 Poster: A snowHead
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Not sure if this should be in "Apres" or here.
I am looking at getting a camcorder for two reasons:
1. To take decent vids when skiing, so it needs to cope with the light conditions and be fairly robust, small and easy to use with frozen fingers and have a good optical zoom capability, image stabilisation and decent battery life (cold temps reduce it). Would be good if it took stills too, so I wouldn't have to find pocket space for both at the same time but that's only a minor nicety.
2. For recording indoors under normal and fluorescent lighting. I am starting my level 4 in Sign Language and have to produce a portfolio of good quality video evidence copied onto DVD. It MUST have a tripod slot for this and be capable of a picture good enough res for the assessors to view comfortably on a standard TV screen.
Media type
For my L3 I borrowed a fairly old Sony Digital 8 - ok but a bit of a faff downloading off the tapes and editing. I think I am favouring recording to SD cards. Friends on the L3 course that had cams that recorded directly to DVD or mini-DVD reported quite a few reliability and playback compatability problems. A hard drive cam sounds good, but I wonder if the limited recording time would be a downside, especially on a ski trip where opportunities for downloading off the cam would be nil whilst away?
Cost
I am wanting to keep well under £200. Yes I know you get what you pay for, but I am sure the budget market does have a suitable product for my needs!
I have seen a couple online but of course have no idea what the quality of recording is like. In shops you can usually play with kit, but can't see what it's like played back larger on a TV (or do places like Comet/Currys let you do that?). I know there are reviews on sites like Amazon, but I trust SH reviews more!
http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/525170/SAMSUNG-SMX-F300-SILVER
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SDR-S26-Flash-Memory-Camcorder/dp/B001QXDLDI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?tag=amz07b-21
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Camcorder Info is a good place for independent reviews. I've bought a couple of cameras from Camera Box and their prices were very competitive.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Butterfly,
I had similar requirements and bought a Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA9. (Cheap, Small, Waterproof, HD and records on a Flash Memory Card)
I actually bought a Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD700 first but dropped it in a lake so replaced it the waterproof version.
I bought both from Camera Box as they were the best prices.
I'm sure there are better quality ones out there but for my needs it is perfect. I normally record in HD quality then convert to DVD quality on my PC.
p.s. they both had tripod mounts.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Try a Kodak ZX1. I have one and it is absoultely fantastic.
It's HD, waterproof, expandable with SD cards, comes with HDMI lead etc. Ideal for outdoor activities. Couldn't be easier to use, has better reviews and is a lot cheaper than the sanyo xacti's.
It only has limited zoom and is poor in low light but generally outdoors in the daytime it's excellent. I've used it in New York and it's so real when watching it back. I also take it indoor skiing, bike riding etc... I think it was £90.
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