Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with videocamera

Best Bang for the Buck in an Inexpensive Digital Video Camera

Alabaster — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:51:17 -0800

Best bang for the buck in an inexpensive digital video camera? I'm looking to replace a 10-year-old Sony MiniDV camera which was lost. My wife (a teacher) uses it primarily for making film projects with her students. These are burned to DVD for the students and sometimes projected onto a large screen.

We're on a tight budget and are looking for a consumer-grade camera, preferably in the $2-300 range, although this could stretch to $500 if absolutely necessary).

-Video quality must be roughly equivalent to the MiniDV (or better).
-Storage must handle at least 1-2 hours of video at this quality (compression isn't a problem unless it's noticeably degrading to a non-expert's eye).
-Must have decent zooming capabilities
-Storage medium is negotiable. She's accustomed to MiniDV but I think flash/card/hard drive storage storage would be faster/more convenient for sorting through footage and transferring to PC.
-PC interface is also negotiable -- firewire, USB, memory card, or DVD would be acceptable -- again, convenience and speed for transfer and editing (in Premiere Elements) are priorities.
-Built-in mic is necessary, but the option to connect an external mic would be appreciated.

Any suggestions on a small camera that will give us the most bang for $2-300 bucks? Thanks

Help me find a good camcorder.

zardoz — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:28:25 -0800

I'm in the market for an inexpensive (under $1000) camcorder but every spec on any camera brings up a thousand questions. 3CCD? CMOS? HD? HDV? MiniDV? BluRay? File formats? Still shots? Help! So I have some criteria for a video camera, and I hope you all can at least direct me to some good sites explaining the differences, if not give some specific camera examples.

1) I want manual control. Especially manual focus, which to me is a physical ring, though I understand some cameras have manual focus with a small joystick or jog dial.

2) A decent zoom, 10x optical or more.

3) High quality. I want video that looks good on an HDTV. This is where it gets a bit confusing to me. As I understand it, 3CCD will give the best color quality, but high megapixel (?) CMOS chip cameras are just as good if not better. Is there a big difference in quality between 720p and 1080i? And is a non-3CCD 1080i "good enough"?

4) Still image ability. I have a so-so Canon digital SLR, but it's starting to show its age and limitations, so I'd like to be able to take good quality stills with the camcorder. I've seen the new Canon 5D Mark II, which would be almost perfect because it takes HD video as well, but alas, it's out of my price range. The Nikon D90 is nice, and the price is much better, but only mono sound is a dealbreaker for me.

My dream camera would be a professional one like the Canon XL2 or the GL2, the JVC GY-HD200CL17, etc. But these are in the thousands of dollars and my budget is stretching it even at $1000. And they are a bit bulky, and perhaps more than I really need. I'll be using this for basic home moves mainly, but would like to do some projects in which I can use the HD ability for high quality.

What format is best? Is there a big difference between DV tapes, mini BluRay disks, hard drive cameras, flash drives, etc. I'll be using my Intel iMac to edit, and I have Final Cut Pro (or iMovie), but I can fire up Windows as well and edit in Premiere. Is there anything I should know about proprietary file formats and transfering to my iMac?

So what prosumer camera out there does the best job? I know this is all kind of a tall order, but if you can point me in the right direction I'd be grateful.

I want to make documentary films. What kind of video-camera should I get?

softsantear — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:41:53 -0800

I want to make documentary films. What kind of video-camera should I get? There are some people in my family who've been through some pretty interesting experiences over the last century, mostly involving World War II, and in preparation for a non-fiction film class I (hope) I'll be taking next semester, I want to get a camcorder.

The question is, what kind? I'm not really looking to do anything complex, but I also don't want something that I'll have to replace as soon as I get into it because I've reached its limitations. I want it to be of a high enough quality that projects I present don't just feel like a hollow home-video, but I also don't mind a little of that kind of DIY-aesthetic. I want to be able to transfer relatively painlessly to digital (Windows or Ubuntu, probably Windows) for editing--and in case you're wondering, I won't be doing heavy editing (hough there will be cross-fading, text, music, etc...simple stuff).

I've been pointed to something like this but I have to believe that that's low-end and/or limited. Like I said: I do want to get some life out of this thing, because I know I'll be using it a lot. Then again, I might be deluding myself into thinking I can get anything other than something simple for a middle range price--I'm thinking <$500, preferably much less.

I saw a handful of threads suggesting mini-DV in the archives, but with technology, you never know--things could change or become cheaper in only a years time. So I thought I'd play it safe and ask.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

How do I record live video directly from DV to PC?

russ9595 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:14:44 -0800

I'd like to record live video directly from my FireWire DV camera using Windows XP. Is this possible? I can transfer already recorded video stored on the FireWire DV camera's tape, but with the live video I just get a black screen.

I know this is possible with Windows Vista, but can't find a Windows XP solution.

Suggest a video camera camera to record usability testing

TheDonF — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 02:09:03 -0800

I have the opportunity to buy some equipment to do usability testing. I want to buy some video equipment but know nothing about video cameras. My immediate thought was MacBook Pro with Final Cut Express to edit the footage. However, I need to record said footage first and know nothing about video cameras. It'll need to be reasonably cheap, small, easy to use, play nicely with the MacBook and be able to sit on a tripod. Any thoughts? Hope!

I wanted to meet interesting people from an old and distinguished culture... and videotape them.

HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:36:26 -0800

My brother will be going to Iraq eventually. He'd like to film his "war diaries" with a helmet-mounted video camera. He'd like to be able to start and stop recording with a simple remote of some sort. What are his options? Perhaps this is obvious, but sturdiness and long battery life are also priorities followed by recording length. Thanks.

Is the 404 an Error?

cashman — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 08:04:58 -0800

I want a videocamera with good features that can easily transfer ready-to-upload files to my computer. I want to record video and have it be easily uploadable to the computer. Should I get this Archos 404 and then an additional attachment kit (because amazingly though it says 'camcorder' on the box, apparently it doesn't record out of the box?)?

Or is there some kind of workaround to have it record video without having to purchase an additional kit?

Or perhaps there is some other video recorder/media center type deal the hive would recommend?

I'm running XP. Thanks!

help me find a camera and a mic

Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:29:37 -0800

I'm making a movie! The best camera that appears to be in my price range is the Sony PD-150. What are your thoughts on this particular model? Are there better cameras out there in the same price range? I also have concerns about sound equipment. (I'm afraid renting a camera will not be possible.) For instance, will the PD-150 still look decent if it's transferred to 35mm film and put on a movie screen?

Of course, I've heard that sound is often more important than image (particularly on a documentary, which is what I'll be working on) so I'm not sure if the on-board mic on the 150 will be sufficient. Any thoughts on that, or on how much a good mic would cost to buy or rent? Unfortunately, appearing as discreet as possible during filming would be preferable, so it would be best to have as little bulky equipment as possible. In other words, I will probably want to limit myself to a small shotgun mic. Is that a bad idea?

Help my daughter look better on the screen.

oddman — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:44:17 -0800

I need a lot of help with DV cameras. I've got a Panasonic PV-GS320 with one tape's worth of video, my dad has a rather large amount of movies saved to his hard drive. We are both having a lot of problems getting our movies (my tape, his old files) to look good on DVD's.

Long story short, I have a ton of questions (why do my movies look jaggie, why are so many frames dropped, why are his forced to be full screen, etc.) and no one to go to for help.

So, I'm hoping to find a forum (or more than one) where I can go to post all of my small, neophyte questions.

Where do you go on-line for help with your video capturing, editing, and burning questions?

What is the best place in Los Angeles to get a Canon XL1 fixed?

MediaJunkie — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:25:07 -0800

What is the best place in the San Fernando Valley / Burbank / Los Angeles to get a Canon XL1 fixed? I'm looking to get my Canon XL1 fixed, but I really don't want to drive all the way down to Irvine to have Canon service fix it.

Can anyone recommend a decent place near North Hollywood?

Help me lust after new video cameras...

merocet — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:39:04 -0800

Help me lust after new video cameras. OK,my trusty Canon Mv850i just bit the dust and in September I start a Fine Art degree course in Film and Video. Put those two ideas together... So it's definitely time to get a new better camera (or at least work on ways of justifying the expense to my wife while lusting after technology). Up until a few months ago I was looking at upgrading to either a Canon GL2 or an XL1 but now there's this whole new HD business available in the prosumer type camera like the Canon XH-A1. So what are the Mefi recommendations over this? Is it better to try to justify the expense of an HD camera, or, to go for a price cut with the nice cameras I was looking at before but on the old resolution? Is there a better 3ccd camera out there that you can futz with the settings of like the GL2's/ XL1's of this world? Waddya say? To HD or not to HD? Thanks!

I need to buy a video camera for my podcast on a budget, any suggestions.

Chamunks — Sat, 05 May 2007 13:43:21 -0800

What is a good video camera to buy for starting out podcasting it needs to cost less than 600CAD$ or 541USD$ A camera that would support decent microphones because i hear a good mic is always a great thing to get as well. Something that also directly exports to digital via firewire or something with little to no additional camera specific software. I'm looking for direct model number references and possible explanations as to why they would be a good candidate for my purchase. I haven't gone video camera shopping before so I may need some spoon-feeding but I did take a films course back in high school a couple years ago.

Give this noob some basic info on prosumer video cameras.

dobbs — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:52:28 -0800

Questions about buying a video camera in general and some specifics about the Canon XL1.... Suppose I want to pick up a good used camera to muck about with and my budget is us$1200 - $1800. What would you suggest I get? I know next to nothing about video as everything I've shot has been on film (Bolexes, Canons, B&H, Eclair, etc.).

I'm interested in making films not shooting home movies so am looking "Prosumer" I guess (ugh, hate that word)--something broadcast quality.

I have a Mac and want to import to it, of course, though I'm sure most will output to firewire, yes?

What are some good sites to check out for basic things to look for and/or be wary of?

In addition, is the Canon XL1 worth getting in this day and age or is that camera a little long in the tooth?

Finally, when buying a used camera, what's the best way to test it if you're buying from an individual rather than a store that may have a return policy or rental-check?

Thanks!

What's the best Digital Video solution for filming Web tutorials?

jpozadzides — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:38:31 -0800

I'm in need of expert video equipment and editing software recommendations. I need to purchase a videocam primarily for recording tutorials. 50% of the shooting will be in an office setup focused mainly on the speaker sitting at a desk, 50% will be in a shop filming welding type machinery. Ultimately the videos will be posted online to a YouTube or similar site, however I need to be able to also create DVD versions.

I'm considering the Sony HD Hard Drive camcorder from Best Buy, but would like to know if there is something else I should be considering instead.

I also need to know what sort of microphone to purchase as well as a recommended steady-cam sort of device.

Finally, is there a software package that would be good for a beginner, but also give the the flexibility to improve my skills rapidly and use more advanced features?

If I can keep the whole package under $2k that would be nice, but I'm more concerned about getting the most bang for the buck and ending up with some really nice footage.

Thanks,

John

ASF --> MOV?

10ch — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 06:24:42 -0800

Can I convert ASF to a mac-friendly format for editing? I was just gifted a very inexpensive video camera (it's an Aiptek MPVR+ if that matters). It's the type of digital video camera that writes directly to a SD card as an ASF (MPEG-4 encoded). I can play the video on my mac with VLC (it won't open in QT or iMovie), but I haven't found a way to edit it (preferably in iMovie), and that's a must for what I wanted the camera for in the first place.

Since I don't know if I'll actually use it like I hope to, I'd rather not spend additional $$$ to upgrade to something that'll play friendly with my mac just yet.

What are my options?

The best entry level HDV camera?

yellowbinder — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:21:32 -0800

Looking to buy a semi-professional video camera in Toronto. There's much So I've been working around the tv/documentary industry in Toronto for about a year now, interning and doing a few assistant editing gigs here and there. I definitely like the work, and am looking to get a video camera of my very own. I need recommendations!

Ideally I'd like to be able to shoot HDV or DV, as the industry is very quickly shifting to solely HD and I don't want to get stuck with a camera that can't do it. I'm just getting into the biz though, so I don't want to blow my wad on something with all the super professional bells and whistles.

So, camera recommendations? The best places to go in Toronto? Any of them have boxing week deals and/or lease to buy plans (since I've only got a little under $2K saved for such a camera, and it will probably be a little more expensive)?

Also, my dad mentioned he'd seen an ad for a Canon consumer camcorder that shoots HD with a 30GB hard-drive. I'm doubtful this would be up to par, but does anyone have an idea if it would be suitable for professional work?

BTW, I'm looking to become a documentary maker who pays the bills through free lance videography and editing, just in case that makes a difference in considering what camera to buy.

What video camera should I buy?

mark7570 — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 06:24:27 -0800

What video camera should I buy? Just for amateur stuff - regular home movies, clips of events, "getting my feet wet" with video editing. I'll be using iMovie to edit, not FinalCut. Want the camera to be easy to use, good quality, and delivering the very basics - would rather solid basics than bells & whistles. (I only need video, not static-image shooting - have a good camera already for that.)

I understand from this June post that miniDV is the right format; but which camera, in particular, do people like? Budget is $300-$500 or so. Could reach a bit higher if there's an awesome choice just out of range.

Need info for new-baby footage.

®@ — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:15:41 -0800

What camcorder should I buy? It's not actually for me, but for a client. Anyone have an easy-to-use camera they're extremely happy with that wasn't too expensive? The Amazon.com reviews, where I usually go for such things, aren't turning up much that's helpful.

Nothing high-end is needed, she just wants to record her new baby.

Suggestions for DV Camera Purchase?

Lactoso — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 23:12:55 -0800

I'm looking for a Digital Video camera but am at a loss as to what to look for, what technologies are on the horizon (that are, perhaps, worth waiting for), etc., etc.. Obviously I'd like the most bang for the buck, but I do have *some* requirements:
- Any vids taken will be plugged into my Apple G5 for editing and manipulation. While they will immediately be sent to my parents so that they can view vids of their grandchildren, I also want to provide my kids some footage of their formative years, etc. SO, either USB2.0 or FireWire4/8 is critical.
- Size is not a huge concern, but the lighter and smaller, the more likely I am to carry it around to capture those 'precious moments'.
- Image stabilization is a must as is a serious optical zoom (very infrequently does cool stuff happen close to me - maybe it's my aftershave?).
- Ability to snap digi pix is a plus.