I have a budget of about $150, Overstock.com has a few in this price range, but I don't know what to look for. I'm clueless. I don't want to waste money on a camcorder that is a peice of crap! HELP ME !!!
2007-12-05 07:14:56 · 4 answers · asked by tiger_713 1 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Camcorders
You're smart to be careful, because most of the little camcorders in your price range are junk, relatively speaking. They record at very low quality, and lack "real camcorder" features like optical zoom (digital zoom is useless, but particularly on a camera with low quality sensor and lens in the first place).
And 32MB isn't much even for still photos, much less video. If you were shooting with a standard mini-DV camcorder, you would get just over 10 seconds. At DVD-class recording, you would get just about 30-40 seconds. So clearly, if they're claiming any length of recording, there's a big loss of quality.
Looking at the Overstock.com camcorder page, I would reject anything from "Digilife", "SVP", "Konaki", "Mustek", "Aiptek", or any other cheap Chinese no-name brand. Even Sony makes a camcorder like this, the Sony NSC-GC1, offered like these as a camcorder for YouTube and other online stuff. And while I suspect it's one of the better of this type, this one still produces sub-par video:
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-nsc-gc1/4505-6500_7-32510287.html
Don't get me wrong... there's nothing inherently wrong with tapeless camcorders, but these are all toys, and are likely to be disappointing.
One question to answer.. what is his interest? Is he looking to get serious about making home films, or is an aspiring video blogger? If he's interested in making something really nice, he'll be better off with a tape-based mini-DV camcorder, though he'll probably need some more accessories to do effective video editing on the PC. If he's only in for on-line uploads, a memory-based camcorder will make things a little easier, and the lower quality may not be a problem.
Right now, on Overstock, that Samsung mini-DV camcorder isn't much over $150, and that's going to deliver dramatically better video than any of those flash models. Or check out http://www.ecost.com.. they have a number of "Manufacturer Recertified" mini-DV camcorders from "real" camcorder companies like JVC and Sony in the $150-$200 price range that would deliver better video:
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=34232192
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=34232205
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=39058728
They also have one JVC, for a bit more, that records to Compact Flash or SD cards, but offer real camcorder features like a high quality sensor and real optical zoom. See:
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=38673091
None of these are going to offer the best available video, of course, but it'll be decent for the money, not a disappointment.
Another option is to look at one of the many digital still cameras that can produce YouTube ready video these days. An example is the Canon SD1000, which can shoot fairly high quality movie clips onto SD cards (you can buy a 2GB SD card these days for under $20, that's plenty of room for photos and clips), with a good lens and dramatically higher quality image sensor.
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-sd1000-digital/4505-6501_7-32314638.html?tag=txt
Of course, you have to figure out what you Son is really expecting to find under the tree. If he has it mind set on a particular camera, or a particular kind of camera, he might be disappointed with something different, even if it's better on some absolute scale.
I currently use Sony and Canon camcorders, higher-end HDV stuff, and I have previously owned JVC. All of these are good brands for the price point you pick.
2007-12-06 02:42:05 · answer #1 · answered by Hazydave 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
32 Mb is not very much memory, at all. That is about as low as you can go. Sprint was giving away 32 Mb pen drives as a promotion a few years ago. If they can afford to give them away, you know that 32 Mb is not much memory.
As for the amount of video he can record: About 5 to 10 minutes worth.
Does this camcorder take memory sticks? SD, XD, or other type of memory stick? If so, then you can buy one of those (1 Gigabyte) for about $30.00 and record a couple of hours video.
.
2007-12-05 15:22:09 · answer #2 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Vu is the best in that realm and it's more like $170
If you can still find it the tape based JVC GR350 was a great deal at $179
2007-12-05 19:25:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
not much maybe 5minutes
2007-12-05 16:00:29 · answer #4 · answered by sd 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋