Camcorders

[Dogg Thang]

I have an old camcorder that uses minidv tapes and it has an awkward charger and transferring the tapes is never as easy as it should be. It's in 4:3, SD and the quality isn't great. So it's time I replaced it.

But the last time I looked at camcorders, minidv tapes were brand new. So I am well out of touch. Googling the topic has led to plenty of info about SC card camcorders and flash camcorders and so on. Many look small and very cool but there seems to be such a ridiculous amount of them that I'm a little baffled. Admittedly many look very similar so I'm not sure how wrong I could get it.

So... can anyone here recommend a decent modern camcorder? I'm assuming all are HD widescreen now, right? I'd like something compact if possible, easy to charge and easy to transfer video to computer. So balancing size and ease with quality. Good easy storage too - SD cards? Any recommendations?

[charlesr]

What do you want to use it for?

If it's for recording your antics on snowboard/mtb/race track etc, you need a bullet cam or GoPro.

If you want it to record memories of events and family and stuff, you'll need a handycam with a bigger lens. Remember, indoor shots in low light look rubbish unless you can get loads of light into the lens.

1080p file sizes are ridiculous, so I think 720p is adequate, especially if just youtubing everything, but you'll be hard pressed to find a decent cam that isn't 1080p, so check it has the option of doing 720p too.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah it's mostly just family stuff. And yes, on my old one, the low light is a problem. So that's the handycam then. Thanks Charles.

[Spatial]

I'm no expert but take a look at Canon's Legria camcorders. Bought a HF series model for the other half a good few years back and the picture quality is superb even now. Uses SD cards and goes up to 1080p and while it might be bigger than some camera's like the Flip which everyone seems keen on, it's by no means big and feels a bit more substantial in your hand (stop sniggering!)

Not sure what the latest model is, and the Legria series goes from quite cheap to silly money, but you might be able to get a similar one to ours for around ?250

[charlesr]

Also, I'm not really up on it, but there's 3CMOS Vs 1CMOS (better colours Vs better clarity... maybe??)

[Dogg Thang]

I do like something substantial in my hand. That Legria looks nice, thanks for the recommendation.

[briareos_kerensky]

Also, I'm not really up on it, but there's 3CMOS Vs 1CMOS (better colours Vs better clarity... maybe??)

Cameras with 3 CCDs use a prism to split light into red, green and blue beams and each beam is focused on one of the CCDs; the three resulting images are then put together and here's your image.
With single CCD cameras (which include most of nowadays digital photocameras) light passes through a Bayer filter where light is still split into R, G and B but Red goes to the first pixel, Green to the second and so on. By averaging these three pixels you get one pixel of the "final" image; by averaging neighbouring "final" pixels the camera generates the two missing pixels.
The effect is that 3 CCD cameras have a better colour separation and low-light capabilities.

[Lyris]

Basically 3CCD means you'll only get monochromatic noise on the image. Cameras with one imager (be it CCD or CMOS) will have mutlicoloured noise in low light.

It's not the final factor in image quality though.

For consumer camcorders I liked the Canon VIXIA (LEGRIA in Europe I believe) ones.

For low budget professional-ish work (DVD/BD extras, interviews) I'm now using a Panasonic GH2 stills camera, hacked to remove the factory bit rate limitation. Images are gorgeous, but it doesn't have the pick up and shoot qualities of a consumer camcorder.

[Spatial]

The GH2 is an utter beast of a thing with the hack applied.

I've only just got into using it with the new 1.1 hack being released - using the Driftwood patch, the increased bit rates are amazing for such a small device. When you see the comparisons people have done with the Red One, it's mind blowing that something that's sliver of the price can hold its own against it.

Not suitable for Dogg's needs I wouldn't have thought, but I just wanted to join in waxing lyrical about the GH2