Good camera/webcam for making videos?

[kaprikawn]

A lot of the Youtube videos that showcase the Pandora (and a lot of tech in general) start off with the person apologising for their crappy camera and/or setup. I've never made a Youtube video, but I'm thinking maybe I would like to make a Pandora video or two and really don't want to start with the almost obligatory "Sorry about my camera, I really should get a new one...".


So I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for good hardware for capturing video to showcase the Pandora on Youtube and the like. I don't want anything professional grade or anything, maybe a webcam around the £30-50 mark would be good (if that's not totally unrealistic, let me know if it is). All I've got at the minute is my phone or an old digial camera (Canon IXUS 40). My old camera might be an option, I'll maybe do a few tests, but I'll certainly need to source a different mic, I seem to recall the built-in one being farily bad.


Also, I'm probably going to need to find ways of getting a direct capture of the Pandora screen. I fully intend to research this, but if you have any suggestions to point me in the right direction regarding this that would be appreciated.


Cheers.

 

[Wootson]

Personally I have a Kodak Zi8, which is pretty good for general purpose recording. It fits in your pocket and supports resolutions up to 720p (60fps) and 1080p (30fps). True, it's not HD material like other more expensive cameras, but it does the job nonetheless. Anything similar should also be more than enough for making normal videos.


But with any camera you buy today comes the ultimate rule for making videos: no light, no image. So make sure you have some sort of light source when you record, because there is absolutely no camera below €500 that can record very well in low-light conditions. And make sure it has a macro mode, so you can go up and personal with the object you are filming.


If I knew how much you have to spend, I could make a few good suggestions.

 

[MarioPandio]

I made a bunch of vids for youtube using an HDD camcorder, not HD though and they werent great and only 360p on youtube after uploading etc. However ED´s video with super qualit equipment and serious video editing skills + time he really didnt have were awesome.


However in all these vids outhere ED´s included was a criticism that if you go for very direct footage of the screen, a great deal of footage is then just generic and could be running on anything.


For example ED´s first TV OUT demo was him filmed from across his rooms playing retrode carts on to his tv and was far more impressive than Tv out video 2 where it was great when he stood next to the big screen TV but just generic when he zoomed in to show the games.


Regardless, a possible option for ´direct´ is a Dazzle USB device from Pinnacle systems which via the USB port will capture the actual display signal. May need the TV cables first though and theres various models you´d have to research but they are pretty cheap. Folk use them for speed run footage with various consoles/PC etc.

 

[Austin25]

<snip>Regardless, a possible option for ´direct´ is a Dazzle USB device from Pinnacle systems which via the USB port will capture the actual display signal. May need the TV cables first though and theres various models you´d have to research but they are pretty cheap. Folk use them for speed run footage with various consoles/PC etc.

Why not just get digital video with a screen capture program?

 

[Tom`]

<snip>Regardless, a possible option for ´direct´ is a Dazzle USB device from Pinnacle systems which via the USB port will capture the actual display signal. May need the TV cables first though and theres various models you´d have to research but they are pretty cheap. Folk use them for speed run footage with various consoles/PC etc.

Why not just get digital video with a screen capture program?

Because those use a fair bit of CPU time (and memory bandwidth, etc.) that would otherwise be available to the device. Using video capture hardware has a much smaller impact on the system being recorded.

 

[second exodous]

Like Wootson I have a Kodak pocket camera, but the older Zi6, but I like it a lot. I have yet to record anything like a game system that has a back lit screen but it does ok. I got it off of 1saleaday.com, it was refurbished so it was like $50 shipped. Don't like the .mov file format though, for some reason my Linux box has a problem with it until I convert it. I wish it recorded in .mp4 or anything else really.

 

[mahousaru]

Personally if I was you I would fork out a little more and go for the Kodak Sport, its really easy to use and is waterproof so great for holidays.


Actually I did get one of those. Brilliant for grabbing a shot in the pouring rain, and feels tough enough when I feel young enough to go clubbing

 

[meandu229]

Also a tripod is really needed to showcase pandora stuff(or a 2nd person) its hard to hold camera and hold/use pandora well

 

[mahousaru]

Also a tripod is really needed to showcase pandora stuff(or a 2nd person) its hard to hold camera and hold/use pandora well

Great advice and the octopus ones are cheap and can hang nearly anywhere!

 

[levi]

Yeah, I've got a gorrilapod which is overkill, and I'm thinking of wrapping it round my head, which will surely make me look like an idiot (but I'm not planning on taking pictures of that). Also got a slightly old camera which will take widescreen SD video. The only thing I'm missing is a youtube account... and a Pandora.

 

[mahousaru]

Yeah, I've got a gorrilapod which is overkill, and I'm thinking of wrapping it round my head, which will surely make me look like an idiot (but I'm not planning on taking pictures of that).

Pictures or it doesn't exist!!!

 

[second exodous]

Man, I can't find my tripod anywhere. I need to find it or get a new one before I get my Pandora. It will be the first video I ever post on Youtube but I think it is important to get as many video reviews of the Pandora out there as possible to help the project along.


EDIT: Ah, found it.


I noticed that to get the entire DSi XL(don't have my Pandora yet so testing recording with my XL) I had to have the camera against my chest and my arms outstretched all the way. I have component out on the Zi6 so I plugged that into my TV so I can still see what is being filmed but I was wondering if anyone has a better idea of how to position the camera? I've never done a video review before so this is all new to me.