I want a Video Camera - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/27/2007 12:44:25 AM · #1

I'm going to buy a video camera. I want a MiniDV camcorder and I want to spend $350 or less. I have been browsing my options, but I'm looking for suggestions from someone who owns a cam in this range that they are really happy with...

Thanks :)

tcmartin

Canon EOS-40D

01/27/2007 02:56:36 AM · #2

Just like picking a DSLR, you should first make a list of the features that you are after or think you might want to grow into. For example, do you want:
to be able to add a shotgun mic or wireless mics?
to be able to have video out only, or video in as well? Video in is great as it compresses on the fly from TV or even an old 8mm unit.
do you care about a color viewfinder, or are you okay with just a color LCD?
Will your editing software talk to the camera you are looking at?
Will you want to add filters or a wide lens? If so, how much are those for the camera that you are considering?

There are a million of these questions.

Then there is the size. Most of the new cameras are really, really small. That makes them actually more difficult to hold steady. So, if you need it small, better look for image stabilization.

When I bought my Canon Optura 20 (which was a larger discontinued model), it dropped big time in price when it was announced to be discontinued. Worked great for me and it has been awesome. I have had it several years and haven't even considered replacing it.

Does that help at all?

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM

01/27/2007 01:59:55 PM · #3

My primary purpose for buying a video camera is to be able to shoot short video clips when I'm on assignment for the newspaper. I want to make short 1 or 2 minute video clips of certain events to use on the paper's website. Initially, I plan to use the windows movie maker software until I decide if video editing is something I want to get more involved with.

If this situation was with a still camera, I would know a lot more about what I need and want. Since video and video editing are something completely new to me, I don't want to spend a lot of money until i find out if it's something I'll enjoy doing. If I do, I will buy a better camera later rather than now.

SteveJ

Canon EOS-7D

01/27/2007 02:15:54 PM · #4

John, I don't know a lot about video gear, but my neighbour did a lot of shooting at Dragracing in the UK and USA. He found that his PC couldn't handle the editing side and had to build a new one from scratch. I think he ended up with a twin Xeon at the time, and is now looking at a dual core twin xeon, or whatever the new ones are.

So, after the cost of the camera, you have the editing software which isn't cheap (Not sure how good Windows Movie Maker would be) plus you are looking at either upgrading or renewing your PC.

Probably talking a load of rubbish and you already knew this?

01/27/2007 02:19:44 PM · #5

Originally posted by formerlee:

Probably talking a load of rubbish and you already knew this?

I'm not as concerned with my PC performance at this time. I think all my PC needs in the beginning is a little more RAM, which I plan to do as well. I have enough hard drive space, and I'll just have to find out if the CPU is ok or not. I won't spend the money to upgrade the PC much until I find out if i'm going to stick with video editing. If it's slow in the beginning, I can deal with that while I'm learning about the process.

DjFenzl

01/27/2007 02:25:11 PM · #6

well most of the same stuff hold true for video as it does still. Good optical zoom and image stabilization are important. In that price range pretty much all the sensors are going to be the same.

I had a JVC I was really happy with a few years back. The mic had a "zoom" feature that was pretty cool and worked really well. When you zoomed in the mic became more focused directionally so it mainly just picked up the sound from whatever was being zoomed in on.

For convenience I'd recommend one of the new harddrive based camcorders but those tend to be in the $400-450 to start out with.

01/27/2007 02:40:09 PM · #7

Originally posted by Megatherian:

For convenience I'd recommend one of the new harddrive based camcorders but those tend to be in the $400-450 to start out with.

This is an interesting idea. I just went out and looked at a couple. I hadn't considered these because the first time I looked at them in the past, they were a good bit more expensive than this. I saw a JVC model for $399 and a Sony model for $499. That would eliminate dealing with tapes. Are there additional advantages of shooting with an HDD camcorder?

DjFenzl

01/27/2007 04:33:03 PM · #8

Not having to mess with tapes or weird DVD formats is a huge plus IMO. The cameras tend to be a little smaller and quieter too but other than that I don't know of any other advantages.

I will throw out as devils advocate though that one disadvantage to them is once they are full there's nothing you can do about it until you can download. If you are just taking short clips and will be off loading them often that's probably not a big deal though.

MadMan2k

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

01/27/2007 04:48:17 PM · #9

I know some people don't like the hard drive based cameras very much, but I'm not sure why. If you could possibly get some sample footage from the camera that you want and evaluate it, that would probably help a lot.

goc

Apple iPhone 4

01/27/2007 05:03:20 PM · #10

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

take some nice canon miniDV camera, firewire card for your pc and your are ready to go ... windows movie maker will you satisfy in the beginning for sure, been there done that ... actually you can make some pretty cool stuff in wmm ... so my point is :-) get cheap for start you'll see eventually what your needs are ... okay ? sorry i have 5 beers in me :-)

01/27/2007 05:07:35 PM · #11

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

I would expect the footage quality to be the same on any digital camcorder with similar capture specs. It's all digital. The only difference would be the medium that is storing it...