Need advice about camcorder, Canon vs Sanyo

[pika2000]

I'm looking for an HD camcorder with acceptable indoor video quality. My editor will be iMovie 09 I currently have a standard def Samsung MX20, which is okay (it records in regular H.264 MP4, which is nice), but it records in interlaced mode (with wrong aspect ratio to boot) & is useless indoors. I'm looking at 2 HD camcorders, the Canon HF-M300 and Sanyo VPC-FH1A. Technically I don't need HD (720p or even 480p, as long as it's progressive, is fine), but it seem manufactures are reserving their better sensors for the more expensive HD models. I know a lot of point-n-shoot digicams can record progressive videos and even HD, but they usually don't have good audio recording.

The Sanyo:
+Cheaper
+Records in iFrame format, supposedly easier for iMovie09 and in progressive.
+High speed recording (slow motion)
-Video quality? Sanyo is not the first brand that comes up to my mind in regards to optics.
-No optical IS
-Anybody have any experience with this model? Video quality?

The Canon:
+It's Canon. Presumably will give better video quality.
+Optical IS
-AVCHD. I have no experience with this format, other than radin so many people having issues with it. As long as iMovie 09 recognize the video and can import it directly from an SD card via a card reader (not having to go through a seperate transcoder/program), I'm fine.
-Price (vs the Sanyo)
-Anybody uses this camcorder? I read the manual, and it seems that it can only record in 1920x1080 or 1440x1080. How about 720p? To me 720p is good enough, and smaller file size and bandwidth.

Any comments and/or inputs are welcomed.

edit: I just stumbled on Sony HDR-CX150. Haven't had much time researching it, but it seems pretty nice, other than the interlaced recording.
+cheaper than the Canon
+Exmor R sensor. I have seen many positive things about this Sony sensor.
+16GB built-in, plus SD card slot (yeah, a Sony with an SD card slot, mind blowing... )
+25x optical zoom
-iMovie09 support for Sony's AVCHD?
-interlaced

Why oh why companies are doing interlaced recording? Why not focus on 720p?

 

[puckhead193]

I would get the canon. Better name, better optics, etc...
Try them out in the store and see which fits better in your hands.

 

[matteusclement]

canon +1

canon:
durable
better optics
image stabilization is OKAY
good warranty
good customer service

The 1920 to 720p thing isn't hard but as the canon uses the AVCHD codec, that means that you're going to need a couple of extra steps to code and decode it. But totally worth it. As far as 720p, that is DOWNsizing from the 1920 with a probable de-interlace.

 

[pika2000]

I would get the canon. Better name, better optics, etc...
Try them out in the store and see which fits better in your hands.

I tried the Canon at Bestbuy. Geez, why do they have to use a touch screen? Even worse, there's no alternative to navigate the menu. *sigh
But yeah, like you said, I would think Canon would have a better lens and sensor than Sanyo.

 

[pika2000]

The 1920 to 720p thing isn't hard but as the canon uses the AVCHD codec, that means that you're going to need a couple of extra steps to code and decode it. But totally worth it. As far as 720p, that is DOWNsizing from the 1920 with a probable de-interlace.

My question was, is there an option on the Canon to simply record videos in 720p instead of 1080? In the manual, there seems to be no option to change the video size. It will either be 1920x1080 or 1440x1080, and presumably interlaced (although Canon said it records in 30p). Will iMovie 09 take the recorded videos directly? I'm tired of transcoding + extra programs. Waste of time.

 

[pika2000]

I just stumbled on Sony HDR-CX150. Haven't had much time researching it, but it seems pretty nice, other than the interlaced recording.
+cheaper than the Canon
+Exmor R sensor. I have seen many positive things about this Sony sensor.
+16GB built-in, plus SD card slot (yeah, a Sony with an SD card slot, mind blowing... )
+25x optical zoom
-iMovie09 support for Sony's AVCHD?
-interlaced

Why oh why companies are doing interlaced recording? Why not focus on 720p?

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I found a Sanyo VPC-GH2 on some website but no one has a review yet. Seems really cheap for a new hd camcorder. Anybody know about this model?

 

[PRvideoGuy]

Image Stabilization is *required*

Canon.

I shoot on Canon, and I recommend it. The IS really saves handheld pictures. If you plan to shoot without a tripod, you need IS or a Steadicam .

Good luck!

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Get the Canon and downsize to 720p. You'll get significantly better footage than the Sanyo, no question. 720p is really not significantly better than 480p, so 1080p is what companies are focusing on.

Since the Canon is AVCHD, you'll need an Intel Mac to work with it.

 

[RealEvil]

The Sanyo HD2000(A) gets really good reviews - in fact most reviewers reckon its better than the HF200 and more or less on par with mid end canons like the HF21. I think the 720p60 fps mode offers really good quality (the HD1010 I had before my current canon certainly did).

The lack of Optical Stabilisation is a major downer and makes zoomed in shots all but useless... but for general filming I preferred my HD1010 to my current HF200 - and the 60p mode is great.

 

[handsome pete]

Get the Canon and downsize to 720p. You'll get significantly better footage than the Sanyo, no question. 720p is really not significantly better than 480p, so 1080p is what companies are focusing on.

720p is certainly significantly better than 480p. How about almost double the resolution for starters?


As for the OP, what are you planning on using this camera for?

(Oh, and 30p will be progressive.)

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

720p is certainly significantly better than 480p. How about almost double the resolution for starters?

You're right. My intention was to say that 720p isn't significantly better than 480p compared to the difference between 1080p and 480p, but my wording was quite poor. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[ceezy3000]

I actually have experience in this area, i was in the same situation last month and i went with the sanyo at first, i thought it would be great but not so much. I was worried about the image stabilization but it wasnt bad, what was bad was the quality, unless you have it in super macro, it just doesn't look like what you would expect from full hd, the WB has problems even when you set it manually. I returned it and got the HF S100 on sale. Depends on what you're doing what the camera, if i wasn't using the camera for student films i would've kept it, but i want my quality to be as good as everyone else in class.