I ordered my Canon SX200, arriving next week!! I'm super excited!
After a couple months of research, I finally decided on the SX200 out of these three 720p pocketcam options:
1.
VadoHD 3G: wide-angle + mic input
2.
Canon SD780: pocket-sized
3.
Canon SX200: 12x optical zoom + macro mode
My primary goal was to find something that would make a great go-anywhere pocketcam, something to easily shoot video & quickly import it. I have a Canon HV20 (MiniDV tape-based) for larger projects, but it's not very convenient for quick clips and small stuff that doesn't require a bigger workflow. So basically I wanted a small, high-quality video camera to take with me everywhere that recorded digitally. However, my Canon A75 pocket camera broke a couple years ago, so I've been without a pocket camera for awhile, so good stills was also a contributing factor.
The first option I looked at was the new VadoHD 3G. At $179, it's the least expensive option of all three cameras. The two big features it has are a wide-angle lens and a microphone input jack. The wide-angle lens fits more into the picture than the competing Flip MinoHD and Kodak Zi8 pocketcams. And although the Zi8 has a mic input jack and a higher 1080p resolution with basic image stabilization, I liked the picture quality from the VadoHD better. Having a mic input jack is a really nice feature because you can vastly improve your movie quality simply by slapping on a good microphone for better audio.
However, as I started looking at all the options, I realized that the video quality from some of the pocket cameras on the market (the ones that do stills primarily) was actually pretty good - and some were even better than the dedicated pocket video cameras like the Vado! The mic input jack was a big deal to me, until I found some software called "PluralEyes", which automatically syncs video with a separate audio track in Final Cut Pro (also available for Sony Vegas Pro for Windows). I have use a Zoom H2 mini digital microphone extensively (which also features mic input, if you want to use a lav or a shotgun or whatever), which goes perfect with small pocket cams, so having an auto-sync plugin would negate the need for having a mic input jack since I could do it easily in post:
http://www.singularsoftware.com/pluraleyes.html
The next camera I looked at was the Canon SD780. My buddy let me play with his for the afternoon and the image quality was fabulous! Better than the Vado's, in fact, and at $199 it was only $20 more, plus it did great still photography! The big feature I liked about the SD780 was that it was pocket-sized, about the size of an iPhone, so it could really go with you anywhere! However, I also realized that I usually have some sort of a bag (backpack or workbag or whatever) with me (with enough room for a camera and a small Gorillapod tripod), and my car was usually nearby and I always keep my stabilization kit in the trunk, so having it be pocket-sized wasn't a huge deal. I don't like to shoot handheld video at all, especially in HD, because it picks up the small shakes of your hands and looks amateur-ish, and your shots just look so much more professional with a tripod or a glidetrack or whatever you have handy to stabilize the footage.
The last camera I looked at was the Canon SX200. At $299, it was significantly more expensive, but also had a much better feature set for doing still photography. The two main features I liked about it was the 12x optical zoom lens (as opposed to the 3x on the SD780) and a pretty nice macro mode. The video quality is also a bit better than the SD780, although that wasn't a big deal since it's just a pocketcam. The things I did like for video mode was that you could do manual focus (for some basic depth-of-field stuff) and you could lock the exposure (auto-exposure is another thing that gives away amateur footage). Here's a great review of the video features on the SX200:
http://www.osnews.com/story/22106/Review_The_Video_Mode_on_the_Canon_SX200_IS/
Both Canon cameras can record 30 minute clips in h.264 format, which makes quick editing on both a Mac & PC easy. The VadoHD has 4 gigs of built-in memory and can hold about an hour of footage in the best-quality mode. The SX200 takes SDHC cards up to 32 gigs (be sure to get a fast Class 6 for video!) and uses a proprietary NB-5L battery. I don't like proprietary batteries; I prefer standard AA's or AAA's, but the NB-5L does reduce the size & weight of the camera, plus the knockoff batteries are cheap. I got a spare battery with a combo wall/car charger for $16 shipped from Amazon, plus they have generic-brand 2-packs of the batteries for about $12, so I'll have 4 batteries total, a spare wall charger, and a car adapter, which should get me through the day just fine
Ultimately the SX200 was a bit more than I wanted to spend on a pocket camcorder, but since I was also getting a fabulous pocket camera with manual controls, a big optical zoom, and a nice macro mode out of it, I decided it was worth it. The size is also bigger than I'd like (I *really* liked the compactness of the SD780), but I've already got a small camera carrying case from my old A75, and I usually have a larger bag near me plus my car nearby, so having room for the camera, a small tripod, and some accessories wasn't a huge burden. If you don't need a big zoom (which, by the way, you can't use in video mode on the SX200 without hacking it with the CHDK software), macro mode, or basic manual focusing abilities, then I'd highly recommend the SD780 as an alternative to a pocketcam like the Flip, Vado, and Kodak. The quality is better, plus you get a real pocket-sized camera that also does stills.
Canon SX200 Video Samples:
http://vimeo.com/4541103
http://vimeo.com/4692255
http://vimeo.com/4692106
http://vimeo.com/4709159
Mine shows up next week, so I'll post a review and some sample videos after playing with it for a few days. Boy am I excited :awe:
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