Info on HD camcorders for beginner, please

wadewade

I need to buy a camcorder as a Christmas present (for the parents of our first grandchild!!) but I know very little about them! I'm hoping I can short circuit the problem by asking for advice here.

I've been told I need a fully HD model with an optical zoom (not digital). This knocks out most of the ones I've seen for about £100 or so. So what is the next step up. It may be an impossible question to ask but can I get a good or reasonable quality one for say £200 - £250? Any views on good makes would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Iconic

The first thing you need to know is how the camcorder footage is going to be used.

The cheaper HD camcorders(under £350) record the footage on a SD card and that has to be transferred to a computer to edit. HD editing needs a very good computer so it's no use buying a cheap HD camcorder if there isn't a good computer to edit it on.

I am looking for my first HD camcorder at the moment so hopefully someone else will come along with more advice.

Taffybiker

The Samsung SMXK44BP is a full HD camcorder with 52x optical zoom, and can be bought for around £250.

aj2703

Take a look on e-bay. OK some are probably 2nd hand but you would get more for your money.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sanyo-Xacti-VPC-FH1-FULL-1080p-HD-6Gifts-Brand-New-ACVF_W0QQitemZ310181257484QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_Camcorders?hash=item48383e610c

BillScarab

There's a few but I've no idea how good they are.

Samsung R10 £250 at Amazon
Toshiba Camileo H20 £151 at Amazon

They're both the traditional style with optical zoom. remember you'll have to budget for an SD card and as Iconic said you'll need a good computer to edit it.

isofa

http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/bestbuys/camcorders

Fifer

There are two full HD cameras with optical zoom in the £100 to £150 range - both Toshiba Camileo models with 5x optical zoom - the P30 (£114 from Tesco) and the H20 (£135 from Tesco).

I have the similar Camileo S10 which is smaller, but digital zoom only.

philnicandamy

http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/gadget-news/kodaks-hd-camcorder-gets-tough

i've this one and for everyday bits its not that bad (we've bought for our upcoming baby as well!)...no optical zoom though but as others have said it needs a pretty decent pc to upload footage to but happy with the results so far.

Marty_J

wadewade wrote: »

I've been told I need a fully HD model with an optical zoom (not digital).

Who told you this?

The people the present is for, or someone else?

While digital zoom is indeed pretty useless, an optical zoom is only absolutely necessary if you're actually going to use it. If you're getting them a camera so they can capture all those special moments with their baby, a zoom function may not get much use anyway. Babies generally tend to stay pretty close to their parents.

I'm also unclear as to why it needs to be a "fully HD model" (i.e. 1080p).

I have a Flip Ultra HD that has no optical zoom, and I love it. I shoots brilliant quality 720p video, it has an HDMI port so you can plug it into your TV, it records iTunes friendly h.264 mp4 video, it comes with basic editing software for both Mac and PC, it fits in a pocket or handbag and you wouldn't know it was there, and it was relatively cheap (Amazon are selling them for £125).

You can have the most expensive camcorder in the world, but if it's back at home when their baby takes his or her first step, or says their first word, it's not going to do them much good,