Need a decent Camcorder.

[gamefreakgcb]

Well I was asked if I could find a camcorder for a friend who is going out of country for a while, and even after I told him that my knowledge in this department is none, he begged me to keep a lookout for any good deal whether eBay or not. So I come here now to ask the question that has been put before me for 2 weeks, budget is about $180, doesn't have to be a tricked out camera with capability for stills, etc. but needs to have a decent light and battery. Stills, computer connections via USB and digital media slots are a plus. Also which brand is the commonly used brand? Canon? JVC? Sony? Thanks in advance

 

[gsellis]

More like ... none. The cheapest DV camcorder I know of is $250 new. You might be able to get a VHS-C or Hi-8 for just above $200, but that is about half the quality. Maybe try in FSFT here at AT.

 

[gamefreakgcb]

it does not have to be DV, can be regular tape (8mm?) too. I saw some on eBay for about $190 miniDV camcorders but not sure if they are any good. Which brand should I be leaning towards?

 

[gsellis]

MiniDV is DV and superior to Hi8 or 8, which are better than VHS-C. At that range, they are all about the same, but you can compare them at camcorderinfo. Note that shooting indoors, low light is key. Since most folks tend to shoot a lot of stuff indoors over needing a big zoom, consider that feature.

 

[skooma]

I got this aiptek with a 2gb sd card for my son for ~190. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit your criteria real well as it doesn't do well in low light. And the lack of optical zoom makes it more of a toy than a camera but it is a pretty great little unit

Anyway, there are some decent deals on digital cameras that do well in movie mode. I know dell had some good deals on the canons recently. That might be the way to go in that price range.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

I agree on the digital camera for video usage but wouldn't look at Canon's since they don't have MPEG4 encoding and videos take up a ton of space (7 minutes=1GB). Take a look at the Casio z750 which you can get for the low-mid $200's. It takes great video inside and outdoors. You can use optical zoom before you start taking video, and digital zoom when video is being shot. No optical when recording though but the camera is tiny, has great battery life, and great qualiy 640x480 videos that have small file size (45 minutes per GB in highest quality mode). It's a great camera too.

 

[gsellis]

I actually recommend *against* getting a MP4 or HDD camera. Because storage is a file, you increase the chance of losing footage. Tape gives you at least 5-10 years of reliable backup on something that cannot be recreated and is difficult to save otherwise (DV compressed is 13GB/hr - DV tapes are the cheapest, bigger offline storage at about $3.50 for 13GB.) Since MP4 loses info when it compresses, it is not as reliable for reediting later. But, newer editors are less likely to degrade it. There still is the issue with saving what you copied (DV tape is the storage media - with MP4, you need to make sure you make a backup on disc or such.)

That said (and not inline with the topic - iow cheap), the Sanyo HD1 looks fun.