Best camcorder?

[maliclipse]

I want to try at making some videos of the nightly rampages, been looking at camcorder reviews and have budgeted 600$ Any recommendations? I need something that can make good videos at night - we all know how shitty a lot of those night videos are.

M

 

[God]

canon ZR series 80,85,90, sony HC series ,30 or 40 :toast:

 

[LittleSalfromSH]

sony for video, cannon for stills... if your getting a sony make sure it has the power accessory shoe so you can get the night vision extender.

 

[mustangfreak_01]

Anything Canon

 

[xilix]

Panasonic has the best camcorder right now for under $1k. The Panasonic NV-GS-120 and the PV-GS200 are by far the best for the price range they are in. The NV-GS-120 is going anywhere from $500-$750 depending on where you go. This camcorder embarrasses everything in this price range right now.

 

[Talus]

I bought the Canon ZR65 thinking it would good for night race vids...nope. If you're buying a consumer camera goodluck finding anything that will shoot good vids at night unless there are a lot of street lights. The images gets grainy in the "night" or "low light" modes. The cars loose their shine/reflection...For the best quality vid. i shoot in regular mode...which defeats the purpose of "night" shot but whatever.

Get something wth a little girth to it bc it gets tough to hold the tiny cameras still

 

[MTI LS1]

I have the Sony MiniDV Handycam, it was 600, and it shoots great night videos. And its real small.

 

[Codes]

I have a Sony MiniDVD Handycam. I like it a lot, cant remember what I payed for it.

 

[God]

Originally posted by xilix
Panasonic has the best camcorder right now for under $1k. The Panasonic NV-GS-120 and the PV-GS200 are by far the best for the price range they are in. The NV-GS-120 is going anywhere from $500-$750 depending on where you go. This camcorder embarrasses everything in this price range right now.

not really ive owned that camera its SHIT, and the best [price range? you can get a SONT HC-30 or 40 for about $350 or a great CANON ZR-80,85,90 for about the same price and both are AWESOME cameras, panasonic GS-9 and 120 are cheap ive owned both and bow own the CANON ZR-90 what an upgrade

 

[xilix]

You must have gotten a defective camcorder then. It is a better camcorder in every single arena there is, higher resolution, better depth of field, 3CCD processing.. video is what I do, trust me. It's just not as easy to use as the others out there. The Cannons and Sony's are more user friendly, but as far as quality and flexibility go, they are far less capable. 3CCD is better than 1CCD any day of the week, ask anyone that is in the buisness.

If he's looking to get a user friendly camcorder then he should get whatever he wants, but if he wants the best picture quality money can buy, and can deal with a little learning curve, then I recommend the Pano.

 

[STOKED]

is there a 3ccd night vision camera?

 

[wizbangdoodle]

Originally posted by xilix
. 3CCD is better than 1CCD any day of the week, ask anyone that is in the buisness.

If he's looking to get a user friendly camcorder then he should get whatever he wants, but if he wants the best picture quality money can buy, and can deal with a little learning curve, then I recommend the Pano.

I must agree. I bought a Sony DCR-PC330. I have been extremely happy with it. I was somewhat limited to what I could buy because it was for underwater video.

The price ranges for these things go in steps, and remember, you get what you pay for. up to $500-600 you'll get a decent consumer video camera that 95% of the world would be happy with. Then you jump up to $1200-1500. That gets you towards pro-sumer (silly buzz word). That will satisfy 4% of the people and then you move into $3000+ this is the high end pro-sumer and professional grade stuff. If you want to make high quality night videos you're gonna have to spend a lot more than $600. Get a 3 CCD unit if you can afford it. Read a lot of reviews and don't jump the gun, good luck.

 

[maliclipse]

Yeah I'm not, I research for a while before I buy anything. I need something decent enough to mount in a pod to have on the car, but night performance is a must.

Do they make a compact 3ccd camera? So far I read the multichip ones are big.

M

 

[xilix]

The panasonic I'm talking about doesn't have "night shot" or the like. But it is 1-lux, meaning it works very well in low light. There are 3CCD camcorders with a 0 lux night shot, but not many.

I'm taking into account that the operator might be using this camcorder for not only night shots, but for other stuff as well. The panasonic I mentioned is very good at night, but it's not the "in your face" bright green image you guys are thinking about. If there is any kind of light source (not totally pitch black), the panasonic will pick it up and it will look fine. But if you're on some backroad where the only light source is the headlights of the cars (no street lights), no matter what camera you use it's going to look a bit rough, even with night shot.

If all this camera is being used for is taking footage of backroad racing at night, then get anything with a night shot like the cannons mentioned by others above. If you plan on using the camera for other stuff such as day shots (which is the norm) then I can't recommend the panasonic enough (for the price). It's not nearly as easy to use, but once you master it, the picture looks amazing compared to other cameras, especially if you're thinking of doing some color correction or in depth re-mastering of any kind.

Like I said, the panasonic isn't the BEST for night shots, but that's not what it's made for. It's made to have staggering image quality (for the price). Pick what you need and go with it. If you need only night shot, then anything like the cannon ZR's will do fine.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Yes, the panasonic is tiny...

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...PV-GS200&surfCategory=3CCD Digital Camcorders

 

[God]

good point :beer:

 

[snarflat71]

my $.02

Whatever you do, don't get a Sharp. Mine (and a lot of others) have a defectife dew sensor - the camera thinks there's dew in there and won't work. usually if there's dew you let the thing sit for a while and it goes away. The Sharps' stays on, in some cases for days at a time. When it happens to me I have to use a hair dryer on the tape compartment to get it to work . . .