• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Camcorder for around $400

I

imported_nunya

Senior member
I've been wanting a camcorder for a long time now and have decided to go ahead and get one. The information HERE is very helpful but I didn't want to thread hijack so starting my own. I understand that 3 ccd is better so that's what I'm looking for. I'm really trying to keep cost for the camera down to around $400 but if there's something significant to be gained from spending a bit more I will, can't spend more than $500 though. Also, if spending less will not cost me much performance I might be interested in that as well. I've read alot of reviews but there's so many that it's easy to find one that recommends each camera over the others. I trust the AT community so thought I'd ask here and get some recommendations. Thanks in advance.
 
Any decent mini-dv 3 ccd camcorder will do. Panasonic or Canon makes great versions under $400.00.
 
Stretch a couple dollars and you can get a Panasonic GS180 $420. Oh, and if you read the reviews, take that "pro's" with a grain of salt. How "cleaning the head" would fix a misaligned head is beyond what a pro would know. Sounds more like dirty or bottom bin tapes.

BUT, if you can stretch to $500, the GS300 adds optical image stabilization and better chips in a similar package.

Oh, and "zoom" mics are really a gimmick that will not work as expected. Sony sells it to.

If you prefer newegg, they sell at the same price. B&H is even better than Newegg as an e-tailer (but they can be closed on religious holidays.)
 
Second vote to making sure you have OIS (if possible) in yur new camcorder. Digital Image Stabilization not only processes your video signal before it ever gets onto tape, but actually crops a bit of the picture to do it's work. Not to say the results aren't serviceable, but if you can stretch it, OIS is a worthwhile feature.

My old Canon Elura from 1999(?) is still going strong (and it cost $1500 back then!), and it has OIS. Most of the recent models from Canon don't (if I remember correctly), except for the higher end models. I think Panasonic makes several well priced camcorders with OIS as well.

MiniDV if you're serious about home recording, but I'd look at hard drive camcorders (recording in MPEG-2/4) if you're a casual filmer. Seems to be a bit more convenient, and the video transfer times to computer I've heard are shorter.

PM
 
Thanks alot for the advice, I think I definitely want to go with OIS. The GS300 is looking really good to me except the reviews all seem to agree on 'average' low light shooting, and it doesn't have a light like the Canon's and others do. I'm a camera newb, don't know what sort of light conditions translate to LUX, but I'm sure there will be occasion to shoot inside at night with just a couple of 40W lamps on, would someone mind giving me a basic idea of what I can expect from cameras in that sort of condition and what I'd want to look for? Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top