Video Camcorders

[IHateMyJob2004]

My wife told me she wants a camcorder for her birthday (November).

I have no idea what is out there now. What should I look for?

I have no idea what one costs these days. My only real thought is that I want to send $500 or so on it.

What sort of media is used these days to record?

I could care less to buy something with 1080 support.

Anyways, I have no clue. Help me.

 

[andylawcc]

At work we have a Sony one with HDD as the storage. personally I think it's much better than using Cassette/Tape/Mini-DV. I don't have the model number/name right now, but I can update you next monday.

in the mean time, my friend has a Panasonic one also with HDD and has 1080 support; it's tiny, it's speedy, but I haven't used it extensively to give it a recommendation.

 

[troytime]

i prefer the ones with flash media over hard drive and especially over the ones with cassette/tape/mini-dv/dvdrw

i have a canon hf100 and really really like it. its high def, and a little over your budget - but its a great camera

 

[jpeyton]

If you're interested in an HF100, PM me.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

thanks for hte comments. So, the obvious thing is that the tape based media is out. And that HDD or flash is much better. No shock to be honest.
I'll read about the HF100 and see what it's like.

Any brands to avoid?

andylawcc,
If you got me the model number that would be great.

jpeyton,
I have to decide on a camera. I probably won't deide for a few weeks atleast.

I also have to look at updating my computers hard drive. It might be time to replace the original one that came with it and add external backup.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

DUMB question:

How much video can be stored with 8 gig of flash? Is that about 4 hours at 1080?

I think I'd rather do 720p at most for recording even though time is not the issue. So, dumb question #2. Can all 1080 camcorder record at 720p resolution? Mostly because I would rather conserve space on my hard drive once DLed to my PC.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
DUMB question:

How much video can be stored with 8 gig of flash? Is that about 4 hours at 1080?

I think I'd rather do 720p at most for recording even though time is not the issue. So, dumb question #2. Can all 1080 camcorder record at 720p resolution? Mostly because I would rather conserve space on my hard drive once DLed to my PC.

it'd probably depend on the camcorder and the codec used.


for your wife i'd suggest getting the about the smallest one you can find and with SD memory. a traditionally shaped one, not one of the pistol grip type.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I htink I am getting a Canon. Probably hte HF100 if the price is acceptable to my wife (probably not). I think HD is just out of my price range. I'll wait for tech to evolve and buy HD when HD is cheaper.

 

[jpeyton]

The HF100 is HD.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
How much video can be stored with 8 gig of flash? Is that about 4 hours at 1080?

depends how much the camcorder compresses it. The Sony one I had at work doesn't compress much at all (so it has the highest compatibility as all of the outdated PC at my work can play it with unpatched Win Media Player 9.0). It is about (off the top of my head), 100 meg per minute recorded. By comparison, my Point and Shoot Canon SD600 and Fuji f50fd has a similar, but slightly better "meg / min."
Now, the Panasonic "pistol grip" looking one has some compression, but I never upload the video file myself. All i know is the video file will not play on my work's computer, unless i install codecs or use VLC player.

so to answer your question, no, 4 hours of 1080 will most likely NOT fit in 8gig of flash.

 

[jpeyton]

HF100 stores ~2.2 hours at maximum quality 1920x1080p on a 16GB card.

Drop the quality level down one notch and the recording time goes up significantly.

 

[Blurry]

pmed.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Well, my wife wants to go shopping tonight. Any more advice? $500 budget in my mind while my wife say $300. Everything I see for $300 seems like junk. Maybe $400 is soemthign she and I can agree on.

 

[jpeyton]

Sold my like new HF100 for $475.

You can get a good HD cam for $500 if you look around.