Suggestions on HD camcorder

stubby

Seems like there is mucho info out there, but was wondering if any one here had any first-hand experience with one of the many entry level HD camcorders.

I have looked at the offerings from Canon and Panny, they seem to get the best reviews. Taking a little trip to Germany this summer and wanted to document the wildlife.

Thanks for any words of wisdom.........about camcorders.

stubby

ben62670

I like the SD card types. This way you can just pull the card out and read it. Make sure you don't need to use proprietary software to read the video files. Tigerdirect has a lot of specials. Also look at newegg. Between the two you should have plenty of info to make a purchase.

[Deleted User]

Stubby,

I have been experimenting around with different camcorders. I have messed around with all different models from Canon, Panasonic and Sony. The Canon offers many varieties, the thing I liked about the Canon was the Cinema recording. The Panasonic 3MOS appeared to have the most vibrant natural colors. The new Sony line with the Exmor R sensor and G-Lens is nice. The Sony color is very close to the Panasonic when it comes to natural true colors with the edge to the Panasonic due to the vibrance. Also of note, the Panasonic is the only one with 1080P. The Sony also has a much wider angle recording compared to the others.

One thing about the Sony, when there is minimal lighting the whites will have a tint of blue. I also tried to read about all the reviews online but when I bought my Sony, there were next to none reviews due to its new release into the market. To be honest, I give zero credibility to reviews as I think the people are idiots. What I did, I went out to the stores and tried out all the different brands and pricing points.

You will also have to consider how much recording you will be doing. If you go with memory cards, you are very limited in recording time. You will need at least a class 6 for high definition recording. You will also have to consider if you want a lot of manual controls. You will also want to consider if you really need a view finder. I did not care about having my eye stuck to the view finder when recording.

I opted for the Sony HDR XR350 with 160gb hard drive and supports SD cards. I did not go for SD only(which is a lot smaller in size) because I record a lot. What sold me on the Sony from experience is the anti-shake, 6 Blade, and low light recording. I felt the Sony excelled in those areas when compared to the others.

I have uploaded videos onto youtube with 1080 format. Let me know if you would like to view it and I will send you the links.

Lastly, you will want to purchase additional batteries! Good hunting to you.

Halen

mystik610

I use my SLR as a camcorder (Canon T2i). Shoots in 1080/24p, can benefit from a variety of lenses, can manipulate depth of field (gives it a very cinematic look). Plus, its a pretty damn good camera (obviously). Apparently they shot an episode of house with this camera. I have a Sony camcorder, but don't ever use it anymore. The SLR serves both purposes well enough for my uses.

The downside is that the autofocus is unusable and I have to manually use the focus ring...not too big of a deal because I regularly focus manually when I shoot pics anyway. Supposedly the newer SLR's have made a lot of improvements in this area.