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View Full Version : Suggest a good high-end, future-proof camcorder for a friend?



Stanley Lyndon
Jan 15, 2012, 01:15 AM
Hey guys,

I'm a DSLR guy and my friend wants my advice about buying a good camcorder. And I have zero idea! He asked me an opinion about Panasonic HDC-SD800. I looked up the specs and reviews and found that it was not as good as its competitors in the same price range?

So here I am, asking the opinions of the pros here. What would be a good firstcamcorder for home use at a similar price point. An all-around one with an emphasis on picture quality and ease of use as opposed to ease of editing and such.

Thanks!


Zwhaler
Jan 15, 2012, 01:56 AM
I always recommend Canon, their consumer camcorders are exceptionally high quality for the money in my experience.
Stanley Lyndon
Jan 15, 2012, 02:28 AM
Thanks, but which one?
Zwhaler
Jan 15, 2012, 02:35 AM
Good for any budget really. The HF-S20 is really solid but is close to $700. The HF-M41 is also good for slightly less, but I only have experience using the S20. I can show you examples of what it shoots, like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sn79976p8o) while at full zoom.
Stanley Lyndon
Jan 15, 2012, 03:01 AM
Good for any budget really. The HF-S20 is really solid but is close to $700. The HF-M41 is also good for slightly less, but I only have experience using the S20. I can show you examples of what it shoots, like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sn79976p8o) while at full zoom.

Thanks mate. Will check 'em out and let you know what he decides. :)
dhgeyer
Jan 16, 2012, 03:15 PM
I'm having very good luck with the HF M41. I also have a HV30, but don't want to deal with tape anymore. The HF M41 seems to me to yield outstanding quality at high quality settings, and is quite easy to use.

I would caution against telling anyone that any electronic hardware (or software for that matter) is "future proof". Electronic device years seem to be a lot shorter than dog years!
ftaok
Jan 16, 2012, 03:58 PM
Keep in mind that the new camcorders from all of the major players were just announced last week at CES. As a result, I've noticed that stock has been drying up at Amazon and the 3rd party affiliates have higher prices than Amazon had just 3 weeks ago.

The new models are supposed to be available in March. That's what I'm gonna do ... but I don't know how much longer my miniDV camcorder is gonna last.