Looking for a good 'first' camcorder at DVinfo.net

Mark Yang · November 17th, 2009, 08:51 PM

I am looking for a home camcorder, but I would like it to be sophisticated enough to give me practice for a more 'professional' camcorder in the future.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm thinking at least it would need to use MiniDV tapes.

We don't have it in the budget to go serious right now, but we are thinking of doing a documentary film in the future.

Stephen Mick · November 17th, 2009, 09:05 PM

So, what is your budget?

Mark Yang · November 17th, 2009, 09:07 PM

Under a thousand. Something like Best Buy.

In the future we're looking at maybe spending 5k.

Stephen Mick · November 17th, 2009, 09:13 PM

I haven't used one, but I know a few people who use the Panasonic TM-300 and speak highly of it. It's near the top of your price range, but seems to have a good balance of features for the price.

Here's a link to some more info…

http://www.panasonic.net/avc/camcord...cts/hdc-tm300/

Jay Massengill · November 18th, 2009, 02:49 PM

I've recently used a Canon HF11 and found it to be very satisfactory under normal lighting. It's about $700 which will allow you to also buy important accessories like a wide-angle lens, extra batteries, memory cards, etc. It uses SDHC memory cards and records in AVCHD format. Read the threads here about that and how to edit that footage. I haven't had any problems using the middle quality setting, which is 1440x1080 at 17Mbps and looked very good.
Also in that price range are the HF200, HFS10 and HFS100.

Dave Blackhurst · November 18th, 2009, 10:42 PM

Sony XR500V - not as many manual controls, but a lot of image quality for the money...
SO, now you've got the three main brands/players...

There are a lot of REALLY excellent cameras produced in the last 3-4 years - the Canon HV20,30,40 are highly regarded, the HF series cameras are well liked too...

Budget to $1K is pretty good if, especially if you pick up a gently used camera.

How about expected shooting conditions? That can make a bigger difference in camera choice...

Mark Yang · November 18th, 2009, 11:02 PM

My wife wants a camcorder to do home films, nothing more. Stuff like clips for the parents, some shots of 4rth of July fireworks, etc. A sunset that doesn't look like crap. I want something that at least gives me some preparation for working with more expensive equipment.

I HOPE to get a semi pro camcorder in a couple of years. I want to shoot a documentary, and maybe some independent short films. All sorts of shooting conditions, I suppose. But I've never shot film before, and have no idea what I'm doing, so I don't want to dive into expensive equipment right away.

Mark Yang · November 18th, 2009, 11:04 PM

Thanks for the ideas, I will be checking them out.

Robert Morane · November 19th, 2009, 01:36 AM

Mark, you can show your wife the sunset on this video I made in South India recently. It is 5 minutes, a bit long but following the song we used, my wife played a bit with some color correction.
Shot with the HV30 the camera is also a second camera for our Canon XHA1. So it is definitively a great consummer camera that allow you to do pro work, wich is what we are doing in India.
And if you look on Vimeo for this camera you will find some far better video than this one, but at least it is an exemple. In this case we only recorded using the automatic.

Douglas Call · November 19th, 2009, 05:49 AM

Nice video gives me a much different impression of India than I previously had. Did you ever visit one of the small villages or one of the many homes that you see along the river and shoot that environment as well? It looks like the everyday life is a throw back to much quieter and more peaceful times. Although a raging monsoon would have added a bit more drama to the peaceful riverscape.

Mark Yang · November 19th, 2009, 10:23 PM

Thanks for the video, Robert. Wifey says thanks too.

Robert Morane · November 20th, 2009, 08:34 PM

Thanks guys.
Doug, India is a very diverse country. This video was shot in the south, in Kerala. We spent 24 hours on that boat and 5 weeks travelling in the South, staying always with locals.
The villages are nice and people are very welcoming.
We have been in India since August and will stay till Xmas, we are working daily with the local people and we can certainly see how India is moving forward rapidely to become a very important power; economically but also culturally and socially. They have built their self confidence and they don t look at the West with envy. They have little to loose , are very smart and hard working. A beautiful place with a great future.

Marco Leavitt · November 21st, 2009, 12:37 PM

Mark,
Whatever you get make sure it has full manual controls, namely independent control over aperture, shutter, gain and audio recording levels. Don't settle for aperture or shutter priority controls that let you lock the exposure and then boost it up and down. I think you should be looking at used cameras, and maybe boost your budget to $1,600. You'll have a lot more options at that price bracket. At $1,000 or under, I think the best you're going to do is a used GL2.

Bear in mind that Robert's video (which is very nice) is shot in lighting conditions under which pretty much all video cameras can look great.

Mark Yang · December 10th, 2009, 06:48 PM

All the new stuff I see has either flash memory or hard drive. So I guess tapes are out?

I imagine it is easy to download from flash memory to computer hard drive.

Chad Schweer · December 11th, 2009, 02:09 PM

I just got a CANON HF20 ... my first camera... I've only shot 10 minutes with it around the house testing it out so I can't give an indepth review (there are tons of them on here and around the web), but I can say that for my first camera I'm very happy so far. Got it pretty inexpensive IMO from B&H. Very happy with their service.

November 17th, 2009, 08:51 PM	#1
Mark Yang Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 41	Looking for a good 'first' camcorder I am looking for a home camcorder, but I would like it to be sophisticated enough to give me practice for a more 'professional' camcorder in the future. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm thinking at least it would need to use MiniDV tapes. We don't have it in the budget to go serious right now, but we are thinking of doing a documentary film in the future.

November 17th, 2009, 09:05 PM	#2
Stephen Mick Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 167	Budget? So, what is your budget?

November 17th, 2009, 09:13 PM	#4
Stephen Mick Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 167	Panasonic TM-300 I haven't used one, but I know a few people who use the Panasonic TM-300 and speak highly of it. It's near the top of your price range, but seems to have a good balance of features for the price. Here's a link to some more info… http://www.panasonic.net/avc/camcord...cts/hdc-tm300/

November 19th, 2009, 01:36 AM	#9
Robert Morane Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 267	Mark, you can show your wife the sunset on this video I made in South India recently. It is 5 minutes, a bit long but following the song we used, my wife played a bit with some color correction. Shot with the HV30 the camera is also a second camera for our Canon XHA1. So it is definitively a great consummer camera that allow you to do pro work, wich is what we are doing in India. And if you look on Vimeo for this camera you will find some far better video than this one, but at least it is an exemple. In this case we only recorded using the automatic. cruise on Vimeo __________________ Measure twice, cut once!

November 20th, 2009, 08:34 PM	#12
Robert Morane Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 267	Thanks guys. Doug, India is a very diverse country. This video was shot in the south, in Kerala. We spent 24 hours on that boat and 5 weeks travelling in the South, staying always with locals. The villages are nice and people are very welcoming. We have been in India since August and will stay till Xmas, we are working daily with the local people and we can certainly see how India is moving forward rapidely to become a very important power; economically but also culturally and socially. They have built their self confidence and they don t look at the West with envy. They have little to loose , are very smart and hard working. A beautiful place with a great future. __________________ Measure twice, cut once!

November 17th, 2009, 09:07 PM	#3
Mark Yang Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 41	Under a thousand. Something like Best Buy. In the future we're looking at maybe spending 5k.

November 18th, 2009, 02:49 PM	#5
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	I've recently used a Canon HF11 and found it to be very satisfactory under normal lighting. It's about $700 which will allow you to also buy important accessories like a wide-angle lens, extra batteries, memory cards, etc. It uses SDHC memory cards and records in AVCHD format. Read the threads here about that and how to edit that footage. I haven't had any problems using the middle quality setting, which is 1440x1080 at 17Mbps and looked very good. Also in that price range are the HF200, HFS10 and HFS100.

November 18th, 2009, 10:42 PM	#6
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Sony XR500V - not as many manual controls, but a lot of image quality for the money... SO, now you've got the three main brands/players... There are a lot of REALLY excellent cameras produced in the last 3-4 years - the Canon HV20,30,40 are highly regarded, the HF series cameras are well liked too... Budget to $1K is pretty good if, especially if you pick up a gently used camera. How about expected shooting conditions? That can make a bigger difference in camera choice...

November 18th, 2009, 11:02 PM	#7
Mark Yang Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 41	My wife wants a camcorder to do home films, nothing more. Stuff like clips for the parents, some shots of 4rth of July fireworks, etc. A sunset that doesn't look like crap. I want something that at least gives me some preparation for working with more expensive equipment. I HOPE to get a semi pro camcorder in a couple of years. I want to shoot a documentary, and maybe some independent short films. All sorts of shooting conditions, I suppose. But I've never shot film before, and have no idea what I'm doing, so I don't want to dive into expensive equipment right away.

November 18th, 2009, 11:04 PM	#8
Mark Yang Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 41	Thanks for the ideas, I will be checking them out.

November 19th, 2009, 05:49 AM	#10
Douglas Call Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 302	Nice video gives me a much different impression of India than I previously had. Did you ever visit one of the small villages or one of the many homes that you see along the river and shoot that environment as well? It looks like the everyday life is a throw back to much quieter and more peaceful times. Although a raging monsoon would have added a bit more drama to the peaceful riverscape.

November 19th, 2009, 10:23 PM	#11
Mark Yang Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 41	Thanks for the video, Robert. Wifey says thanks too.

November 21st, 2009, 12:37 PM	#13
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Mark, Whatever you get make sure it has full manual controls, namely independent control over aperture, shutter, gain and audio recording levels. Don't settle for aperture or shutter priority controls that let you lock the exposure and then boost it up and down. I think you should be looking at used cameras, and maybe boost your budget to $1,600. You'll have a lot more options at that price bracket. At $1,000 or under, I think the best you're going to do is a used GL2. Bear in mind that Robert's video (which is very nice) is shot in lighting conditions under which pretty much all video cameras can look great.

December 10th, 2009, 06:48 PM	#14
Mark Yang Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 41	All the new stuff I see has either flash memory or hard drive. So I guess tapes are out? I imagine it is easy to download from flash memory to computer hard drive.

December 11th, 2009, 02:09 PM	#15
Chad Schweer New Boot Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 14	I just got a CANON HF20 ... my first camera... I've only shot 10 minutes with it around the house testing it out so I can't give an indepth review (there are tons of them on here and around the web), but I can say that for my first camera I'm very happy so far. Got it pretty inexpensive IMO from B&H. Very happy with their service.