Budget Camcorder Recommendation

[peelie]

Hi there

I am looking to buy a camcorder within 200 to 300 euros budget.

Any recommendations from folks much appreciated!

peelie

 

[trooper]

A few questions first, About the type of camera you are looking for.

1) Are you looking for a camera that records analogue or digitally ?.

2) What sort of media would you expect said camera to record to, Tape, Flash card, Dvd, Hard disk, Built-in memory ?.

3) What would be the main use or subject matter and enviroment (indoors, outdoors etc) would said camera be used for ?.

4) What array of connectors/interfaces would you expect said camera to come with, Composite, Firewire, Usb etc ?.

5) What sort of quality would you expect from said camera`s recording capabilities, Very High quality, High quality, Good quality, Ok quality, No bothered ?.

6) Is there a phyical size limit you expect said camera to be, Pocket sized, Bag sized etc ?.

7) Do you wish to be able to edit the recordings from said camera, Say on the camera
itself, Or via your computer ?.

8) Do you plan to broardcast the recordings from said camera, Say via you tube, Burn to dvd, Video tape etc ?.

9) If you wish the recordings to be recorded digitally on said camera, Is there a particular for you require, Say divx, Asf, Wmv, Xvid, Mpg, Mp4 ?.

Just to narrow things down a bit.

Trooper

 

[peelie]

A few questions first, About the type of camera you are looking for.

1) Are you looking for a camera that records analogue or digitally ?.

digital

2) What sort of media would you expect said camera to record to, Tape, Flash card, Dvd, Hard disk, Built-in memory ?.

built-in/ SD

3) What would be the main use or subject matter and enviroment (indoors, outdoors etc) would said camera be used for ?.

indoor and outdoor

4) What array of connectors/interfaces would you expect said camera to come with, Composite, Firewire, Usb etc ?.

usb

5) What sort of quality would you expect from said camera`s recording capabilities, Very High quality, High quality, Good quality, Ok quality, No bothered ?.

ok quality

6) Is there a phyical size limit you expect said camera to be, Pocket sized, Bag sized etc ?.

pocket sized or bag sized

7) Do you wish to be able to edit the recordings from said camera, Say on the camera
itself, Or via your computer ?.

edit from camera would be useful but not necessary

8) Do you plan to broardcast the recordings from said camera, Say via you tube, Burn to dvd, Video tape etc ?.

no

9) If you wish the recordings to be recorded digitally on said camera, Is there a particular for you require, Say divx, Asf, Wmv, Xvid, Mpg, Mp4 ?.

common format

Just to narrow things down a bit.

Trooper

thanks!

edit - am looking at Aiptek Pocket DV AHD 300 at the moment - nice price

 

[euro48k]

with that budget ..
you are very close to Sanyo Xacti HD700 ...SDHC storage ..720p HD ..small ..cheap
great quality ..
think twice

http://www.sanyodigital.com/product.aspx?v=18

 

[peelie]

thanks euro48k; the sanyo is more than double the Aiptek;

the sanyo seems to have a better zoom; probably other differences as well but only thing that is in my mind at the moment is price

do you have one of these sanyo cameras euro48K?

cheers

 

[kevcal]

I bought a sony dcr-sr50 (30GB HD) earlier this year - I think dabs were selling them off - think it was £210 - dunno what that was in euros... I think it's great and much better than removable storage version
This one's a bit like it - I guess a better/newer version:
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quick...NavigationKey=0

 

[peelie]

I bought a sony dcr-sr50 (30GB HD) earlier this year - I think dabs were selling them off - think it was £210 - dunno what that was in euros... I think it's great and much better than removable storage version
This one's a bit like it - I guess a better/newer version:
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quick...NavigationKey=0




thanks kevcal - in euros just over my budget but still worth considering.


how heavy is this camera? and how portable is it?

cheers

 

[kevcal]

Well as I say it's not exactly the same one as mine - but it's pretty light and very easy to use.

At high-res you get around 7 hours on the HD (which is actually a lot) - dunno about lower quality - but have been pleased with the output on my 32" tv and consider it was well worth the money - I had planned to get a mini-dvd one, but am pleased I got one with a HD in it.

It's very light in weight - and fits in the hand easily (I'm (I guess) 'normal' size )

I bought a couple of extra batteries (make unknown) from 7dayshop for it for about 5 pounds each - each gives about 70 minutes of filming (and also bought a 2 hour (sony) battery off ebay as a backup - bit pricier (£17)).

Yeah, it may be a little out of your price-range - I'm sure there are plenty of others to consider that are just as good or better; but I personally would recommend a HD version though if you can stretch to it.

EDIT: actually looking around there are lots just above the £200 mark.. typical eh?
300 euros = £237 by the way.. doesn't leave much for extras (eg case, etc - again I'd recommend 7dayshop for camera cases).

 

[peelie]

many thanks kevcal - lots to chew on there!

 

[kevcal]

No problem

I was watching someone with a tape-based camcorder the other day - I forgot how long it took to shuttle through to find stuff; definitely a good move to go for some form of solid-state / fast memory / disk I reckon.

Best of luck finding what you want for the right price.

 

[jmetal88]

No problem

I was watching someone with a tape-based camcorder the other day - I forgot how long it took to shuttle through to find stuff; definitely a good move to go for some form of solid-state / fast memory / disk I reckon.

Best of luck finding what you want for the right price.

I use a Betamax camcorder. I don't have to worry about how long it takes to shuffle because it doesn't! :lol:

Just kidding! While I do have a Betamax camcorder, it's extremely inconvenient. I use my Canon Powershot SD1000 Digital Elph for taking videos when I'm out and about. The video is of surprisingly high quality for a still camera, in my opinion.