Help me find a video camera that’s jacked!

December 29, 2006 12:06 AM

I’m looking for a video camera and can’t seem to find one with the features I need—a microphone input jack, records direct to digital formats and good enough quality of video for web stuff.

If I could just get my Canon Powershot SD800 with a microphone input jack, I’d be ecstatic. (Yes, I know it has a built-in microphone, but the speaker is right next to where you put your fingers and sounds very metallic and horrible. I need good quality sound with my video.)

Here are my priorities, prioritized:

Must haves:
- Microphone jack (mini plug is perfecto!)
- Tripod jack (although I think this is standard on all cameras now)

Would be really, really cool:
- Record direct to digital formats (SD card, built in hard drive, etc. so I don’t have to go through the step of digitizing video tape)
- Good video quality at a resolution of 640x480 or bigger (but it doesn’t need to be crazy large or high definition

Would be cool:
- Ability to take photos
- Ability to record/play audio
- Nice CCD (or multiple ccds)
- Headphone jack
- Easy to use
- Inexpensive (less than $1,000? Ideally, $500ish, but I know that's probably not realistic.)

I’ve been eying the JVC Everio series and the Samsung SC-X210L and I can’t seem to find anything with microphone jacks! The Olympus C-2100 used to have them, but the model is discontinued (and rather out of date even if it isn’t).

posted by jkl345 to Technology (9 answers total)

I have a Panasonic DV953, and it meets all your requirements. It's primarily a MiniDV camera, but it will record MPEG video to an SD card, and it has a 1/8" mic jack. Cost was about $700 three years ago. It has since been superceeded by the GS400; there are several cameras in the GS family, you might look at their features to see if one of the lower-end ones (I know there's a GS100 and GS200) has the mic jack and video-to-SD feature.
posted by Alterscape at 3:02 AM on December 29, 2006

err, that should've been, "you might look at their features to see if one of the lower-end ones meets your requirements." Don't sleep and post, folks. Also: AFAIK, all the cameras in the GS series have 3 CCDs. They are really quite shiny, for consumer DV cams.
posted by Alterscape at 3:07 AM on December 29, 2006

The entry-level Canon ZR500, under the enrevanche family Christmas tree this year thanks to a passel of frequent flyer miles that were due to expire soon, has almost everything you ask for (including, crucially, the external mic jack), except the ability to take still photos and use SD cards; street price (without accessories like a Firewire cable, long-life battery, etc.) is about $250.

There is a single 1/6” CCD with 680K gross pixels. This translates to 340K effective pixels when shooting in 4:3 mode, 450K effective pixels in 16:9 mode with the image stabilization off, and 400K effective pixels in 16:9 mode with the image stabilization on.

I am still at caveman level with this camcorder, but it does much of what you seem to need; I am given to understand that the next model up in the ZR hierarchy, the ZR700, does both still photography and accepts SD cards for MPEG recording at about $350 street price. (I have no idea what the MPEG quality is like, though.)
posted by enrevanche at 5:44 AM on December 29, 2006

I just got the Canon Elura 100 and I think it has everything you are looking for. I decided on it over the ZR700 because the picture quality was slightly better. The ZR700 had more features and a longer zoom. They are both right around 300 bones. I like my new camera alot.
posted by smithygreg at 8:48 AM on December 29, 2006

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1 - video (720p HD-MPEG4)/still (5.1 MP) to SD only (so very small physical size), stereo audio, Mic jack, 10x optical/100x digital zoom, "high definition digital movie", popup flash for stills, literally palm-sized with a gorgeous OLED.

Shop around - it can be had for under $500.
posted by DandyRandy at 8:54 AM on December 29, 2006

Coupla cheap options, but please verify that they have external mic capabilities:

ATC2K Waterproof SD ActionCamera (video sample)

Exemode DV572 SD camcorder
posted by LordSludge at 9:32 AM on December 29, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for all your help! I have dozens of windows open on my desktop comparing these camera models now. :)

Enrevanche & Alterscape (Or anyone that knows) -- Are you guys sure the camera will encode video to SD cards? I can't seem to find a clear review or product feature list that clearly states that and it seems like something they'd want to tout for people like me! :)

While we're talking comparisons--Anyone know a good place to compare cameras? I'm looking for the Dpreview.com of video cameras basically.

Right now I'm juggling comparisons from:
- Amazon
- Cnet
- Dpreview
- Camcorderinfo.com

... but none seem to be perfect (offering all video products, side by side detail comparisons, complete reviews, video/image quality samples, user reviews--all in one)
posted by jkl345 at 9:55 AM on December 29, 2006

The Digital files (mpeg4) are not editable. They'll need to be converted to something else. That time is the time you saved by digitizing.
posted by filmgeek at 9:19 PM on December 29, 2006

Are you guys sure the camera will encode video to SD cards?

I am sure that the ZR500 will *not*; I am not *sure* that the ZR700 *will*, but I think it will; please be sure to verify before buying anything! (Also make sure that the ZR700 has an external mic jack, as I have seen a couple of references in the last day to the ZR500 as the "only low-end Canon with a mic jack," which doesn't make any sense, but there you have it.
posted by enrevanche at 4:19 AM on December 30, 2006