Camcorder Recommendations?

Emma

Hi I'm 14 and I love to make videos/mini movies. I have been using my iPhone 4 to film everything and well it's okay but it's not the best thing to film with. Anyway for my birthday my parents are willing to buy me a camcorder but it can't be $300 and up. I want one that can connect to my computer (Windows 7) and I obviously want it to capture good quality videos. Also, I want a tripod because it would make my life a lot easier! Any recommendations?

Answer
Emma you camcorder vixen! The Canon Vixia HF-R30 HD is the camcorder for you! I will not say more---check the features on abesofmaine.com so you'll have a clue!

Whats the best camcorder for me?

Robert Bon

My parents are letting me buy a Camcorder so I can make more videos for my Youtube Account (AwesomeBoy278)
Im really bad about choosing the best one so if any one could give me some ideas that would be great.
The guidelines are:
-My budget is £135 but this MUST also include a memory card and case for it
-have a memory card slot
-have HD
-Please done let it be black. Any other colour, even silver. Just not black.
-be Portable - so its easy to just carry in your hand.
-Preferably not a Flip Video of any kind

Okay, does anyone have any ideas? And please be as quick as you can! THANK YOU

Rob

Answer
Consumer level HD camcorders have 4 problems. 1) Blurry, fuzzy, out of focus areas closely around people in videos taken by consumer level HD camcorders. 2) Any movement, even a wave or lifting an arm, while in front of a recording consumer level HD camcorder, results in screen ghosts and artifacts being left on the video track, following the movement. Makes for bad video, sports videos are unwatchable. 3) These Consumer level HD camcorders all have a habit of the transferred to computer files are something you need to convert, thus losing your HD quality, to work with your editing software. 4) Mandatory maximum record times - 1 hour, 30 minutes, 8 minutes, 3 minutes â four different times advertised as maximum record time for some consumer level HD camcorders. No event I have ever been to is that short. Either take multiple camcorders or pack up with out getting the end of the event on video.

With a MiniDV tape camcorder, record 60 or 90 minutes ( camcorder settings), 90 seconds or less to change a tape and record for 60 or 90 more and repeat till you run out of tapes.

You can get a Canon ZR960 for $250. It is a MiniDV tape camcorder, has a Mic jack. You will need a firewire (IEEE1394) card ($25 to 30) for the computer and a firewire cable (less than 10) to be able to transfer video to your computer. To say this is not HD, think about this. It would cost in excess of $3500 to get a HD camcorder that could equal the video Quality of a $250 Canon MiniDV tape camcorder.

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Can the new Sony Webbie HD Camcorder fit an XLR adapter to it?

Austin

Can you fit an XLR adapter to the new Sony Webbie HD Camcorder?

Answer
No.

The "Webbie", as the name suggests, is a video camera optimized for internet video... in other words, it's an ultra-low-end model. Sony sure knows how to make a camcorder... I have several of theirs, it's a fine brand. But you don't get extra features at the low-end.

So, there's no microphone jack, and the built-in mic is mono-only. Like most of this sort of camcorder, it's closer in design to a digital still camera's video mode than to a standard camcorder: tiny lens, no optical zoom, higher levels of video compression, etc.

What you might do is use an off-camera recorder. A MiniDisc recorder, a digital flash recorder, an iPod with one of the recording adapters, even a laptop computer with a decent microphone (if you don't have a mic jack on the laptop, you can get "USB" mics, which are basically just microphones with USB audio interface built-in).

XLR mics are generally higher-end stuff... my $2600 camcorder came with XLR jacks on it, but my cheaper ones, not so much. You can get an XLR to 3.5mm plug adaptor for devices that take an external mic, from a company called BeachTek... but they probably cost more than your "Webbie" did, just for the interface. See here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=beachtek&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2FRootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=%2A&bhs=t&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

If you're using off-camera mics, the trick is to properly synchronize audio, so that when you want to sync it up (this presumes you're doing some video editing on a computer), it's easy to find the sync point. You've seen this done before, though you might not know it. That stereotypical "clap-board" you see around movie-making... that's what it's for. High end film cameras don't have on-camera sound, and professional film makers have their own crew for recording sound. The "clap" made by the clapboard provides the synchronization point for the multiple audio and video recording devices.

I use similar things all the time to match up video from two and three camera shoots. Even if the "Webbie" audio isn't all that great, it'll record your sync noise and make it easy to match up some better off-camera source.

Cheapest HD camcorder with dual XLR inputs?

bob crane

I've been looking for a while now and can't seem to find what I'm looking for (if it even exists.)

My budget is $1,300 and that's stretching it for me so cheaper would be nice :/

My only requirements are that it shoots in HD and has dual XLR inputs. I know, it's almost impossible to find one brand new that has both of those capabilities so used or refurbished is fine.

Please HELP!!!

Answer
it dont need XLR

just add preamp

Beachtek DXA2 for example it sits under camcorder
so if your tape ejects under then it can be annoying

been using one os these with Audio Technica 802b for years with
simple canon MV700i with really good results

note: sony camcorders may be different check preamp work with sony

note2: nice to be able to see recording levels, i cant with my dxa2
newer camcorders have bar display.

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