School me on Camcorders

[vort3xr6]

In prep for the birth of my child, my parents are buying me a Camcorder. It must be under $500 and it has to be from NewEgg.com since they have a store credit there.

What should I look for?

I would love to get something that can handle in motion stuff like a motorcycle riding by through a corner, or Zach looping out a wheelie in a parking lot.

I would like it to do 60 fps or higher for some slo mo stuff.

It is not a deal breaker for me if it has wifi, youtube, 3D, etc.

[laspariahs]

In prep for the birth of my child, my parents are buying me a Camcorder. It must be under $500 and it has to be from NewEgg.com since they have a store credit there.

What should I look for?

I would love to get something that can handle in motion stuff like a motorcycle riding by through a corner, or Zach looping out a wheelie in a parking lot.

I would like it to do 60 fps or higher for some slo mo stuff.

It is not a deal breaker for me if it has wifi, youtube, 3D, etc.

When I was looking for camcorders, like 6 years ago, it was basically Panasonic VS Canon. So those are the brands I would start out with now.

[laspariahs]

In prep for the birth of my child, my parents are buying me a Camcorder. It must be under $500 and it has to be from NewEgg.com since they have a store credit there.

What should I look for?

I would love to get something that can handle in motion stuff like a motorcycle riding by through a corner, or Zach looping out a wheelie in a parking lot.

I would like it to do 60 fps or higher for some slo mo stuff.

It is not a deal breaker for me if it has wifi, youtube, 3D, etc.

Well, they only sell canon, toshiba, and samsung at newegg, so I'd just get the canon in my price range.... I just googled for a few minutes, and canon seems to be the one to beat still.

[vort3xr6]

They sell Panasonic. Really there are only 4 in my price range but I don't understand the technical crap with cameras. How do I know if one has 60fps? What is a good focal length? What is a good image processor?

[laspariahs]

Oh, man my mistake. I saw the series at the top, they do sell lots of brands.

[laspariahs]

They sell Panasonic. Really there are only 4 in my price range but I don't understand the technical crap with cameras. How do I know if one has 60fps? What is a good focal length? What is a good image processor?

The Canon R30 does 60FPS interlaced:
Frame Rate NTSC:
AVCHD: 60i/PF24/PF30
MP4: 24P/30P

Focal length 35mm equiv Optical Zoom: 38.5-1232mm


So does the Panasonic HC-V700:
Recording/ Playback Mode 1080/ 60p (28Mbps / VBR) , (1920 x 1080) / HA (17Mbps / VBR) , (1920 x 1080) / HG (13Mbps / VBR) , (1920 x 1080) / HX (9Mbps / VBR) , (1920 x 1080) / HE (5Mbps / VBR) , (1920 x 1080) / iFrame (28Mbps / VBR) , (960 x 540) / SbS (17Mbps / VBR) , (1920 x 1080)

Focal Length 35mm Equiv: 28.0 - 717.4 mm [16:9]

The canon has a far larger sensor, which I would wager would make it a lot better at night or low light. The canon starts at 38mm and the panasonic 28mm, meaning if you are 1 foot from something with both cameras the panasonic will give you a picture that makes it look further away than the canons picture. The Panasonic ends at 717mm and the Canon at 1232mm, so the canon has more reach.

The image processors are all proprietary. Sorry I forgot most everything I learned about these camcorders.

[asp_125]

The last time I looked at camcorders, they still used miniDV tapes. :D

[laspariahs]

The last time I looked at camcorders, they still used miniDV tapes. :D

Hahaha same here.

[vort3xr6]

Dude, great information. Thank you. I thought 60i meant 30 fps? Looks like the Canon r30 might be the ticket. I already have a go pro that makes everything filmed look far away.

[laspariahs]

Dude, great information. Thank you. I thought 60i meant 30 fps? Looks like the Canon r30 might be the ticket. I already have a go pro that makes everything filmed look far away.

60i Just means interlaced, it's still 60FPS, it's for shooting fast sports etc.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/video-frame-rates-24p-25p-30p-60i.html#b

This explains the different frame rates well.

Ya just looking at the specs and nothing else I would lean towards the Canon.

[I`m Batman]

What do you think about DSLR with video capabilities? 2 in one? But it'll be over $500 for sure.

[jbnwc]

I haven't purchased one since 2005, but at that time, the best image stabilizer was crucial, especially with my shaky hands. I wouldn't buy one again, however; I would just get an expensive still camera that also takes good video. Personally, I would lean towards Batman's idea and maybe even throw in another $200 or so to make sure it was a quality piece.

[asp_125]

What do you think about DSLR with video capabilities? 2 in one? But it'll be over $500 for sure.

Even simple point & shoots now have decent (enough for Youtube) video. Pro level DSLRs have great HD video, but try more like the $1K range for anything broadcast quality. (Think Canon 5D, 7D) IMO unless it's the pro level, video from still cameras are a compromise. Flip side is you can get a decent video cam and take stills off it; again the photos won't be as good as ones from an equivalent still camera. Nobody's come out with one that is good at both (at the consumer level anyway) yet.

[I`m Batman]

What about the consumer level DLSRs... Canon T3i or Nikon D5100? Those will 1080p videos 30fps or 720p @ 60fps. Not too bad. And they are around $500 for body only. It all depends on how much you want to spend on the lens.

[asp_125]

.. It all depends on how much you want to spend on the lens.

Exactly, the consumer grade DSLRs come with a consumer grade kit lens. Good enough for home movies and such? Probably.

[vort3xr6]

I have a canon rebel DSLR already with 2 lenses so a T3i body only would work great. I will look.

[I`m Batman]

I wonder if newegg does price match... they have T3i for $699... BHPhoto, Amazon and Adorama has it for $549. That's a big difference.

[vort3xr6]

My mom ordered the R30. I am going to do some testing when I get it. Worst case scenario, I sell it on craigslist and get a T3i.

[Zanatos]

I teach digital video at Chaparral High School, and I just bought a bunch of awesome camcorders. The Sony HDR-CX260V BK has very good digital image stabilization, 32x zoom, and they use memory sticks. So when you are done recording, just plug the memory stick into a USB port, and drag or copy files into a folder. This allows you to capture hours of video in less than a minute.


I paid $450 apiece for them at Mike's Camera after a $100 instant rebate.

SONY HDR-CX260V BK - $549.99 - $100 instant rebate = $449.99

Whatever camera you choose, please DO NOT buy any cameras that use Firewire. They are super cheap now because Firewire is outdated. Also, Firewire video transfer happens in real time. In other words, it takes 10 minutes to capture 10 minutes worth of footage.

[modette99]

Everyone assumed I was going to film my daughters birth, wife and I said HELL no not something I we would ever want to watch. Hell I did not even want to be there. But to each their own. However I got the Sony Handycam HDR-XR250 This only came out this year but I wanted this model because it has 8.9mega pixel camera vs the old one was like 3 or 5.

I think it cost $700, and I bought it from B&H (www.bhphotovideo.com). However you can also get the older models, and they carry other brands. They are a good company and a lot of times their prices are better then what you see on Amazon...our printer was like that.

If you want to get deep inside your wife, the zoom is fantastic...LOL

The zoom in action:
http://youtu.be/Pn4n7NwcKqM?hd=1

[Dietrich_R1]

If you were going to film the birth of the baby... For $500.00 you could get 2 Go-Pro's... 1 to mount on the Dr.'s head for the "Birds Eye View", & another to mount on your head.

I would give the camcorder to your parents/friend. They could film the before, waiting room drama, & after "it's" born. I think that could be well done.

[Zach929rr]

Which focal length makes my dick look the biggest?

[Zach929rr]

Also you should totally get a T3i so we can film with it.