Hd camcorders

[buzz for boys]

We have been looking at updating our camcorder for the new Tiny camcorders that record onto sd cards. This trip we usued our camcorder a pitiful amount purely because its so bulky to carry around and then the ball ache of taking it out the bag etc, Id love a camcorder that is easy to use ad easy to carry with a good picture on playback.
I have to admit im a bit dense when it comes to all the technical stuff. Any reccomedations ??? I like the look of the FLIP and sony bloggie ! But im unsure if they are actually any good ???
Any advice gratefully recieved.
If anyone has a small camcorder and love it id be interested what you have also.

Thanks Louise x

 

[Netty]

sorry cant help, just wanted to say have a look on the uk best buys site, go through quidco for 20% off! offer ends tomorrow though...

 

[2Tiggies]

I have the Kodak Zx1 which, when it came out, was the rival to the flip. I don't think the Flip writes directly to SD card but the Kokak does.

In natural light the picture quality is very good. It is very noisy in the dark and a bit of ghosting in tungsten or flourescent lighting.

Sound quality is good although I did update the firmware which immediately resolved an annoying electronic hum on playback.

It does not have an optical zoom and this does limit you if you are used to having one

In terms of size it is similar to a candy bar mobile phone from 5 years ago.

Battery life is pretty good.

One downside to having a small camera, I found it much harder to stabilise, for example on rides. But then I am like that with a camera too - I want to know I am holding it if that makes sense.

I am very happy with it though. I paid £49 for it on a special offer and it came with a charger, rechargeable batteries, a soft pouch and a rubber weatherproof casing. I cannot complain.

 

[fairytale]

We have been looking at updating our camcorder for the new Tiny camcorders that record onto sd cards. This trip we usued our camcorder a pitiful amount purely because its so bulky to carry around and then the ball ache of taking it out the bag etc, Id love a camcorder that is easy to use ad easy to carry with a good picture on playback.
I have to admit im a bit dense when it comes to all the technical stuff. Any reccomedations ??? I like the look of the FLIP and sony bloggie ! But im unsure if they are actually any good ???
Any advice gratefully recieved.
If anyone has a small camcorder and love it id be interested what you have also.

Thanks Louise x

Hiya Louise, we used to have a Panasonic SDR-S7 but have recently purchased a new one due to the old packing up, after much use though I must admit.

We now have a Sony DCR - SX53E, which I reliably told by DH is as good if not better than the reliable Panasonic.

Now I dont know much but I will share the little I do know

The HD only comes into effect if you are planning on watching the footage direct on to your TV, if you are planning on downloading to a PC first or ripping to a disc then the HD has no effect whatsoever, so save yourself the money

If you get one with a dual recorder ie SD card plus built in memory (Hard Drive) you can always rely on having that "back up" if your SD card runs out due to you doing more footage than envisaged. We toyed a bit with this option but then decided that if you opt for having just the Hard Drive (no SD card) which is a common option nowadays then say you was away for 2 weeks and your memory filled up, you would then have the hassle of needing to download your footage whilst away before you could use your camcorder again.

Now I' not sure if is a Handycam you are thinking of getting but I honestly cannot rate them high enough. DH wears our's around his neck and as it is so light, (make sure you get a light one). We have been able to capture so much footage that with a normal recorder we would have missed, it is a simple press of the button and your recording rather than getting it out a bag blah, blah, blah...

Final point, get a good battery life, some have only 2 hours and for a day in the parks at Disney that would get you know where. We have always purchased a seperate battery which we carry around with us, just in case

Oh and another quick point, make sure it has a night light

 

[chocolateMinnie]

hi louise we have had the aiptek for a couple of years now - got it from QVC and it's really good, HD pictures look great on the laptop.

 

[orangetiggs]

we got a saony one which has a hard drive and is rea;;y good, my mum has a sanyo one from qvc and is very small and writes to sd card and the flip is also very good as well

 

[Neoshoegal]

First of all, what is your budget?

Then, please realise that HD and HD is two, meaning, depending on your budget, you may be able to get a cheap HD camcorder but the quality of it might actually be no better or even worse than standard definition. It has everything to do with the software in the camera and how it compresses the image.

As someone already mentioned, if you plan to edit it and burn it to a DVD, you will be downcoverting it to standard definition. Unless you have a bluray burner, then you can actually make it HD. The other option is to shoot and edit your video in HD, then upload it to a website like Vimeo where you can watch it in HD (but bearing in mind, there's a lot of conversions and compressions involved so, it's not always that straightforward). Also, to edit HD footage at a high quality, you need quite a good computer.

If you are on a tight budget, the Flip is a good choice. Or have a look into the Panasonic Lumix range. The Lumix TZ10, it's a stills camera that does great quality video and is an excellent choice for the money. If your budget would stretch beyond that, then consider the Panasonic Lumix G2. Again, it's a stills camera, but the video quality is amazing. And if you can afford to spend a bit more, than the Panasonic Lumix GH2 is your weapon of choice. We've just bought 2 of those for professional video, the quality you get of it is AMAZING (we used to work with professional broadcast video cameras, but that little thing by Panasonic blows our other cameras out of the water!).
To give you a quick idea of the quality of this camera, go to
http://www.vimeo.com/17949693 and http://www.vimeo.com/18666638
Or if you want to get an idea of the kind of quality you get with these kind of cameras but with more of a Disney feel, then go to
http://www.vimeo.com/18543356 password is "4weeks" (this was mainly filmed with a Panasonic Lumix GH1, the predecessor of the GH2. Except for the footage that looks like old film, that was done with a different camera)

 

[T16GEM]

DH just got a new little funky camcordery thing for Christmas from his folks.

I don't atually know which one it is but I will ask him later for you Louise. It's not a HD one as we don't have a HD telly, so he said it was pointless paying the extra for that when we wouldn't really see any benefit of it.

It records directly to an SD card too, which is nice and handy.

I had a go with it at the weekend and it's really simple to use, also I think it will fit in (dare I say it...) my bumbag on holiday so we can have it at hand without having a huge camera with us.

 

[buzz for boys]

DH just got a new little funky camcordery thing for Christmas from his folks.

I don't atually know which one it is but I will ask him later for you Louise. It's not a HD one as we don't have a HD telly, so he said it was pointless paying the extra for that when we wouldn't really see any benefit of it.

It records directly to an SD card too, which is nice and handy.

I had a go with it at the weekend and it's really simple to use, also I think it will fit in (dare I say it...) my bumbag on holiday so we can have it at hand without having a huge camera with us.

We dont have a HD tv either but thought if we were updating we should update fo the best !! However it seems HD is not neccasary that straight forward.
Id be grateful if you could tell me what he has as its size that is important to me

 

[buzz for boys]

First of all, what is your budget?

Then, please realise that HD and HD is two, meaning, depending on your budget, you may be able to get a cheap HD camcorder but the quality of it might actually be no better or even worse than standard definition. It has everything to do with the software in the camera and how it compresses the image.

As someone already mentioned, if you plan to edit it and burn it to a DVD, you will be downcoverting it to standard definition. Unless you have a bluray burner, then you can actually make it HD. The other option is to shoot and edit your video in HD, then upload it to a website like Vimeo where you can watch it in HD (but bearing in mind, there's a lot of conversions and compressions involved so, it's not always that straightforward). Also, to edit HD footage at a high quality, you need quite a good computer.

If you are on a tight budget, the Flip is a good choice. Or have a look into the Panasonic Lumix range. The Lumix TZ10, it's a stills camera that does great quality video and is an excellent choice for the money. If your budget would stretch beyond that, then consider the Panasonic Lumix G2. Again, it's a stills camera, but the video quality is amazing. And if you can afford to spend a bit more, than the Panasonic Lumix GH2 is your weapon of choice. We've just bought 2 of those for professional video, the quality you get of it is AMAZING (we used to work with professional broadcast video cameras, but that little thing by Panasonic blows our other cameras out of the water!).
To give you a quick idea of the quality of this camera, go to
http://www.vimeo.com/17949693 and http://www.vimeo.com/18666638
Or if you want to get an idea of the kind of quality you get with these kind of cameras but with more of a Disney feel, then go to
http://www.vimeo.com/18543356 password is "4weeks" (this was mainly filmed with a Panasonic Lumix GH1, the predecessor of the GH2. Except for the footage that looks like old film, that was done with a different camera)

Thank you for all the information there - it certaintly isnt as straight forward as I thought !!
Ive looked at the Lumix range but we would only be able to afford the tz10 although for the price its a nice piece of kit the gh2 is a bit much for our budget !!
Thanks again for the advice is certaintly made me think a b it more about hch one to go for !!

 

[2Tiggies]

We dont have a HD tv either

No, of course not. Just like me - the HD upgrade fund probably went on Disney trips .... and new camcorders and cameras (and SD cards, photo albums ....) FOR the Disney trips. It's good to see that you also have your priorities in order.

its size that is important to me

Yes.


It would be great if you could let us know what you get in the end. Of course you do realise after a post like this that there is a very heavy obligation on you to post clips from your next trip.

 

[buzz for boys]

No, of course not. Just like me - the HD upgrade fund probably went on Disney trips .... and new camcorders and cameras (and SD cards, photo albums ....) FOR the Disney trips. It's good to see that you also have your priorities in order.

It would be great if you could let us know what you get in the end. Of course you do realise after a post like this that there is a very heavy obligation on you to post clips from your next trip.

Our tv is nearly 13 years old so whatever camcorder I get will be better than my tv

I will of course update the post once we have made a decision I keep been drawn back to the Kodak underwater camera at the moment as that cud be a lot of fun on water rides

I have Mr Pegasus on standby for editing advice as I am so goig to make a videon of one of our trips if it kills me This trip the bulk of the video we took was Jeff Hardy inspired I must do better in September

 

[T16GEM]

We dont have a HD tv either but thought if we were updating we should update fo the best !! However it seems HD is not neccasary that straight forward.
Id be grateful if you could tell me what he has as its size that is important to me

ha ha! I don't know what the size of it is without measuring it at home which I can do for you tonight here is the link to it on the panasonic site
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_.../product/accessories/load.html?trackInfo=true

we've got th black one.

 

[Goofyish]

Another Panasonic Lumix TZ10 user here

The video quality is very good and it's just a touch of a button to go from stills to video.

 

[2Tiggies]

I keep been drawn back to the Kodak underwater camera at the moment as that cud be a lot of fun on water rides

Here's a thought. It was going to cost me a lot more money to buy a waterproof camcorder which I had to admit to myself, would only be used 2 or 3 times a year at a waterpark. But it is sooooo nice to get those water photos/video clips.

I have a slim, compact Fuji Finepix camera that takes pretty good pictures (awful noise in the dark though) and also shoots video. I paid £5 for one of those waterproof camera pouches that accommodates a zoom lens and used that to protect my little camera at the waterparks. It spent 2 days in the wave pools and on slides and rides and was bone dry. I did test the pouch first by placing a tissue in it with a heavy object and leaving it in a sink full of water overnight, but the tissue came out dry so I put my trust in it.

Just another option.

 

[T16GEM]

Here's a thought. It was going to cost me a lot more money to buy a waterproof camcorder which I had to admit to myself, would only be used 2 or 3 times a year at a waterpark. But it is sooooo nice to get those water photos/video clips.

I have a slim, compact Fuji Finepix camera that takes pretty good pictures (awful noise in the dark though) and also shoots video. I paid £5 for one of those waterproof camera pouches that accommodates a zoom lens and used that to protect my little camera at the waterparks. It spent 2 days in the wave pools and on slides and rides and was bone dry. I did test the pouch first by placing a tissue in it with a heavy object and leaving it in a sink full of water overnight, but the tissue came out dry so I put my trust in it.

Just another option.

how does that work then? is it a squishy case or something? Where did you buy it from? I have a "spare" Fuji that I could use for water pics, as I just had a nice new one last year so I wouldn't want to ruin that one but I'm not too fussed about the old one.