Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Juregen]

Hi everyone,

I would like some advise concerning the purchase of a video camera.

I would like to make short "family" films and write them on DVD to send to family back home.

I don't mind spending a buck for decent quality, but I prefer not spending premium prices for minimal increases in quality.

Any ideas on what specs i should be looking at?

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

I bought a vid cam in January and looked for a loooong time. It is my second.

You need to think about a few things.
First and formost.
Do you want HD or not?
What kind of media - DV Tape, HardDrive, SDHC (cards)
What are you going to be mainly shooting, low light, sports etc etc

Answer these questions and i can suggest some things...

btw, i bought a samsung hmx10 HD cam. Records to SDHC, has touch screen, NIMH battery, like you get a in a digital camera.
Perfect for what i want, very small, light and good battery.

go to camcorderinfo.com for more details of specific cams too.

[Juregen]

A lot of movement with strong variety of light.

I would like an easy interface with any computer system.

I don't know if HD is worth the trouble, can you tell me?

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

My advice would be to get HD. If your planning on having this camera for a few years, documenting where your going etc it will be much better on HD and youll probably thank yourself later. Think of it as a little future proofing.

If your recording fast moving action your going to want either a camera that does 720p or 1080p (if they make em yet) filming at something like 60fps. Just means you wont get blurring at high speeds. Also if your looking for that 'film makers' look you want something that does 24fps.
Low light is probably the biggest plague of am-cams these days. Quailty in most situations os great, but low light is a problem with almost any camera so look carefully at example footage. youtube usually has stuff you can look at.

Media type kinda dictates transfer time alot.
If your using tapes, HDV for high def. Then it 1 hour of footage takes 1 hour to transfer to PC. With hard drive and SD cards the time is MUCH quicker as it just a normal drive to drive transfer.

You can get budget HD recorders and very good top of line ones these days.
Decide on how much you'd be willing to spend and then start look around. that site i posted has good reviews, and alot of cameras that you can compare stats etc with.

[Juregen]

Oke I have been sifting thru a lot of info and i think i might be happy with following choices

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-HV30-Camcorder-Review-34401/Specs-and-Ratings.htm

or

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-Vixia-HF10-Camcorder-Review-34711/Specs-and-Ratings.htm

Any comments on my choice?

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

Both very nice cameras.
My personal choice would be the HF10 (they just released an HF11 also)
Mainly because it is using SDHC cards, and internal memory. Makes it lighter, should make it better on batteries and much faster transfer of video to PC plus it will allow a lot of on the go editing of clips etc without using a PC. You will be able to see all your clips as individual files, review them. Delete or edit if necessary without having to cue up tape etc.

The sensors sizes are a little different, which may mean the HF10 performs worse in low light, but still very well in itself.
My suggestion would be to go to Seoul, find both these cameras and try them out, hooked up to a TV if you can convince the shop guys and play around. Look, feel, weight all that matters.

But really you cant go wrong with either of these cameras!!!

[ulsanchris]

get a camera with the mic located near the front. I bought a sony and the mic was located on the top at the back and it can pick up the noise of a person breathing.
also the longer the camera the more steady it will be. I have shaky hands so I get a lot of camera shake. Very annoying. If i were to get a camera now I would get one that is a bit larger and longer. Not so easy to carry around, but should produce more steady footage.