What's a good, affordable, and small camcorder?

Question

I'm looking for a good, reasonably priced, and small camcorder. I'll probably be using it a lot to record my sister's plays, so it will need decent battery life and either good built in memory or to have a memory card slot. Also, I'd like if it was good for capturing movement, and not too grainy. Preferably one without a light on it, or one that's detachable. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Basically cheap and good low light quality don't mix, unless you've found a helluva deal or it's an exception to the rule. So for around $200-$300 (what you would call cheap), you won't find anything that doesn't has good low light performance without jerkiness. (very grainy, or very choppy). Also from what I've seen, most cams aren't nice enough to come with a light, so you won't have to worry about that. For good low light, expect to pay somewhere from $400-500, at least (unless, it's a helluva deal, etc. etc.). For built in memory, hard drive cams are the way to go, but they are not great for watching instantaneously (unlike DVDs), and can be a hassle when you try to edit/burn them. Cams that record to an SD slot will be way under the $400-500 range, unless it's a digital still camera, and even then the picture will be grainy, so scratch that. You could go with DVDs, but if you want to "jazz it up" and add titles and credits, etc. then this is NOT the way to go, or you'll want to kill yourself. MiniDV cams offer the best quality, record onto tapes (seems contradictory almost), and offer great ease of editing and burning to DVD, but if you're one of those people who just want instant gratification, then this is probably not the route for you. As for battery life, you'll probably want to buy a spare, no matter what camera you decide to buy. I can't suggest a specific model, but camcorderinfo.com is a great place to compare and read about cameras that fit you. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Good, affordable, and small camcorder...

SMALL: Most camcorders today are small, and about the same size, so that isn't going to be a problem.

AFFORDABLE: That depends on your budget. Anything less than $300.00 means that you are most-likely drastically sacrificing quality, and your sister's plays may be worth the extra investment. Plus, you'll have a good camcorder for other things too.

GOOD: That depends on what you want to do with the camcorder. Since you want to record the plays as keepsakes, or memories of some fun times, I'd suggest a DVD camcorder. Your question isn't geared toward editing or FX. The miniDVDs are long enough, that you can pop a new one into the camcorder between "intermission" and have it ready. You can get 30 to 45 minutes on a disk.

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SOME TIPS:

I bought a battery for my camcorder, and it lasts 6 hours at newegg.com

Look for a camcorder that does good in LOW LIGHT (for school plays).
Actually try the camcorder in real low lighting. You may be disappointed if you don't!!! My camcorder is not great in low lighting, yet the manufacture brags on the low-light feature... ...yeah, if you don't mind blurry shots that look choppy. I wish I would have done more research at the time (Xmas eve wasn'r enough time).


I own a JVC miniDV GR-D27U0 and get 60 minutes on a tape, but I actually spend lots of time converting each tape to a full production DVD. Some tapes are 90 minutes, depends on the camcorder too. I put a few tapes on a DVD too.

MiniDV tapes are quick and ready to use on the spot. DVD camcorders take time and need time to "boot up" and format.

A 1-hour miniDV tape takes 1 hour to transfer to a PC. You need a fast PC.

DVD camcorder disks are almost impossible to edit, being that they are a "finished product".

MiniDv tapes, once transfered, can be easily edited and can be very time consuming. Requires additional cables, and software that you have to download and/or buy.

MiniDV is better than DVD quality.

Any camcorder within your budget, that is more than 20x optical zoom is probably more than what you want. The higher the OPTICAL zoom, the worse the lens is for general purposes.

CHEAP camcorders that put out MP4 is not high quality. I have used a few and they are all crap. They take great still photos, however, the video quality is poor.

Answer 3

If you want to avoid grain you will probably need to consider ONLY the Sony. If you want small you need like an HC28 or the newer version of it.

Sony uses their own very nice "low light" process (infra red), while everyone else uses multiple pixels to amplify light and thus generate a grainy look.

Answer 4

Sony DSC T5 may be the right 1

Answer 5

I have a mini canon and I got it at a good price and it works great

Answer 6

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/05/03/1636216.htm