from selling a used camera (there's not much market for used camcorders, unfortunately). My advice is always "save up and get what you really want"...then you never have to think about it again, because you'll be happy with your purchase. It's like buying cheap tools, if you know what I mean

 

[akshatp]

I guess its HF200 FTW? lol

 

[assassin24]

Yep. Got it today. Editing some footage as we speak!

Very nice camcorder. I can't believe how small it is.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: assassin24
Yep. Got it today. Editing some footage as we speak!

Very nice camcorder. I can't believe how small it is.

Was trying to decide between HF200 and HFS100. Can you send me a link to some footage if you dont mind? I am ready to click the checkout button at amazon for the HF200 but just want to see some actual usage first.

 

[assassin24]

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: assassin24
Yep. Got it today. Editing some footage as we speak!

Very nice camcorder. I can't believe how small it is.

Was trying to decide between HF200 and HFS100. Can you send me a link to some footage if you dont mind? I am ready to click the checkout button at amazon for the HF200 but just want to see some actual usage first.

I'm still playing with the settings so I don't have it completely optimized just yet.

If you google HF200 AVCHD you can download footage and practice with it.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: assassin24
Yep. Got it today. Editing some footage as we speak!

Very nice camcorder. I can't believe how small it is.

Was trying to decide between HF200 and HFS100. Can you send me a link to some footage if you dont mind? I am ready to click the checkout button at amazon for the HF200 but just want to see some actual usage first.

What do you want to do with it? The HF200 has a 3mp sensor, whereas the HFS100 has an 8mp sensor. If you're doing amateur filmmaking, the HFS100 will be better, but it also costs a lot more, and the HF200 is pretty dang incredible for being under $600.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: assassin24
Yep. Got it today. Editing some footage as we speak!

Very nice camcorder. I can't believe how small it is.

Was trying to decide between HF200 and HFS100. Can you send me a link to some footage if you dont mind? I am ready to click the checkout button at amazon for the HF200 but just want to see some actual usage first.

What do you want to do with it? The HF200 has a 3mp sensor, whereas the HFS100 has an 8mp sensor. If you're doing amateur filmmaking, the HFS100 will be better, but it also costs a lot more, and the HF200 is pretty dang incredible for being under $600.

The 3mp sensor is for stills right? I've got an SLR for stills, so that doesnt really matter to me if thats what it is for.

I dont plan on film making either. Just want something to take on vacation, etc.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: assassin24
Yep. Got it today. Editing some footage as we speak!

Very nice camcorder. I can't believe how small it is.

Was trying to decide between HF200 and HFS100. Can you send me a link to some footage if you dont mind? I am ready to click the checkout button at amazon for the HF200 but just want to see some actual usage first.

What do you want to do with it? The HF200 has a 3mp sensor, whereas the HFS100 has an 8mp sensor. If you're doing amateur filmmaking, the HFS100 will be better, but it also costs a lot more, and the HF200 is pretty dang incredible for being under $600.

The 3mp sensor is for stills right? I've got an SLR for stills, so that doesnt really matter to me if thats what it is for.

I dont plan on film making either. Just want something to take on vacation, etc.

It's the total pixels that it deals with. So the HF200 has a 1/4" CMOS sensor for ~3.89 megapixels, whereas the HFS-100 has a 1/2.6" CMOS sensor for ~8.59 megapixels. The end result is that the HFS-100 looks noticeably better. However, unless you've got a filmmaker's eye or are looking for differences, it's hard to see because the HF200 is so awesome. You could film like Discovery HD with it, haha.

I'd definitely go with the HF200 if it's your vacation cam. Get a Gorillapod to go with it to make stable shots and a couple 8 or 16gb cards and you'll be all set

 

[assassin24]

Kaido - What settings do you recommend for the HF200? I've been playing around with them today and wondered what you recommend.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Koing
Hmmmmm...I'm intrigued...I'm off to a shop to check it out now...

Is it worth the extra £120-150 over the Panasonic HDC SD10? Granted it's in a difference class and it's bigger but the images will not be as good...but I'm only uploading to youtube with viewing on a 50" 1080p plasma screen...

Koing

Depends. imo even the "low" end Canons (that's an understatement in terms of modern technology, the HF200 blows the pants off so many other cameras on the market) are better to go with than other brands. I've had a Sony and JVC before, and played with a ton of others, and Canons give the best all-around picture quality, features, film effects, and so on. I'm definitely a Canon fanboy, but for a good reason: the footage looks ama-za-zing

Also keep in mind the price difference: if you spend (I don't know your money equivalent, so bear with me) £450 for a Panasonic and £600 for an HF200, and you later want to upgrade to the HF200, then that's not an £150 difference, that's an £600 difference and whatever beans you can get from selling a used camera (there's not much market for used camcorders, unfortunately). My advice is always "save up and get what you really want"...then you never have to think about it again, because you'll be happy with your purchase. It's like buying cheap tools, if you know what I mean

I got the Panasonic HDC SD10. It's smaller and I'll iterally only point and shoot and upload to youtube on it , sucks that it doesn't have a remote though. But I only paid £330 for it.

Koing

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Koing
I got the Panasonic HDC SD10. It's smaller and I'll iterally only point and shoot and upload to youtube on it , sucks that it doesn't have a remote though. But I only paid £330 for it.

Koing

Yeah, it all depends on your ultimate purpose for the cam. Congrats on your new toy! :thumbsup:

 

[akshatp]

UPS shows my HF200 is waiting for me at home... Oh man now I cant wait to get home, i hope that battery has some charge in it!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: akshatp
UPS shows my HF200 is waiting for me at home... Oh man now I cant wait to get home, i hope that battery has some charge in it!

Whoo welcome to the club :thumbsup:

 

[assassin24]

Congrats!

FWIW I have found that Powerdirector is by far the best software that I have used thus far. It is very easy to use.

The thing that makes it stand out imo is that you can author AVCHD movies that you can play back in a compatible AVCHD blu-ray player on standard DVD discs in full 1080p HD quality. You can also author the same project to MPEG 4 for standard DVD, AVI, etc etc.

Highly recommended to pair with your new camcorder.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: assassin24
Congrats!

FWIW I have found that Powerdirector is by far the best software that I have used thus far. It is very easy to use.

The thing that makes it stand out imo is that you can author AVCHD movies that you can play back in a compatible AVCHD blu-ray player on standard DVD discs in full 1080p HD quality. You can also author the same project to MPEG 4 for standard DVD, AVI, etc etc.

Highly recommended to pair with your new camcorder.

Nice! Are you using the Deluxe or Ultra version?

For you Mac users, Flamingo ($40) has a similar feature set:

http://www.shedworx.com/flamingohd

 

[assassin24]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Nice! Are you using the Deluxe or Ultra version?

I'm using the Ultra version.

Only caveat is that you get more reliable results if you render your project and then burn it to DVD.

Probably like that with most programs though.

Results look absolutely fantastic.