what's a good small camcorder?
 

I used to use a VX2000 and now I use a DVX100B, but I need something smaller for family stuff. It's not so easy to whip out a big ass camera, and crank it up and set lighting and white balance, and check audio just so we can film our kid running up and down the hallway for 45 minutes.

What's a good small camcorder? I saw a panasonic a while back at Fry's for 1K it was HD. I just want a good quick thing we can toss in the car and go to the Zoo, or Disneyland or to have when we travel.

Any suggestions?

if you dont need hd the small panny 3 chippers.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-PV-G...2986345&sr=1-1

Canon Hv-10 or if you wait a few months the HV-20. HD quality bout the same as an FX1 with good lighting. HV20 is supposed to do better in lower light. We use them as backup for our xha1. Hard to tell the diff when we capture. around 1k at newegg.

Yup, the HV-10 works like a charm. Very small and great quality!

Jim

a grand for home movies thats crazy

oh also... it needs to be a Panasonic. Tony, I'll check the link you sent. No fuckin way I'm gonna start buying two seperate tapes.

If you want something very compact that is great for catching family moments etc ..... check out the new ARCHOS 404 Cam

for only $299USD, you cannot go wrong .... plays 85 of your favorite movies too while on the road ... and also is a DVR to record your favorite TV programs

The video quality is very ample for home movies BTW ...

Shit I have a bunch of Hi 8 sony handy cams I paid 1k for years ago. And a Jvc that was almost that much too, and that was just home movie cams. The HV-10s take miniDV tapes, or the HDV tapes. After reading alot of reviews on the subject I just use miniDV. There is next to no difference. Considering the HDV tapes are 10 to 15.00 each, and I can get 5 miniDV tapes for 22.00 I go with miniDV. :winkwink:

Redshoe - only thing I would say is that whatever you use - make sure its tried and tested with firewire or whatever it has in terms of connecting to a PC.

Once you choose a cam - do a bit of research on Yahoo for it - see if theres loads of people crying about how it wont connect to the PC.

If theres loads of griping - choose another and repeat process.

From experience.
MrChips

Double post - one deleted soz.

Thanks Mr. Chips... that makes sense.

As for the 1K I'm with Mr Fingerz. 10-11 years ago I bought a panasonic Hi-8 cam. I forget the model #, but I paid over 1K for it. AND THAT WAS AT LEAST 10 YEARS AGO!!! I'm SOOOOOO STUPID! 1K for a hi-8. LOL! Fool

I got myself a Sony DVD Camcorder, the DVD DCR 505... I love it. Dead easy to get vids on the PC and such... Thats the main reason I took a DVD camcorder. Or just pop it into your dvd player to watch it on TV...

Its not an HD though, but its great quality. Does snapshots during video recording too if you want and stores them seperately on a MemoryStick Duo...

Great night vision and good with low light at least from my experience... should be around 1k too in the US...

Only drawback, the DVDs only have around 30 minutes of space on one side in standard quality... but thats ok for me.

I bought myself a Sony DCR-DVD405 which has an excellent video quality, 2 MP for video and 3 MP for photos ... :thumbsup
If you buy a camcorder online, just buy it from a reputable company, avoid bait and switch scams ...

I just now ended up getting a small Panasonic PV-GS320. So far I like it. It's a very small 3CCD, and feels like it weighs as much as cotton ball compared to my DVX. The hand-shake stabilization feature is awesome as well. I'm impressed with how much shake it removes.

It's perfect for family stuff. :)

And yeah.. I will probably build a light ring for it. LOL

good lord. you always beat me.
my little baby canon is nice too.

?? Tony beats you? What?

lol yup all the time.
you're a trip.
it sucks.
we're together 24/7 so we always think of the same things...but he beats me to the punch when it comes to posting here.

hehe, getting ready to go amater :P