New HD video camera $600-700?

[kristoffer4]

Hey Guys. I am a teacher at a school and we need some new video cameraes. The budget is 500-700 dollars. Specs must meet:

HD
SD card
10 X zoom
Mic in

I have looked at Sony, Canon and Panasonic. What would you recommend?

 

[WayneH1]

Hey Guys. I am a teacher at a school and we need some new video cameraes. The budget is 500-700 dollars. Specs must meet:

HD
SD card
10 X zoom
Mic in

I have looked at Sony, Canon and Panasonic. What would you recommend?

Are you looking for ONE camera in that budget, or how many? FWIW, I'm a Canon guy. They've always worked well with my Macs and seem to deliver a lot of image quality for the price.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Are you looking for ONE camera in that budget, or how many? FWIW, I'm a Canon guy. They've always worked well with my Macs and seem to deliver a lot of image quality for the price.

I'm leaning towards a canon HD sd-card to replace my canon mini-dv hd. Do you like the current canon hds or would you wait for the new one thats due pretty soon-if i remember correctly. Just want something to capture the kids... decent audio/low-light recording, editing on imac but ok to downgrade to sd for dvds for parents...

 

[WayneH1]

I'm leaning towards a canon HD sd-card to replace my canon mini-dv hd. Do you like the current canon hds or would you wait for the new one thats due pretty soon-if i remember correctly. Just want something to capture the kids... decent audio/low-light recording, editing on imac but ok to downgrade to sd for dvds for parents...

I'm using a Canon Vixia HV30 which is miniDV tape based, and I like it a LOT. The picture quality is jaw-dropping. I chose the tape-based camera over SD or hard drive based cameras because it will give me access to my older SD tapes. I've also gotten the impression that tape gives a better image quality due to less compression, at the expense of having to stream it off tape via firewire instead of just moving files around. Capture via firewire is what I'm used to, so it doesn't bother me. Anyway, my decision would have been harder if I was starting from scratch.

 

[akdj]

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=173

Canon has released the "New" line of HD consumer cams already. Great time to buy, and I agree with the other posters...Canon is an excellent choice in this price range.

The HFM-31, HFM-30 and HFM-300 are the "Mid-Range" line: $800, 700, and 680 are the prices...in that order, and in your price range. Also, all of them are solid state shooters; SDHC.

The HFS-21, S-20, and S-200 are the higher end line...$1300 for the 21, 1100-S20, and $1000 for the S-200.

They also have the HFR lineup....HFR-11, HFR-10, and R-100...700, 550, and 500 MSRP in that order. You may find 10% off on the street/web.

It is time to make the switch from tape, IMO. All NLE's are setup for instant Log and Transfer...no more "Real Time" anything! Very durable and affordable for lots of storage. And the Canon picture is excellent from the consumer line. Sony makes some excellent cameras as well...however, I've had issues transferring and conforming footage from a couple of their cameras with FCP. YMMV. I love the picture from Sony, but hate the proprietary nature of their gear.

Great time to buy!

Jer

 

[Mac'nCheese]

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=173

Canon has released the "New" line of HD consumer cams already. Great time to buy, and I agree with the other posters...Canon is an excellent choice in this price range.

The HFM-31, HFM-30 and HFM-300 are the "Mid-Range" line: $800, 700, and 680 are the prices...in that order, and in your price range. Also, all of them are solid state shooters; SDHC.

The HFS-21, S-20, and S-200 are the higher end line...$1300 for the 21, 1100-S20, and $1000 for the S-200.

They also have the HFR lineup....HFR-11, HFR-10, and R-100...700, 550, and 500 MSRP in that order. You may find 10% off on the street/web.

It is time to make the switch from tape, IMO. All NLE's are setup for instant Log and Transfer...no more "Real Time" anything! Very durable and affordable for lots of storage. And the Canon picture is excellent from the consumer line. Sony makes some excellent cameras as well...however, I've had issues transferring and conforming footage from a couple of their cameras with FCP. YMMV. I love the picture from Sony, but hate the proprietary nature of their gear.

Great time to buy!

Jer

Thanks for the advice so far. Do you know why the newest Canon thats over 1300 bucks would have less of a zoom then the cheaper ones? Figured it would be the other way around. I tend to buy more expensive stuff just cause I figured well, it has to be better because it costs more. But the HFRs and the HFMs are half the price of the top of the line HFS21. Do you think that a cheaper model is good enough or would you spend the extra figuring the best would last longer with better quality? And whats the difference between the Rs and the Ms anyway. I compared the specs, looks pretty close, except for design, to me. Man, I wish I could ever make a decision on my own without months of internet reviews and blogs etc....

 

[akdj]

I hear ya...it's a struggle compared to the "Old Days" and buying "Blind"

All good though. It's definitely a case of "You get what you pay for"

In the "Higher End"HFS line, you'll get a slightly bigger sensor...which will mean better low light shooting, possibly less "Video Noise", looks like it also has the ability to switch frame rates more efficiently; IE, shooting 30p or 24p to the same card, audio inputs for an external microphone...and I'm sure there's more.

dvinfo.net and dvxuser.com are excellent sites for learning about video, although you may see more info on the prosumer cameras from Panny, Sony, JVC, etc...as well as the DSLRs.

However, Canon is THE choice right now as far as the consumer cams...so there is a loyal following on the net. This is an awesome site for the HV lineup, but has some pretty extensive info on the HF-s,r & m cams if you look about half way down the forum
http://www.hv20.com/index.php?

Good Luck. Definitely can be frustrating to do the research, but you'll be well aware of what you're buying before you pull the trigger!

Jer

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Thank you for the site. It looks great and I will be sure to read as much as I can. I went back and forth between waterproof cameras in the same anal way. IN the end (no pun ended), I probably won't even notice too much difference in the model I choose versus the runner up but who knows... besides, not ready to buy just yet and am bored at work a lot so Canon board, here I come!

 

[akdj]

Typically, you're right...in a "General", well lit situation...differences will be minimal as far as IQ.

However, in atypical situations....you may or may not have an advantage with a different type...IE, not necessarily the most expensive.

There's also a 3rd party market that is catering to all sorts of camera gear. Many times, this is a good are to explore as well...considering you'll have the option to add different accessories down the road.

Also, pay attention to both the bitrate and the codec used by the camera. If you're editing on a Mac, what are you using for software, etc. If you're on Windows...like Mac, Windows 7 comes with some "decent", albeit limited and simple editing software. (I use both platforms in our studio, and am quite impressed with the new OS from Windows...however, I still prefer iMovie for simple editing tasks).

These factors can be a deciding factor on your final product and the IQ after compression and editing.

Looks like you have plenty of reading ahead of you...and the board you're checking out is light years ahead of me with these cameras...so enjoy and have fun with your new camera, when you make the decision

Jer

 

[TaKashMoney]

Too bad the Canon Rebel t2i is just outside of your budget. Awesome video camera and I think your students would have the opportunity to learn much more. (dealing with lenses, f stops, depth of field, you name it.)

 

[Matty-p]

Too bad the Canon Rebel t2i is just outside of your budget. Awesome video camera and I think your students would have the opportunity to learn much more. (dealing with lenses, f stops, depth of field, you name it.)

+1 its a great camera can you get a edu discount on it or streach the budget

 

[jampat]

+1 its a great camera can you get a edu discount on it or streach the budget

If 10x zoom is important to him, t2i is not the way to go. The only single lens 10x is the 18-200 which is decidely blah and blows his entire budget.

Actually the t2i is more than his entire budget without any lenses.

OP stick with traditional video cameras for this round. When it is time for the school to buy the next generation of cameras, investigate DSLR's at that time.