Recommend a cheap and cheerful HD camcorder

[Gorman]

Yes im looking at you LDUK, and the other members who are clued up on this subject.

I see a lot of odd names availiable as imports, but im sure there are some real stinkers to be avoided.

 

[Michael89]

Do you have any sort of budget? I've used quite a few Sonys and Panasonics for HD projects including strobe lighting, green screening and quite a lot of frantic movement although they run in at around £400-600. I can't remember the exact model numbers but they all had good still image quality and excellent digital zoom.

For cheaper ones you can consider a handheld HD one like the Kodak Z8i or the Flip Ultra HD.

For something like a camera or camcorder I would always recommend looking at good brand names first because there really is no substitute for quality.

Hope some one else can add to this.

 

[LDUK]

Yes im looking at you LDUK, and the other members who are clued up on this subject.

I see a lot of odd names availiable as imports, but im sure there are some real stinkers to be avoided.

LOL. Honestly, I actually have no idea. I could help you with expencive HD cams and the like, but I've had no experience with a Normal consumer HD Camera, so I can't really advise. Sorry pal :S

 

[Gorman]

Bah! cop out! so whats important in any cam then? what should i be looking for and avoiding in a general camcorder?

 

[Sleinous]

Im guessing the same as a camera? lens quality > megapixel count

 

[Gorman]

How do you know the quality of a lense etc? and i know that going for high mp can still land you with rubbish gear, i have some supposedly high mp camera's etc that really suck.

 

[Phoenix]

There's some good ones here: http://www.camcorderreviewsinfo.com/top-10-camcorders-2010-hd-camcorders/ might be a bit expensive but you could see what sort of specifications they have to compare against other cheaper models.

 

[LDUK]

Megapixel count does not matter with a HD camera. The pixles will always be 1280x720 or 1920x1080 FullHD (or sometimes 1440x1080). Full HD would obviously be the best one to go for, but you have to make sure the cam is a known brand. You want the cam to have a lens around the size of a 10p (don't get the little 5p size lens' like the ones you find on phones). It's hard to tell how good a lens is on a consumer cam, because they are just built in, not interchangeable. I know Sony had the Carl Zeiss lens' that are pretty good. My old SD cam had one. And like most things, the more you spend, the better the product.

 

[Sleinous]

I'd recommend getting the cheapest one possible a lidl one? lol

 

[LDUK]

And Pheonix has a good link there!

 

[LDUK]

Oh and you want to go for lens' with a wide angle. Means ou can fit more into the frame when zoomed out.

 

[gazandwiz]

I bought 2 Panasonic TM10 ( Full HD) on ebay from UK store for £150 each. They retail at anything from £250 upwards. They were cheap because they were refirbished jobs from the US/Canada. Downside was that they record in 30i/60p and not 25i/50p for the UK market. This is not really a problem as editing software changes it for PAL quite nicely. I'm very happy with them. I also bought a TM700, UK spec for £650. Brand new and with its 3MOS system, the picture is stunning.