What HD Camcorder would you buy?

[Cruzer Two]

What camcorder would you buy? I'm looking for an inexpensive HD camcorder and came across the Canon VIXIA HF R100 at BestBuy for $249.00. It does not have internal flash memory, but with the price of flash cards coming down every day this actually seems to be a plus.

 

The Canon HR R100 records in 1080p; and has a 20 x optical zoon; and dynamic IS. All of the reviews I’ve read on the internet are pretty good. The few negative comments I read mainly concern the short battery life (one hour), a slight internal camera noise that is picked up by the microphone, and a few people have commented about the color quality. However, most review rate the color quality as good. The camcorder takes still pictures at 2.39 megapixels, so I will stick with my Canon PowerShot SD850IS for still shots and use this camcorder for videos. The PowerShot does still shots at 8.0 megapixels.

 

Does anyone have experience with this camcorder? What is not to like at this price? Any input will be appreciated.

 

Ron

[BMJJR]

I don't own one....YET. But I think I'm going to get one of these....I like the underwater version for cruise excursions.

I have seen some examples and the quality of the video is fantastic. I don't think it will work with my movie maker editing program, so I might have to switch to a Mac and then get this camera.......expensive combination.....but it might be worth it :-)

http://gopro.com/products/?gclid=CP6o26_SjaoCFcQ32god6F4I0Q

[Cruzer Two]

I recently purchase the Canon VIXIA HF R100 Camcorder.

 

Click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hor89NYsWbo to see the first footage I shot within a few minutes of opening the box. The camera and the manual are very easy to use and the picture quality appears to be excellent. Videos and photos can be downloaded directly from the camcorder to my editing program – Coral Video Studio ProX.

 

The only negatives I’ve found with the camera are the slight amount internal noise is picked up by the built-in microphone and the limited battery life, but I already knew about these negatives before I purchased the camera. Considering the price of the camera these are small annoyances. Any noise such as music or conversation drowns out the internal noise made by the operation of the camera and I used my editing program to eliminate the nose on the "silent" clips.

 

Even with stabilization, it difficult to hold the camera still enough when zooming in on a subject. A tripod is almost a must for very close up zoon situations.

 

Overall, I’m quite happy with this camcorder considering the purchase price. It handily meets my needs at a reasonable amount of money.

 

Ron

[Kamloops50]

I have a small Sony HD camera that takes pictures or movies.

 

I have found that the movie feature on my my Canon Powershot 570IS

 

is more the adequate for home use.:cool:

[Cruzer Two]

I have a small Sony HD camera that takes pictures or movies.

 

I have found that the movie feature on my my Canon Powershot 570IS

 

is more the adequate for home use.:cool:

 

 

Doopydozer,

 

I have a similar version of the Canon PowerShot. Mine is the SD850 IS and it too takes great still shots and videos. I have put off buying a camcorder because I didn't want to lug two cameras around. The PowerShot fits nicely in my pocket or I can carry it in a case attached to my belt.

 

However, the videos produced by the PowerShot 850 are not wide screen versions and I wanted a camera that would take HD videos in a wide screen format so the pictures would fill the screen.

 

I will continue to use the PowerShot for stills and the new Canon camcorder for videos. The zoom feature on the camcorder is awesome and allows for some really close-up videos. I will just have to put us with the nuisance of carrying two cameras.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Ron

[Kamloops50]

My SIL has a digital SLR that takes HD quality movies . He quite enjoys it

 

and I've see some of the Wide screen HD movies it took.:cool:

[hallasm]

I did do some few testing and did select the Panasonic HDC-SD900

here are some examples

 

- Warnemünde June 4th 2011

- Copenhagen June 3, 2011

[cassandra44]

We've used a camcorder for years (getting smaller each time and now we have a Canon Vixia).

However we have now come to the conclusion that we are only going to use the camcorder at home and will not take it with us on trips.

I found that we could get a much better record of our trip using still shots and then adding music for effect....obviously using appropriate software that allows "Ken Burns" effects (panning) and so on. I found those presentations provoked much more interest amongst friends whereas I find that people tend to get bored of watching videos quite quickly....unless they are done with professional grade software such as PowerDirector and it takes a lot of time to make a polished movie....much less time with a slideshow.

It also means we can take just one camera - an SLR if you want really great shots (and you take time to master the manual!) or something simpler but very good eg. a Canon G12 ( or earlier G models...top of the line small cameras).

[Cruzer Two]

I found that we could get a much better record of our trip using still shots and then adding music for effect....obviously using appropriate software that allows "Ken Burns" effects (panning) and so on. I found those presentations provoked much more interest amongst friends whereas I find that people tend to get bored of watching videos quite quickly.....

 

 

 

Cassandra44,

 

I completely agree with your comments regarding the use of still shots accompanied by a nice music track to provoke more interest. I too find that still photos with good panning techniques and the appropriate music track will keep the audience’s attention much longer and provide a nicer experience. I usually limit the amount of viewing time to around 6 second per photo. This is long enough for the viewer to absorb the content and it keeps the production moving along. If video footage is used, it should be limited to short clips and most of the sound track should be muted unless it contains verbiage that is interesting and informative. Otherwise, it should be replaced with a nice music track. There is nothing more irritating than listening to someone ramble on and on while the wind noise drowns out most of the speakers comments.

 

Ron