Looking for suggestions for $300-450 camcorder to film my son.

shadow9d9

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2004
8,132
2
0
I have a 6 year old and would like to buy a new camcorder. My old one used Hi-8, which was a huge pain to transfer to the pc/dvd. I'd love to have a light camcorder that has an easy way to make dvds out of. I do not need to edit it.

There aren't too many websites with reviews. There is Amazon, which has outdated camcorders right up with the new ones, making it hard to figure out which is really better. A 2012 model might have gotten great reviews for the tech at the time, but how does it compete with newer models? Digital Trends seems to be the only site with some recent reviews.

I plan to bring the camcorder to Disney as well as use it on the beach/at the pool, school performances, etc.
 

Loser Gamer

Member
May 5, 2014
145
7
46
go to BH PHOTO

Plenty of reviews. Its a huge store in new york city with good prices and a great website.
 

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
5
76
I have a 6 year old and would like to buy a new camcorder. My old one used Hi-8, which was a huge pain to transfer to the pc/dvd. I'd love to have a light camcorder that has an easy way to make dvds out of. I do not need to edit it.

There aren't too many websites with reviews. There is Amazon, which has outdated camcorders right up with the new ones, making it hard to figure out which is really better. A 2012 model might have gotten great reviews for the tech at the time, but how does it compete with newer models? Digital Trends seems to be the only site with some recent reviews.

I plan to bring the camcorder to Disney as well as use it on the beach/at the pool, school performances, etc.

Panasonic's GH series cameras double as camcorders pretty well, especially with their motorized lenses which zoom in/out more smoothly than what you could do by hand. RX100M2 also makes for a decent recorder and has a built-in motorized lens. It also doubles as the best pocket camera on the market. It doesn't come with filters natively, but you can attach one to the lens barrel, either the official one or the CarrySpeed Mag Filter one (threads only, get your own filters elsewhere).
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
Is there a reason you need a "camcorder", or could a digital camera with HD video recording capabilities suffice?

I've never had a camcorder, but my guess is that you'd want one for the battery life, bigger sensor, shooting length, form, and additional video review/editing features.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
49,295
5,841
136
Two questions:

1. What features are you looking for? Zoom, HD, etc.?

2. What would be your max recording time?

I ask about max recording time because a lot of modern digital point & shoot (P&S) cameras max out at 30 minutes or so, rather than hours like a camcorder. But they're also pocket-sized, less expensive, and still give great video quality. Like, REALLY great quality. For example, check out the Canon PowerShot ELPH 340 HS: ($179)

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerSho.../dp/B00HLDFNKQ

It has a 16-megapixel camera, a 1080p camcorder, and a 12x optical zoom (that you can use while recording). Note that the P&S zooms aren't super-fast like a traditional camcorder, it's more of "it has the ability to zoom while recording" if that makes sense. CNET has some camcorder reviews if you'd prefer a more traditional model:

http://www.cnet.com/topics/camcorders/
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
49,295
5,841
136
He's 6.
Find a cheap camcorder that records to SD and give it to him.
Done.

I think he wants to film his son (i.e. shoot family videos), not have his son have his own camera.