Camcorders (1 Viewer)

I have a Panasonic SDR-H86 which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago. Really easy to use, clear video, great stills, 78 x enhanced optical zoom. I use a 16gb card which stores hours of video until I'm ready to download them to edit. May not do that particular model any more but you can't go far wrong with Panasonic stuff.

tom88 said:

I'm looking for a solid camcorder for home videos such as family holidays, wedding christenings etc.

I would also like a camera that takes good quality still photos. I would want to pay around the £150-£300

I was looking at the Sony CX450 but I don't have much experience with camcorders

http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/handycam-camcorders/hdr-cx455-cx450

Does anyone have any recommendations?

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Have a fair bit of knowledge. Would you not consider a DSLR? So many filmmakers are now using digital means and I have seen two films filmed on DSLR's and the last three film teachers my daughter has worked with have filmed exclusively on DSLR cameras.

I have a brilliant camcorder, but it was a couple of grand. I also have a simple bridge camera that records full HD video. That was less than £300. You also then have an excellent camera too.

Think mine was only close to £300 because I wanted an external mic connector. You can get very good bridge cameras that record full HD for well less than £300. If you want 4K you will probably pay a fair bit more.

I see a lot of people shooting live shows and music videos with DSLR or bridge camera's these days and they get great results.

People on pro shoots make use of GoPro as well. Think they start from about £100. Even something like iPhone can shoot pretty decent video these days.

[video=youtube_share;o5JQdgvzuL0]https://youtu.be/o5JQdgvzuL0[/video]

chiefdave said:

I see a lot of people shooting live shows and music videos with DSLR or bridge camera's these days and they get great results.

People on pro shoots make use of GoPro as well. Think they start from about £100. Even something like iPhone can shoot pretty decent video these days.

[video=youtube_share;o5JQdgvzuL0]https://youtu.be/o5JQdgvzuL0[/video]

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Yep. A successful movie (Tangerine) was filmed entirely on an iPhone.

Would say a bridge camera would be best here. Records to SD card and so easier to swap them over than micro SD.

I have a Canon. Think it was just under £300, but then as I say, I paid more to get the external mic scocket (have a really good Sennheiser mic which I want to make use of).

I think you have to decide what's practical and what's important Tom.

I'm no expert in these type of cameras but if you want something that won't break the bank, is easy to use, not too bulky so you can put it in the wife's handbag, and you just want to record simple fly on the wall type family stuff, then something like this should give decent results. They're designed to do what you intend - not arty farty, you just need to capture standard stuff and aren't concerned about winning a BAFTA. You generally don't have to worry too much about the focus or white balance, most camcorders these days handle that fairly well, unless you're zooming and panning quickly and consistently. I'd ask for a demo in store if you can...see how it performs with a mixture of lighting conditions, light and dark, and panning between indoor and natural light. And listen to how it SOUNDS. Some of the built in microphones on these camcorders aren't very directional and pick up a lot of background noise, and unless you're pretty close to your subject they can sound a bit tinny or it can be a strain to hear what someone's saying because of ambient noise.

Not ideal for quickly grabbing when you want to film something in a hurry - but if you're confident and want to make this more of a serious hobby, demo a few DSLR cameras. I'd love to have one of these as the lenses are generally better with a greater depth of field, but you need to practice a bit to ensure what you want is in focus. The full frame sensors can often shoot video to 4k or 8k resolution, which isn't something you really need now but will look cracking in a few years time when we've all got 100 inch UDH tellys. Importantly, if you're serious about taking decent stills as well, this should ensure you'll be able to print off photos up to poster size if you want. Again, if you can, get the store to set it up properly for shooting a bit of video and try and see what it's like on a big HD telly. The images would be great, but you need to make sure there isn't any rolling shutter or cranking problems, which some cameras don't adapt to very well (you'll see a strobing effect on a "normal" interlaced TV).

Just checked Which and this is the best buy atm:
Ricoh WG-M1 review
£226.00 74%
Best Buy
Pros: Consistently good video, excellent image stabilisation, very rugged, easy to use. As well as being waterproof down to 10m it has IP68 ingress protection, which means it's as resistant to dust as water, and it's shockproof for drops of two metres onto concrete, too.
Cons: Slightly muffled sound, can't take photos while shooting video.

Sony FDR-X1000V review
£279.99 73%
Best Buy
Pros: 4K video, impressive HD quality, smartphone connectivity, good sound, excellent image stabilisation, with the bundled submersible case you can use it at depths down to 10 metres.

Cons: Slow battery charging, no time-lapse function.

Sony HDR-AS200V review
£234.95 72%
Best Buy
Pros: Good HD video, excellent image stabilisation, great sound, smartphone connectivity, with the bundled submersible case it's shockproof and waterproof to a depth of 5 metres.
Cons:
Slow battery charging, no high frame rate modes and slow motion features.

tom88 said:

Thread Bump!!!

Almost year on and still no camcorder purchased. Really toying with the idea of purchasing a go pro but unsure which one I should get. I would like it to be water proof for holiday pool days and beach etc.

Does anyone here have a go pro and which model should I buy?

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I have the go pro 5 black, it's superb. Tiny, easily portable and fits on my bike or carry in my pocket. It boils down to what you want it for really

Gopro Hero5 Black review
£399.00 65%
Not a Best Buy, but still worth a shout.
Pros: 4K video, built-in image stabilisation, touchscreen, water-resistant without housing.
Cons: Mobile app still has some limitations.

tom88 said:

Thread Bump!!!

Almost year on and still no camcorder purchased. Really toying with the idea of purchasing a go pro but unsure which one I should get. I would like it to be water proof for holiday pool days and beach etc.

Does anyone here have a go pro and which model should I buy?

Click to expand...

It looks as if the Ricoh camera can only be bought on ebay(?) for around £170.

Looks like there is one on Amazon for £179 or the M2 for a bit more - Ricoh Wg M1

Anyone have any real experience of these? I've been looking at the SJcam SJ5000x as it seems to be comparable to the Gopro but available for under £100.