What's a good digital video camera for making short films?

Question

anyone have a digital video cam that they love?

Answer 1

There are tons of great miniDV cameras out there right now, of which my favorite is the Canon GL2. Realistically, though, any 3-CCD camera will work. If you're concerned about transferring to film later, this question becomes more complicated, but if you just want to make videos, buy any 3-CCD camera. How you shoot will make more difference in quality than the individual camera will.

If you're serious about filmmaking, consider buying a microphone that's not attached to the camera. You'll be amazed at the improvement even just using a boom-mounted shotgun mic (but you might also be amazed at the cost).

Answer 2

A camcorder provides ease of use with a whole lot of video recording features. If you are just buying a digital camera to record and not click, I wud say it is a wrong decision. Camcorders are made for recording while Digi Cams try to provide you with the better recording features along with good detailed photographs. I have a equal prized (somewhere around $250) camera and camcorder and I found the quality of my camera to be way better. But in my camcorder I can manually change the focus just by selecting a point on its touch screen, I can have a 40* zoom ( mine is old, 60* ones are in fashion today) with my camcorder which a digi cam cannot at all achieve and I can record all of my vids directly into a small dvd which is not at all possible in digi cam (I think not many camcorders have that today as they are more compact). When you say 'short movie', if you are referring to collecting memories of a place or a trip, I'd say buy a digi cam. Even cheaper ones (referring to the one you mentioned above) can click good photos and good vids. If you are making a documentary or sort of that thing I believe spend even a lil bit more money to buy a very good camcorder. Also ask the salesman when you go to a shop to buy and listen to what he says. Ask for the vid recording quality (for example - 720p, 1080p) and decide what is the most appropriate for you. You may have a better experience of vid recording with a camcordeer as it can be gripped more easily and vids can be recorder with ease, a digi cam provides a grip for clicking pics. Think that when you come back from the trip where you wanna record, will you anytime in the future get interested in photography or wanna click photos?? For digi cams I wud say look out for Nikon coolpix L110 / L120, Nikon p90. Do not go with the brand name, canon is gr8, fujifilm etc are gr8 too. There are a world of camcorders. Look at your needs and keep questioning the salesman (it is good). If you want a good zoom and not a huge memory card, then why waste money???? See what are your needs are and the price and then make the best buy.

Answer 3

samsung