# Video camera



## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Time to pick our a present, and I am thinking about a digital video camera. I am not a techno toy wizard, nor do I follow what is the latest and best gadgetry. 

Here are the features I am looking for:

Memory card, I guess, so it can be plugged into a computer for a download, right? 

Lots of recording time and memory, I suppose the memory is dictated by the card, but long battery life. 

It would be nice if it came with software to teach how to edit, caption, or do all the cool stuff one does with such a camera,

And finally, I don't want to pay $2000 for a professional model anything. 

I saw my wife using her high tech cell phone to shoot video clips, and they were great, except zoom, and of course, the field is limited..and she then sends these to her family, but I am thinking a dedicated video camera with cool features might be a great gift. 

Any of you techno toy guys know a great buy with these features?


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## Tiger (Nov 21, 2007)

Good: A smart phone

Better: A camera that also shoots video

Best: A video recorder

Prices for cameras and video recorders are all over the place and it will depend on your needs. They will all have software and I can edit video with iMovie on my iMac. PCs should have a similar inexpensive solution.


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## BrandConst (May 9, 2011)

Get a sony camcorder, really compact and has internal memory. you can put an extra memory card in it for more storage if you need it.


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## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

I've got a panasonic (about 3yrs old) that has the hard drive in it... It has good picture (hd) and the sound is great. Holds many many hours of video...:thumbsup:

It also has a memory card slot and does still pics..


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

Canon,Panasonic and Sony make some very nice models.


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

Here is a great Link with reviews of the latest and greatest.


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## BreyerConstruct (May 22, 2006)

Take the wife into Best Buy, and have her handle the cameras and camcorders there. Also, its a great chance to get some input from someone who is not comission, and might just be a fanatic, and actually know their stuff.
Under $500 should find you something great!


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Take her into Best Buy? Are you nuts? :laughing:

What I was hoping to find is a camcorder that shoots pro video quality, and has software, or a package, to do the cool editing. I know some computers have it now, and there is software for it, and camera that do it....I just want an all in one. :thumbup:

I am going to the camera shop today to look.....I still like the idea of talking to a real person who has a real product to show me, even if I pay a few bucks more, I don't buy from Best Buy anyway. 

The one I really want costs more then I would go for, but looks awesome.....but looks can deceive. BTW, my wife loves techno toys. We have a whole closet full of them....which is why I don't want to spend big bucks...something else will come along in a year, and I remember shelling out $700 for a JVC minicam camera several years ago......


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## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Adobe has some video software for cheap called Adobe premiere elements, you can get it in a package deal with Photoshop elements for 100-150 or standalone for 75-100. 

Obviously you want something digital and hd but I would also avoid a hard drive and make sure you stay with solid state memory, hds can be fragile and have issues.


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## aptpupil (Jun 12, 2010)

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDR-XR16...FN8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324416320&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-M40-Cam...7E3I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324416334&sr=8-1

depends how deep you want to get into it, but canon and sony are both going to be good choices for your money. the sony i linked to does stills, but usually you want a separate camera for stills and video. i have a friend who is a videographer, he does weddings and the like and then edits everything into a dvd afterwards. he started with an earlier model canon like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-SX30IS-...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1324416492&sr=1-13
it's a still camera that does good quality video as well.

buy extra cards if you need more memory, they're cheap and the price is always going down.
as for the editing, using a mac with final cut pro is the easy way to go.


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## Station1 (Apr 20, 2010)

I recently purchased a Panasonic HDC-TM90. This model is the top of the "middle" models. Bought on sale at BBuy for $325 which is a STEAL. High def camcorder with excellent zoom and wide angle lens. I put a 32 Gb card in it. This camcorder is a 1MOS camcorder. 

If you can pay more, move up to a 3MOS camcorder such as the Panasonic HDC-TM900 (about $600).


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

Jay,

I have always favored Sony product. They seem to be right there on the cutting edge, but the drawback IMO is that they always seem to be so proprietary with their stuff. Think Apple. Good product, but....

Full HD and image stabilization necessary IMO.

I was looking at the Sony Bloggie HD for something low priced and decent.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MHS-PM5-...GKVC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1324570543&sr=8-6


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

OK....you know what Jay? Bag my last comment and read what Station1 just said. Holy crap...buy the Panasonic HDC-TM900 if you can afford $600. If you go to YouTube, you can watch that in 1080 and ....just wow.


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## aptpupil (Jun 12, 2010)

cruise around vimeo.com for an hour and you'll see what is possible with cameras under $1k. you virtually can't go wrong these days, but canon is still #1 in my book. a lot of it does come down to what you do in post, though. if you have the patience to work on matching colors and getting the whites to line up from all the different sources then you can make a professional looking product. just be prepared to spend hours working on it in post.


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## Station1 (Apr 20, 2010)

The TM900 is pretty amazing!

Here's the TM90 at it's highest setting, 1080/60p, it's no slacker!
http://youtu.be/RvaFh3S40R0


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

Go with the Canon. It is much better in low light. Period.


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-Vixia-HF-G10-Camcorder-Review.htm


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

My vote goes for the Canon EOS60D,, Super video and high end pics also:thumbsup:


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## Mike- (Aug 20, 2011)

Dirtywhiteboy said:


> My vote goes for the Canon EOS60D,, Super video and high end pics also:thumbsup:


Or 5d2, 7d, Nikon d7000,5100'. All in the price range. And amazing stills.


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

Mike- said:


> Or 5d2, 7d, Nikon d7000,5100'. All in the price range. And amazing stills.


My son has the EOS60D and he did the research and the only difference between the 60D and the 7D is the number of frames per second, but the pic and video quality is the same.


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