Whats a good video camera?

[Shawn Gossman]

I want to get a good video camera that is hard drive and in High-Def for recording my storm chasing activities and then putting them on youtube. I want something that isn't too expensive, like under $500.00 but is still pretty good for basic video.

Please help me out and give me ideas, stores and links to find them at. Right now I am using the video camera on my phone and its not very good (you can see that at http://www.youtube.com/user/StormChaseGroup) thats the best my blackberry video cam can do.

Thank you extremely much in advance!

 

[JeffGonzales]

A really good high def camcorder that i would recomend is the PANASONIC HDC-TM300. It has a small hard drive and has a flash memory system so u can put flash cards in which makes it very easy to put on a computer. It has 1/4 3cmos which gives a great color. This camcorder is FULL HD.

Another option is the PANASONIC HDC-HC300. The only difference is it is a hard drive only for video, so the hard drive is a bit bigger then the hdc-tm300, but you can only record still images to a flash card.

Overall it is a little over your price range. You can find this new on ebay for about $720. But i think it is well worth the investment.

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cam...-6500_7-33529327.html?autoplay=true&tag=mncol

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Okay Jeff, thank you for your suggestion, I will keep it in mind

 

[David Mikulec]

Best bet for under $200 - the Flip Ultra HD. 120 minutes of recording time on 8 gigs of built in memory. Full stereo AAC audio recording. Obviously not something you'd use if you were going to be selling videos but these were built with YouTube users in mind. This is a reasonable alternative to get you shooting in HD, quickly and cheaply while maybe saving for a pro rig in the future.

http://www.amazon.com/Flip-UltraHD-Camcorder-Minutes-Black/dp/B0023B14TK

 

[brandongreen]

Best bet for under $200 - the Flip Ultra HD. 120 minutes of recording time on 8 gigs of built in memory. Full stereo AAC audio recording. Obviously not something you'd use if you were going to be selling videos but these were built with YouTube users in mind. This is a reasonable alternative to get you shooting in HD, quickly and cheaply while maybe saving for a pro rig in the future.

http://www.amazon.com/Flip-UltraHD-Camcorder-Minutes-Black/dp/B0023B14TK

I suggest the Kodak zi8. I own one and it far surpasses the flip series. I even added a wide angle lens. Search on you tube for Kodak zi8 and see for yourself.

 

[Chris Sokol]

Don't rule out a good used camera. Shop carefully, but I see cameras like the Sony DCR-VX1000, Canon XL1, and Canon GL1 on the market in the $500-$700 range quite often.

Good example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Handycam-DCR-VX1000_W0QQitemZ130365521877QQihZ003QQcategoryZ11724QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7755489305216305390

Older technology? Sure...but good equipment none the less.

 

[Chris C Sanner]

For what you are asking for, it's tough to find anything which produces truly excellent images, but you'll get solid HD Quality images still. You get what you pay for in this case. Jeff's recommendations are really good earlier in this thread if you want to bend your budget a bit.

To meet your budget and your requirements, you might check the JVC GZ-HD300 out. It's $430 new...but it really won't be up to the quality of many other consumer cams, but you'll have to spend a couple hundred more to really get good Hard Drive quality.

If you want to move away from moving parts, there are a ton of good flash memory (SD Card) options as well which would be in your same general budget area. These are the Canon HF-R100 (releasing in April), Pansonic HDC-TM10K, Panasonic HDC-SD10, Panasonic HDC-SD60, and the Sony HDR-CX110.

Happy hunting! It's never easy choosing a video camera

 

[Tony Laubach]

Chris mentioned the Sony CX110 ($499 on B&H Photo) in his post and I'll second that along with the older CX100 to which I have as a backup. The nightshot isn't the best and it certainly lacks in features and overall quality, but for less than $350, its worth checking into. They've discontinued the CX100 in most areas to make room for the new line (CX150, $550 on B&H Photo), however you can still get a few new on Ebay for about $300-$350.

The CX100 is a flash memory camcorder with a built in 8GB that will shoot about an hour of the highest quality HD and about 3 hours of the lower quality HD. However, you can get a 16GB Memory stick and add just under 2 more hours of highest HD and 5 hours and change of the lower quality HD.

Again, this isn't the best camera in the world, but will get you HD for a budget. One thing to keep in mind with some of these, including this, is that they shoot in AVCHD, a format not recognized by a lot of older video editing software. I think others on the board can refer you to cheaper software packages that will work with AVCHD, but I use Premiere CS4 with this. That's something to keep in mind with some of these newer hard drive camcorder models.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

What do you all think about this camera?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-DCR-SR68-L/13396305#Financing+Offers

I am not looking to sell anything. I chase storms as a hobby which is why I only do it locally within southern IL or surrounding close areas. I just want to film stuff I chase and then add it on my site and youtube, thats pretty much it at the moment.

 

[Tony Laubach]

What do you all think about this camera?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-DCR-SR68-L/13396305#Financing+Offers

I am not looking to sell anything. I chase storms as a hobby which is why I only do it locally within southern IL or surrounding close areas. I just want to film stuff I chase and then add it on my site and youtube, thats pretty much it at the moment.

Hey Shawn, I know you mentioned you wanted something HD. I think this is a standard def video camera. At least nothing I see on it indicates it to be hi-def.

Again, I would check into the CX100 as its about the same price as this camera if you look around, and its HD.

 

[Chris C Sanner]

Ditto with what Tony said. Just make sure you have editing software and the computer hardware for AVCHD as well like Tony mentioned. You seriously need decent hardware to edit AVCHD (which is what most all consumer HD cams shoot in). You might think about a tape model if computer hardware is a concern. The worst case scenario would be to pick up an SD Cam, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world but I understand the allure of going HD. But at a small budget you really have to be careful with what you pick.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Hey Shawn, I know you mentioned you wanted something HD. I think this is a standard def video camera. At least nothing I see on it indicates it to be hi-def.

Again, I would check into the CX100 as its about the same price as this camera if you look around, and its HD.

Okay, thank you and I will probably go with that. HD doesn't really matter to me as I am an ole'country boy who could care less about these things but I only want it mainly for the viewers because its such a demand these days!

Also, looking into this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/JVC+-+E...lack/9731941.p?id=1218162692502&skuId=9731941

 

[Derek Weston]

at just under 500 I've found some refurbished hv30s at times. Pretty good quality with those.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Instead of creating another thread, I'm going off this one from Shawn. I'm thinking long and hard about getting the Canon VIXIA HV40 camcorder. It's on sale right now at B&H for 649. Regularly 949, so an instant savings of 300 bucks. I have a fairly cheap Panasonic that takes decent video, but I'm looking for something more. I definitely don't want to pay over 6-700 bucks.

EDIT: I'm pulling the trigger on this HV40 deal. B&H photo, here I come!!!

 

[brandongreen]

Jason, you will love it. be sure to to visit hv20.com. and get a raynox 6600 wide angle lens.