Hand held video camera...which one?

jamtart6

I have no idea about these small video cameras! My relative wants one for Christmas. They want to be able to take long and short video, upload to a computer, edit the films and play them on a TV. Also something compact so that it is easy to take on holiday/out for the day.

I have no idea where to start! What makes are good? any recommendation about models?

I would say we are looking around £100-£200 to spend - can anyone help at all please?

Marty_J

I have the Flip Ultra HD, and I love it.

It's really small, it can hold 2 hours of 720p video, it has an HDMI port for plugging it into your TV, it can use AA batteries, it comes with basic editing software, and it shoots fantastic quality video.

You can get it from Amazon for £125.

donnajunkie

jamtart6 wrote: »

I have no idea about these small video cameras! My relative wants one for Christmas. They want to be able to take long and short video, upload to a computer, edit the films and play them on a TV. Also something compact so that it is easy to take on holiday/out for the day.

I have no idea where to start! What makes are good? any recommendation about models?

I would say we are looking around £100-£200 to spend - can anyone help at all please?

i'm no expert but for that price range you should be able to get a decent mini dv camcorder. in my experience samsung, sony, panasonic, jvc and canon all make decent enough camcorders. if i was getting one now i would go for a sony. there are people who know more than me here who will no doubt give better advice than me.
just incase you are curious i have owned a samsung 8mm camcorder and now own a jvc mini dv camcorder and they have both been good. i havent owned a sony yet only because at the times when i was buying one they were out of my price range. i had the samsung for 6 years before i decided to upgrade and i have had the jvc for 4 and a half years.

donnajunkie

Marty_J wrote: »

I have the Flip Ultra HD, and I love it.

It's really small, it can hold 2 hours of 720p video, it has an HDMI port for plugging it into your TV, it can use AA batteries, it comes with basic editing software, and it shoots fantastic quality video.

You can get it from Amazon for £125.

i didnt know hd camcorders were that cheap. i thought they were all £500+.

Marty_J

donnajunkie wrote: »

i didnt know hd camcorders were that cheap. i thought they were all £500+.

No, you can get very small handheld ones such as the Flip. They have some limitations such as a limited amount of storage (no 60 GB HDDs here), no optical image stabilisation, and no optical zoom (the Flip has a x2 digital zoom, which is pretty useless).

However, the picture quality on them is great, and they're small enough to throw in a pocket or bag and forget about until you want to film something.

The Flip Ultra has been the best selling camcorder on Amazon since it was launched.

donnajunkie

Marty_J wrote: »

No, you can get very small handheld ones such as the Flip. They have some limitations such as a limited amount of storage (no 60 GB HDDs here), no optical image stabilisation, and no optical zoom (the Flip has a x2 digital zoom, which is pretty useless).

However, the picture quality on them is great, and they're small enough to throw in a pocket or bag and forget about until you want to film something.

The Flip Ultra has been the best selling camcorder on Amazon since it was launched.

after witnessing how appalling digital zoom is, optical zoom is a must in any camcorder i buy.

jamtart6

good tips! thanks keep them coming!

what size hard drive is a good one? how much will several hours of video take up on the hard drive? I think they intend to use it on their wedding day as an "extra" video

i am wary of Flip as I have never heard of them - quality looks great though!

Marty_J

donnajunkie wrote: »

after witnessing how appalling digital zoom is, optical zoom is a must in any camcorder i buy.

It depends what you use it for. If you want to make little family movies of the kids running around the garden and the like, it's just fine. If you want to film a school concert from the back of the hall, it's not so good.

Though, the output is so clear and the video looks so big on our TV, I haven't really missed as zoom too much as yet.

My father-in-law has a not-inexpensive JVC SD camcorder that he has just purchased, and the Flip Ultra HD, for a fraction of the price, absolutely blows it away when it comes to image quality.

But, he has manual controls, a bigger screen, image stabilisation, longer battery life, more recording space, and some ridiculous x9000 zoom or whatever it is camcorders have these days.

It just depends what's important to you I guess. I'm pretty sure I would never buy an SD camcorder though after owning the Flip.

donnajunkie

jamtart6 wrote: »

good tips! thanks keep them coming!

what size hard drive is a good one? how much will several hours of video take up on the hard drive? I think they intend to use it on their wedding day as an "extra" video

i am wary of Flip as I have never heard of them - quality looks great though!

i dont know how many gb 1 hour of video would take but if you went for a mini dv camcorder that would not be an issue because you record onto mini dv videotapes. you can still connect the camcorder to your pc to transfer and edit the video if you wish.

Marty_J

jamtart6 wrote: »

what size hard drive is a good one? how much will several hours of video take up on the hard drive? I think they intend to use it on their wedding day as an "extra" video

Just from my experience with the Flip, 2 hours of 720p footage takes up 8 GB. Different camcorders will use different bit-rates though, so it could be more or less depending on which model you buy.

i am wary of Flip as I have never heard of them - quality looks great though!

Flip started off the whole mini camcorder craze, and they have ads on TV all the time here in the US.

They're a very well known brand, so I wouldn't be too worried about that.

donnajunkie

Marty_J wrote: »

It depends what you use it for. If you want to make little family movies of the kids running around the garden and the like, it's just fine. If you want to film a school concert from the back of the hall, it's not so good.

yeah, i guess.
if you ever want to use zoom then you do need optical zoom. i definitely need it as i film landscapes. mine has 25x optical and 800x digital. i found the digital to be very blocky and to be honest i cant imagine anyone needing to zoom further than 25x anyway. so i turn the digital zoom off altogether that way i dont accidently zoom too far.
ps i believe you can get better results with digital zoom when using a tripod. i've never tried myself though.