Since I am making 25-30K more per year at the new job I can afford more. If I ever do upgrade my 2018 Canon Vixia which is no longer being sold I may buy this model. I see the still shots are at a much better resolution than my Vixia which is only 2MP. I see this camcorder supports WIFI but sadly I can't connect to the apple photos app on my MacBook air as it's just limited to mobile devices. What other improvements over my 2018 Vixia? Thanks..
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Good camcorder?
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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Since I am making 25-30K more per year at the new job I can afford more. If I ever do upgrade my 2018 Canon Vixia which is no longer being sold I may buy this model. I see the still shots are at a much better resolution than my Vixia which is only 2MP. I see this camcorder supports WIFI but sadly I can't connect to the apple photos app on my MacBook air as it's just limited to mobile devices. What other improvements over my 2018 Vixia? Thanks..
Hi there
What will you be shooting? I see most of the formats listed are AVCHD aka long gop, a very long deprecated format, a sort of inbetween codec, to be honest a nightmare to edit..I would suggest looking at something more towards replaceable lenses, so that you can add filters, longer/shorter lenses..
You want to move away from interlaced video into progressive scan, that is 1 "field" per frame [progressive], and away from 2 "fields" per frame [interlaced..]
Think about long term, about expansion of skills/options, will a cheaper camera pay it's rent going forward, or can you afford to wait, to build up the budget, in my mind, you should look at least 3 years and think what will I need in 3 years time.. Research, I am only offering my advice that cost $0.00...
What will you be shooting? I see most of the formats listed are AVCHD aka long gop, a very long deprecated format, a sort of inbetween codec, to be honest a nightmare to edit..I would suggest looking at something more towards replaceable lenses, so that you can add filters, longer/shorter lenses..
You want to move away from interlaced video into progressive scan, that is 1 "field" per frame [progressive], and away from 2 "fields" per frame [interlaced..]
JVC GY-HM170UA 4KCAM Compact Professional Camcorder with Top Handle Audio Unit
I would save up, look at maybe something like this, it shoots in Mov 422, which is important, and 2nd you have 2 audio inputs, that can be controlled, a bit more than $400, save $100 x6 months, and you are in for the win..Think about long term, about expansion of skills/options, will a cheaper camera pay it's rent going forward, or can you afford to wait, to build up the budget, in my mind, you should look at least 3 years and think what will I need in 3 years time.. Research, I am only offering my advice that cost $0.00...
Just basic hobbyist video. What you have said is greek to me as I do not understand.
Very simple, old tv's back in the 30's to late 2000's used a system called progressive scan, due to persistence of vision in the human eye, we could use 2 "fields" to broadcast a frame of video... This is no longer the system, we use 1 frame of video no fields, or to be pedantic, 1 field...
Modern DSLR cameras/handycams use a modern format that is much easier to edit, using an older format such as AVCHD, which really went out of favour around 2012/2013, in favour of H264/H265, or mp4.mov formats..
You are going to find it harder and harder to find reliable editing support for AVCHD devices.. Even for basic hobbyists, something like the JVC is the best for basic work, and allows for growth and expansion, in terms of audio and 3 to 5 yr future proofing...
Or you could do a bit of research, look into the Blackmagic Camera App for iphones and watch a few tutorials and invest in a Iphone 15 or greater, so that you have the options.. But to get AVCHD in 2020's is not a wise investment..
Modern DSLR cameras/handycams use a modern format that is much easier to edit, using an older format such as AVCHD, which really went out of favour around 2012/2013, in favour of H264/H265, or mp4.mov formats..
You are going to find it harder and harder to find reliable editing support for AVCHD devices.. Even for basic hobbyists, something like the JVC is the best for basic work, and allows for growth and expansion, in terms of audio and 3 to 5 yr future proofing...
Or you could do a bit of research, look into the Blackmagic Camera App for iphones and watch a few tutorials and invest in a Iphone 15 or greater, so that you have the options.. But to get AVCHD in 2020's is not a wise investment..
It is a real drag - the camcorder market has been totally neglected in the last 5 years, virtually nothing of interest has come out.
I disagree with JustinePaula about a few things. If you are doing event videography, (This includes basic home movies, parties, ext, but also pro work such as weddings.) then having to change lenses is a bad thing - it is a big distraction when you need to be paying attention to what is going on around you. It is much more important to have something that can zoom in and out quickly, and has good autofocus.
I still have clients who insist on AVCHD, because other formats consume too much data and slow down their editors. It is true that no one wants interlace - it creates all sorts of weird problems in the edit.
The camera you linked to shows that it records at 1080p Video at 60 fps. That is good. The 'p' in 1080p means progressive, or non-interlaced. That "twin camera" looks gimmicky though, and is likely to look worse than a typical cell phone. You'll need a ton of practice with live switching between cameras before that could be useful in a real shoot.
Regrettably, cameras in that price range only have two advantages over cell phones: Battery life, and telephoto zoom. If you spend more that a thousand dollars or so, on a camera, those will get you better low light performance than a cell phone. This one, I'm not sure. You can't mount a light on it, so that is a disadvantage.
I disagree with JustinePaula about a few things. If you are doing event videography, (This includes basic home movies, parties, ext, but also pro work such as weddings.) then having to change lenses is a bad thing - it is a big distraction when you need to be paying attention to what is going on around you. It is much more important to have something that can zoom in and out quickly, and has good autofocus.
I still have clients who insist on AVCHD, because other formats consume too much data and slow down their editors. It is true that no one wants interlace - it creates all sorts of weird problems in the edit.
The camera you linked to shows that it records at 1080p Video at 60 fps. That is good. The 'p' in 1080p means progressive, or non-interlaced. That "twin camera" looks gimmicky though, and is likely to look worse than a typical cell phone. You'll need a ton of practice with live switching between cameras before that could be useful in a real shoot.
Regrettably, cameras in that price range only have two advantages over cell phones: Battery life, and telephoto zoom. If you spend more that a thousand dollars or so, on a camera, those will get you better low light performance than a cell phone. This one, I'm not sure. You can't mount a light on it, so that is a disadvantage.
I am a hobbyist and not a pro video person. I do not edit. I just shoot video of nature, family, and the like.
In that case, a high end cell phone will likely be best for you most of the time.
Get a new/2nd hand iphone or sammy, they shoot better video than most common cheap camcorders, plus you can upload to dropbox, icloud etc, which is difficult and time-consuming with cameras/camcorders...
Yeah old tech works, but very quickly becoming less viable, horses for courses, your milage may vary, if it works, use it until it no longer works..
My advice, stick a couple bucks a month into some sort of unit trust/savings plan, so that in a couple years, you have a budget worthy of something useful...
Yeah old tech works, but very quickly becoming less viable, horses for courses, your milage may vary, if it works, use it until it no longer works..
My advice, stick a couple bucks a month into some sort of unit trust/savings plan, so that in a couple years, you have a budget worthy of something useful...
That will probably be fine. Do some side by side tests. Your phone can shoot in 4k/60p, and has all sorts of logic for color and contrast. It ought to solidly outperform your camcorder most of the time. And of course the real advantage to cell phone video is that you'll always have it with you.
The formfactor of the camcorder makes for better video, as a tv news video editor, nothing drives me more to hate cellphones is when idiots use vertical video, cellphones should only work in landscape mode....Vertical video should be disabled.. Really so annoying to have 2 pixels instead of many..
Why, in this day and age, would you want to invest in an HD camera? 🤨 I'm surprised they even still exist. 4K would certainly be much more future-proof, whether you want/need it today or not. I don't see how that is a step up in any way from what you already have.
Not today you don't, but you will. When you look back on those memories ten years from now, you might regret them not being as clear as they could be. Also, what kind of computer monitor do you have? The iMacs all come with 4.5k monitors these days and 1920x1080p is only found on the cheapest externals these days.
I should point out, I own an excellent pro-grade camera: The Sony FDR-AX100. But I rarely pull it out for home movies. By the time I go upstairs and bring it down, the moment is gone.
No, the Air's resolution at 16:9 has only 56% of the pixels required to display 4K.
It has however more than double the pixels of Full HD.
I am not saying you could actually benefit significantly of 4K at a screen size of 15" but at a larger TV or display you definitely will. (Like @Algr noted)
Full HD: 1920 x 1080 pixels (2.1 MP)
15" Air: 2880 x 1864 pixels (4.7 MP at a 16:9 aspect ratio)
4K: 3840 x 2160 pixels (8.3 MP)
Pro video guy here:
Don’t waste your money on that POJ. Your iPhone will shoot better video that almost anything under $3K.
Unless you’re looking to spend $2K+, it’s a non-starter. Low light, focus, ease of use, audio quality… anything…the iPhone has it beat.
The Sony Z90 is about as cheap as I’d recommend for a simple camcorder and it’s nearly $3K. You can get a Panasonic GH5 or GH6 for under $2K but you’d need a lens and that does not have motorized zoom.
Seriously, just shoot with your phone or buy a used 11 Pro or 13 Pro and make that your camcorder.
100% agree, that and the ability to edit on the phone, upload to the cloud service you feel works for you, makes phones a no brainer, just shoot landscape, not vertical video... Buy a couple of tutorials to learn video editing, it is such a wonderful creative outlet, there are apps well priced and well specced that work on phones, tablets, laptops.. The choice is yours, and needs dependent on your requirements and what you feel matches your work needs..
I don't know how many times I need to say this but I am not a pro I am a hobbyist. I don't exactly care about editing video. The advantage a camcorder has over a phone is that it does not overheat in the hot sun and the battery seems to last longer.