Camcorder Recommendations

[slider701]

I'm looking to purchase a new camcorder to replace the Sony Digital 8 one I have had for 8+ years.

My reason for replacing the one I have is primarily to get one that is much smaller in size with equal or better quality...........something the wife can easily throw in her purse or I could put in a backpack when going on vacation. I would like to stay below the $400 price tag.

Does anyone have any recommendations and pros/cons of the variety of camcorders on the market today? Tape vs. CD/DVD vs. hard drive/flash memory, fixed vs. adjustable lens/optics, size, cost, etc..

Please give some specifics other than "I own brand X and it is great"

Thanks!

 

[65fastback2+2]

price range?

 

[jpro]

price range?

Read much? He wants to stay under $400. :shrug:

 

[65fastback2+2]

Read much? He wants to stay under $400. :shrug:

hah...wow...took me 3 looks to find it

must be a lil tired heh

 

[jpro]

hah...wow...took me 3 looks to find it

must be a lil tired heh

I'm the same way sometimes.

This is a great question btw...my wife has been looking around for a camcorder too.

 

[65fastback2+2]

Id be going with the Canon FS10 or FS11

stay away from ones that record on dvd...they mess up too easily

Canon just makes great stuff and its all I would spend my money on

 

[65fastback2+2]

Id be going with the Canon FS10 or FS11

stay away from ones that record on dvd...they mess up too easily

Canon just makes great stuff and its all I would spend my money on

 

[Zoie_daGT]

Well, personally, I will be getting a Sony CX12 as a camcorder. In camcorders(not cameras) I would stick to Sony because they use a Carl Zeiss lens which is awesome. If you do some research, you will see that this is a Sony exclusive and it is top of the line. I also am a big fan of the accessories that you can get. You can keep track of your battery by how many minutes are left(displayed on the LCD), etc.

For the above, Canon is great as well but, I prefer Sony. This my be partially because I shoot Nikon in cameras and of course do not like Canon from that.

If you are looking as far as media, I would recommend either the memory card or DVD camcorders. First, I wouldnt recommend the hard drive camcorders because if the camcorder is dropped, you can lose your video. Also, from my experience w/ photographers/camcorder people(used to work at a camera shop), they let the video on there until it fills up. Now, imagine you have 20 hrs or whatever of video on your camcorder and have not had a chance to download it yet. You drop it an lose what??? 6 wks, 6 months, or 16 months of your recordings. I have seen it too consistently that people do not back up their media. The DVD records for 30-60min. and they are easy to swap out and keep at home after Xmas, THanksgiving, etc. This prevents you from having more video on there than you are willing to lose. The memory cards are similar to either. They are more robust than the hard drive as well.

As far as DVD camcorders messing up, I have used several and never had a problem. I havent really seen any come back for repair either. To be fair, I havent seen too many camcorders in general come for repair because people normally just buy a new one. I can say, that I used several and they worked great for me.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.