What video camera should I buy?

what do you mean by 10mpx lens?
do you need a motor-zoom or is manual fine (twist the lens) ?
do you need manual exposure control (for recording off-screen) or are you happy with an automatic function?
what type of screen are you filming off?

as you describe it, nearly any camera with an "audio in" (you'll need it for good audio) in the above 300$ category should do the trick.

 

It's 2.20 megapixels. So it doesn't fit your "mpx" requirement.

However it does do amazing 60fps at 1920X1080p @ 28Mbps (megabits per second, you'll need a class 10 SDHC card).

The biggest down side, is that it's only about 35mm at it's widest.

Not sure if you're a troll, or English is not your first language, or you've been hiding under a rock for the last 16 years...

But the OP seems off his rocker.

 

What exactly are you shooting?

 

This gives me a headache.

Anyhow, I don't think you can go wrong with it. It does everything you stated. Just remember, it doesn't have a very wide field of view. secondly the quality of the video, while being 1920x1080, will be less than great compared to say DSLR video. Because the glass in front of these sensors are what makes a large part of the "quality" most people look for.

For your budget, might I interest you in a Canon T3i or Nikon D5200? those coupled with a 50mm prime can get you waaaaay better results than any Panasonic HV-whatever model.

Yes 50mm is worse than 35mm in terms of FOV, but the quality is far better with a 1.8 lens that can create depth of field.

 

thr hc-v201 should do the trick. it has auto/manual iris, so it will automatically adjust to brightness changes (filming off lit screen for example). you can also adjust the iris manually, which is even better. be aware that this camera has no audio in - you'll be limited to the internal mics. they should be way better than those on an ipod touch but you'll still hear it, if you touch the camcorder. the hc-v720 with microphone-in (and an external mic) would be a better choice, if you want to avoid this.

also, i highly recommend getting a tripod - this will really improve the quality of your videos (e.g. manfrotto 190cx with 701 video head - don't buy a really cheap one, you will probably regret it).

also in my experience (i own a pana af100, a sd100 and a dvx100 ) panasonic cams are a bit weak, when it comes to low light capability. sonys are much better in low light.

the zoom lens in the panasonic should also give you a better picture and more creative options than the ipod.

but as leandroc76 pointed out - you'll get a much, much better picture on a ti3 or similar with it's way bigger sensor and a good lens.

but you'll be limited to recording shorter videos (afaik you have to restart recording after about 15 minutes or have the - great - magic lantern firmware-hack do it for you - but you'll still lose a few seconds), there won't be a motorized zoom (so no smooth zooms) and you'll also need an external mic for better audio quality. also, you'll need quite a big lens on the canon to get the same zoom-factor (also due to the sensor size). and finally, you'll probably have to re-encode the video, if you plan to use imovie for editing (while imovie should re-encode the panasonic video out of the box). most other editing software (FCPX, Premiere Elements) should handle the DSLR Video just fine.

still, it's just no contest in terms of video quality (even if you use the dirt-cheap canon kit-lens - the sensor size makes all the difference)

 

If you got the money to burn, get the Canon 5D Mark III. Amazing piece of tech, especially in low to no light scenarios.

 

Then take it to the next level... Canon EOS-1D C 4k Cinema DSLR. Haha.

 

In all seriousness, a good start up DSLR camera is the Canon 60D. Without the lens you can get one for about $700. That's my backup to the 5D Mark III. In the end it still produces great video.

I keep bouncing between the idea of grabbing a 60D since it's more affordable.

 

Canon

Remember that the Canons can ONLY RECORD AT 11mins at a time! The newer ones too I believe so if you want to record a speech, a band of a talk your SOL. Good choice but make sure you know the record time limitations. A zoom with a rocker is nice, I have a DSLR and a little panasonic handycam Ts700 and the zoom on the handycam is very nice.

1080p 60 is a great formant but an absolute bitch to edit and you must transcode it, a real problem with my handycam - for slow motions its great but why they didn't add a 24p mode is beyond me!

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Ok you're obviously looking for something very non pro like a little GoPro or a very low quality handcam like camera. You'll really not get anything that good for $200, really.

If you want to run with the big dogs we can talk

(you might try an old tape based canon like the HV30 or HV40, they rocked, HD and had 24p. You'll have to buy tapes but you'll get good video, better than any AVCHD camera in my opinion

 

It's just more consumer level'ish. It's all about a great lens these days. An iPhone can shoot the same quality as that, if done right. I shot an entire wedding with an iPhone for fun and it looked incredible.

 

The HC-V201 will almost fit your needs, but I don't think it has a mic socket (although I could be wrong). However take a look at a second hand Panasonic TM700, a great camera that ticks ALL of your boxes.

One point about the Panasonics listed above - the picture gets a bit 'muddy & smeary' in low light, so make sure you have adequate lighting.

 

You still never answered my question. What are you shooting?

"video" is not an answer. If you're shooting weddings, we have answers. If you're shooting sports, we have recommendations. If you're shooting porn, I guarantee a proper answer will be given.

So based on what you're shooting, I don't see any camcorder that can measure up to the quality of a DSLR and a sharp prime lens.

If you're shooting sports, then a camcorder would probably be best.

But for anything else, I can assure you, no camcorder in even a $500 price range can even sniff the jock strap of a DSLR.