Budget HD Cameras for the consumer/prosumer

[laumeikiang]

So, i'm looking to purchase an small HD camera. But there are just so many out there. I would like it to be relatively small, record in HD, use an SDHC card, have manual focus--i'm not big on auto things, and a decent battery life. The most important thing is to have fantastic image quality. The image quality needs to be amazing.

I've also had problems in the past with having HD files not playing on my macbookpro (which is about 3 years old now). Does anyone know why this could be? And does anyone know the difference between CCD and CMOS? I'm still a little confused with the differences.

I was looking at some panasonics and canons, but brand doesn't really make a difference to me. But i don't want to pay much more than 500.

Any comments or suggestions??

 

[xStep]

First, 500 what? Pesos, Ringgits, Euros, Dollars (US, Canadian, Australian, Hong Kong).

USD$500 ≠ amazing HD image quality.
USD$500 = OK or nice HD.

Does anyone make CCD consumer cameras anymore? Canon has a white paper on their CMOS DSLRs and it mentions something about the difference. You can get the PDF here. Wikipedia may be help for this question also.

Without knowing about those HD files that don't play well, you can't get much help. Some things to post, preferably in a separate thread is, image size, video codec used, audio codec used, container file type (AVI, MOV, mp4, etc), and some system information such as memory and disc space remaining. As you can see, it gets complicated.

Before buying a camera, search the forums for issues with the editing software you plan to use. Some manufacturers seem to do better than others when it comes to working with Apple software.

 

[ITS ME DAVID]

Just sold a brand new panasonic sd9 on ebay for $350 it was a 3ccd

 

[FroColin]

I would say a T2i, (It's a DSLR) yes, it has it's limitations, but as you like manual as it is, then a dslr is perfect for you, also the T2i shoots on SDHC, now it's granted it's around 750 and that's with no lens, but for the images it takes it's worth it. Obviously there are many downsides, portability is limited, you can't hold it in all the best ways, the sound is crap, when using an HD monitor you can't monitor in HD when it's actually recording and your glass (Lens) are expensive, but even the basic one is as good as your going to get with a 500 camcorder.

Look up some stuff shot on the T2i (Or the 7D, they are basically the same for video) you will be amazed. And with that large sensor you can get shots in pretty low light (Obviously this is greatly dependent on your lens) and some really cool shallow depth of field (Again, dependent on your lens alot too)

Oh... And it's not really that small...... But still, at least check it out, the images are just beautiful

 

[Mac-key]

I would say a T2i, (It's a DSLR) yes, it has it's limitations, but as you like manual as it is, then a dslr is perfect for you, also the T2i shoots on SDHC, now it's granted it's around 750 and that's with no lens, but for the images it takes it's worth it. Obviously there are many downsides, portability is limited, you can't hold it in all the best ways, the sound is crap, when using an HD monitor you can't monitor in HD when it's actually recording and your glass (Lens) are expensive, but even the basic one is as good as your going to get with a 500 camcorder.

Look up some stuff shot on the T2i (Or the 7D, they are basically the same for video) you will be amazed. And with that large sensor you can get shots in pretty low light (Obviously this is greatly dependent on your lens) and some really cool shallow depth of field (Again, dependent on your lens alot too)

Oh... And it's not really that small...... But still, at least check it out, the images are just beautiful

^^^^ I have the t2i - excellent, incredible HD video. Biggest drawback is capturing audio, but it makes for a great BROLL camera.